FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 28, 2001
Farmland Protection UP---Farmland Acreage DOWN
COLUMBIA---South Carolina farmers have made great strides in protecting cropland from excessive erosion, according to the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). In a five-year check-up conducted by NRCS to monitor changes in the condition of natural resources on the nation's non-federally owned land, South Carolina's cropland is in better condition than it was 15 years ago, but there's a lot less of it.
According to the check-up, forestland decreased by 167,000 acres between 1982 and 1997 in South Carolina. Pastureland and cropland together decreased by approximately 23% or 1.4 million acres. Rural land area is down by almost 770,000 acres in the state. Nearly 26% or 200,000 acres of that land was considered prime farmland. Prime farmland taken out of production between 1982 and 1997 was about 425,000 acres (the average size of one county in South Carolina). NRCS attributes much of the decrease in cropland is to development.
The check-up reports that in 1997, 70% of the land use in South Carolina was for forestland, 16% was for cropland, 7% pasture, 2% in the Crop Reserve Program, and 5% was used as other rural land.
More than 85% of the state's cropland is adequately protected from excessive erosion, according to the survey. And, the rate of topsoil lost on cropland due to erosion has decreased significantly.
For more information about the NRCS five-year check-up, call Perdita Belk, 803-765-5402 or visit the NRCS national website at www.nhq.nrcs.usda.gov/NRI/.