The bars represent successive 5-year time periods, with the final red bar showing the total Prime Farmland that changed over all 15 years from 1982 to 1997. The length of each bar is proportional to the number of acres it represents.
All data values are in hundreds of acres.
There was a net decrease of 9,993,200 acres of prime farmland between 1982 and 1997. Data are not collected on Federal land. NRI maps reflect national patterns rather than site- specific information. Land that has the best combination of physical and chemical characteristics for producing food, feed, forage, fiber, and oilseed crops and is also available for these uses. It has the soil quality, growing season, and moisture supply needed to produce economically sustained high yields of crops when treated and managed according to acceptable farming methods, including water management.