To ensure food security. For various reasons it is important that metropolitan areas preserve and encourage nearby agricultural production. To protect our natural resources. To support communities and community infrastructure. To sustain our quality of life.
Growth reinforces urban amenities, but growth compromises rural amenities.
Our interview with Clyde Mermis, Jonathan Alley, and the NRCS soil scientist from Topeka, Bob Plinsky, centered specifically on the value of agricultural land and farming in Douglas County. Last year we learned from Agricultural Extension Agent Gary Keeler that the long term trend on numbers of farms and farmers in Douglas County was down while the county rural population was up. This year, world market conditions and bumper crops created farm product surpluses that reduced prices below costs, creating a crisis for smaller farmers. Douglas County was not excepted. Our soils, especially in the Kaw Valley bottomland, are among the best in the world.