Land Use: Are Farms in Danger? Farms are being bought and destroyed at a fast rate. Farmland is being bought by big business so they can expand. Farmland is being subdivided and sold to individuals to buy land for homes. Farmland is also destroyed to start animal reserves. This could eventually have an effect on the economy of the United States. If the United States keeps losing farms at this rate there may not be enough food produced to support the United States. This would mean our imports would increase and our exports would decrease in the food industry. If that were to happen the price of food would increase making it even harder for low-income families to feed themselves. Developers have been buying up farmland and turning it into shopping centers, business offices and factories. However several states have set up programs to protect farmland. These programs help farmers sell their land to other farmers. These states, they have also been giving farmers different ways to make their land more profitable. The problem is farmers are still selling their land. Businesses have the money to buy the land from the farmers. The big businesses can offer the farmers far more money for their land then any other farmer, or even the government. This gives the businesses the upper hand. When farms are sold there are some economic effects. The loss of jobs has an impact on the locals who have lived in the area for years. Most of these people only know how to farm so working at the factor is not a realistic option. There is also a change of industry that affects the locals of the town. The town will shift from being an agriculture industry to a retail or factor industry. In most cases this shift creates new jobs and draws more people to the rural area. Schools are effected by this change because with more people comes more kids. Most rural schools only have enough room for a few numbers of students. Then the problem occurs th...
