ASCSNews

ASCSNews

“The public interest necessitates conservation of soil and water irrespective of the needs for agricultural production.” This statement is taken from the 1962 Yearbook of Agriculture, which cites some of the accomplishments on American farms and some reasons why a healthy agriculture economy is important to a healthy general economy.

The Conservation Needs Inventory, conducted by the U.S. Deprtment of Agriculture since 1957 in cooperation with other Federal, State and local agencies, is an attempt to plan intelligently for the future. The Inventory and projection for land usage in 1975 show that cropland will decrease about 11 million acres from 1958 to 1975 while forest and woodlands will decrease about If) million acres. On the other hand, pasture and range land are expected to increase by 12 million acres. In each case the change is about 2 per cent.

The cropland decrease of 11 million acres is the net difference between 41 million acres going out of cropland and 30 million acres shifting from other uses to cropland and results in a total change in land use of 71 million acres. The picture in Virginia during that 1958-75 period is that cropland will decrease about 400,000 acres and woodland about 45,000 acres while pasture will increase 182,000 acres.

These changes will require the application of new and different conservation practices to these acres. Two-thirds of the Nation’s cropland pasture and woodland will need some form of conservation treatment including 270 million acres of cropland. In Virginia, 86 per cent of all cropland, pasture and woodland will need treatment including about 2.4 million acres of cropland and about 2.3 million acres pastures. These shifts of land useage will necessitate seeding of forage grasses, the application of fertilizer and liming materials to correct soil conditions for these crops. They will require the control of erosion and the conservation of water by