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Our population is growing, and homes are sprouting on our ridgetops. But the single greatest threat to any rural county is the loss of farmland to development.
While the number of farms in the county has remained fairly constant in recent years, there are not nearly as many as in the 1950s. Average farm size has decreased, and the percentage of people working in agriculture is down considerably (from 20 percent in 1970 to 12 percent in 1990 — compared to 19 percent in the construction trades in 1990, for example. These figures and others here come from the Comprehensive Plan, which is available at the County Comer in the Rappahannock County Library.)
The greatest pressure on farmland over the long term is that farm income rarely keeps pace with the increasing value of the land. In the 10 years between 1982 and 1992, the value per acre of farm land in the county skyrocketed 142 percent. Even with land use taxation, the temptation for farmers to sell out becomes nearly irresistible as time goes on.
Another threat is the tendency toward homogeneity. The strength of this community lies in part in the diversity of its people. Just as a forest is a more stable and durable ecosystem than a tree farm, a community in the fullest sense needs a wide range of people — in age, race, vocation,
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