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million took up an additional 550 square miles. When the area gets its third million, probably by 1990, they’ll occupy an extra 1,600 square miles—almost 10 times as much land per capita as the first million. “The pattern applies to many cities," he said.
City Meets Farm JThe arrival of new residents in rural areas can set off a chain of events. The need arises for government services such as sewer, water, police, and schools. So does the value of the land, and often so do taxes. That can be decisive: As Mrs. Franklin said, "We were just taxed out of Fairfax County."
Other conflicts can arise, as Rawlins of the milk co-op noted. “People seeking the bucolic life and loveliness of the countryside will move right alongside a farm, and all of a sudden they’ll discover there are odors they never had in the city,” he said. Those people may file suit against the farmer or get local governments to restrict farming practices.
As farms disappear from an area, so do farm equipment and supply stores. Remaining farmers may fall into what the agricultural lands study calls the “impermanence syndrome”: Seeing the approach of urbanization, they figure there’s no long-range future in their farms and they stop practicing soil conservation or making needed repairs.
Uncle Sam shares in the blame for the loss of farmlands. it seems. The NALS named, about 90 federal programs “that contribute to the conversion of agricultural land." prime among them ones run by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Farmers Home Administration, and the Economic Development Administration. The study found that only two federal agencies—the Environmental Protection Agency and the USDA—have policies to considef the effect of their programs on farmland.
The study calls for a federal policy on agricultural lands, and says that the government shouldn’t help pay for development of good farmland but should offer incentives such as lower interest rates to encourage development elsewhere.
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