Dr. Charlie Martinez and his team at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture has been working over the last year to collect data to determine how much farmland is being lost in Tennessee. Now the data is becoming clearer, and just as expected Tennessee is losing farmland at a rapid rate.
Thomas Capps
Farmland loss in focus. Hello, and welcome to Tennessee Home and Farm Radio. I'm Thomas Capps.
Charley Martinez
And now we're starting to really kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to the data.
Thomas Capps
Dr. Charlie Martinez and his team at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture has been working over the last year to collect data and determine exactly how much farmland in Tennessee has been lost and developed. Now the numbers are starting to become clear. And just as expected, the Volunteer State is losing farmland at a rapid rate.
Charley Martinez
In 2017, Tennessee at 86% of the of the state was covered in ag and forestry land. And then since 2017, we've actually started decreasing down to 84%. And to put that in perspective, if you look at 19, from 1997 to 2017, we lost 1.1 million acres. And then if you take 2017 to 2022, we've lost just shy of a half a million acres. And so the reality is we've had 1 million loss in 20 years. And then we have a five year span where we've lost half a million acres. Then when you start looking at the numbers, we're starting to ramp up in the farmland conversion or farmland loss discussion in terms of half a million and in five years.
Thomas Capps
The concern is that farmland is disappearing at a faster rate. And what does that mean for the future of agriculture in Tennessee?
Charley Martinez
We know that we have a limited amount of land in Tennessee.Wwe have 26 point 4 million square acres. And as we lose those percentages year after year, then essentially we're losing land that we'll never get back.
Thomas Capps
Now knowing this information, the hope is that thoughtful conversation can happen on the state and local county and city level.
Charley Martinez
What becomes the next question is what's the optimal blend of ag versus non ag property in a given county. And that's when the discussion really picks up in terms of smart growth discussion, infrastructure type discussion.
Thomas Capps
Martinez and his team are finalizing their research and will soon have an interactive map online where people will be able to see how much farmland has been lost county by county. For Tennessee Home and Farm Radio on Thomas Capps.
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