Tuesday, June 3, 2008

With U.S. Farmland Maxed Out, Growers Tap Into Reserves

Even though soaring commodity prices are bringing new pressures to increase agricultural output, U.S. farmland is maxed out, he said, limiting any response to price hikes and highlighting how agricultural productivity has failed to keep pace with increasing world demand.

"For about the first time in our history—other than the Second World War and after the Russian grain purchase—most of our good quality land in the United States is in production right now," he said.

About 2 million acres (810,000 hectares) coming out of the reserve program will be put back into production this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Another 6 million acres (2.4 million hectares), much of it formerly hay, pasture, and grassland, will be put into corn, soybeans, and wheat, added Doering, who is also the president of the American Agricultural Economics Association.