Farmland loss is a growing problem across the United States, and in Idaho, ag leaders say farms are disappearing at an alarming rate.
From 2017 to 2022, nearly 150,000 acres of farmland were taken out of production. During the same period, more than 2,000 farms and ranches ceased operations. Nationwide, 20 million acres of farmland were lost.
The state’s Farm Bureau president, Bryan Searle, calls the trend troubling and says it is not slowing down. He also notes that none of the lost acres will ever return to agricultural production.
