LOSS AND ABANDONMENT OF CLEARED FARM LAND IN THE EASTERN UNITED STATES1

Abstract

ABSTRACT The loss and abandonment of agricultural land in thirty-one states of the eastern United States has been more widespread than is commonly recognized. Changes in the acreage of cleared farm land provide a better indication of farm land loss and abandonment than changes in the total acreage of farm land, because of geographical and historical variations in the acreage of farm woodland. Eight areas in the East experienced especially heavy losses of cleared farm land between 1910 and 1959. No single statistical indicator provides a satisfactory explanation of the complex geographical patterns of loss and abandonment. Although urban expansion is a major cause for the permanent loss of cleared farm land, and despite its importance on the fringes of metropolitan areas, it is but one of many factors which influence loss and abandonment. Strip mining and the loss of a locally dominant crop have been important factors in certain areas. The Soil Bank program has had its greatest impact upon land of intermediate quality. Land acquisition by forest industry companies has borne little relationship to the loss and abandonment of farm land. In the East as a whole it appears that physical hindrances to effective agriculture have been the most important factor influencing the loss and abandonment of cleared farm land.