On Earth Day, we take a look at how farming and ranching has never been more efficient, with producers getting much more out of much less land.
U.S. agriculture would nearly 100 million more acres in 1990 to reach the same amount corn, cotton, wheat, rice, soybeans of 2018. For context, that’s about the size of the state of California. Also, about 140 million acres of farmland in the U.S. is used for voluntary wildlife conservation efforts.
Producers are more committed to cleaner than ever before too.
Over the last five years farmers and ranchers have put in 132 percent more renewable energy sources and are preserving their soil by planting more cover crops, using more conservation tillage and more no-till methods.
Additionally, despite misconceptions, agriculture accounts for less than 10 percent of all U.S. emissions. Around the globe, that number is about 24 percent, making America a leader in shrinking the environmental footprint of agriculture.