Land Use: Are Farms in Danger?

A detailed Summary of Land Use: Are Farms in Danger?

Farms are being bought and destroyed at a fast rate. Farmland is being bought by big business so they can expand. Farmland is being subdivided and sold to individuals to buy land for homes. Farmland is also destroyed to start animal reserves. This could eventually have an effect on the economy of the United States. If the United States keeps losing farms at this rate there may not be enough food produced to support the United States. This would mean our imports would increase and our exports would decrease in the food industry. If that were to happen the price of food would increase making it even harder for low-income families to feed themselves.

Developers have been buying up farmland and turning it into shopping centers, business offices and factories. However several states have set up programs to protect farmland. These programs help farmers sell their land to other farmers. These states, they have also been giving farmers different ways to make their land more profitable. The problem is farmers are still selling their land. Businesses have the money to buy the land from the farmers. The big businesses can offer the farmers far more money for their land then any other farmer, o

Another factor hurting farmland is reserves. In some states they have been taking farmland and turning into a wildlife reservations (Beck, 1999). This source does not take away much farmland. Though in some states by taking farms and making them wildlife reservation has hurt that area economically. When looking at the environmental issue, the economic impact also has to be accounted for. In most cases wildlife reservations will not have a positive economic impact. This is because there is no way to achieve monetary value for the land and animals that are being saved. In the case of farms though the economic impact could be felt for several years. Not only are you taking away a source of income for that family and area but also now they have to buy food from an outside source.

There are those who believe that preserving farmland is hurting the over economy (Kline, 1994). Some economists believe that farmland is being preserved and it should not be preserved. They believe that by preserving the farmland it is not allowing the industry to grow like it should. If industry were to grow then that would create more jobs and promote economic prosperity. Economists believe businesses will not eventually buy up all the farmland. They feel by preserving the farmland there is land that could be producing more goods and services for the public. Farmers produce goods and services but factors can produce more jobs and more goods then a farm. The industries would promote a better economy because there would be more jobs available.

When farms are sold there are some economic effects. The loss of jobs has an impact on the locals who have lived in the area for years. Most of these people only know how to farm so working at the factor is not a realistic option. There is also a change of industry that affects the locals of the town. The town will shift from being an agriculture industry to a retail or factor industry. In most cases this shift creates new jobs and draws more people to the rural area. Schools are effected by this change because with more people comes more kids. Most rur

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Approximate Word count = 1421
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous