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<br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />" O. 41::' 3'.'J <br />;1 'l ,L -" ~, . <br />V ..\....,. <br /> <br />Crop1and,Avai1abi~ity <br /> <br />The land availability subcomponent projects both irrigated and <br />non-irrigated cropland available in each state. This is the major compo- <br />nent of agricu1 tura1 production capacity and the United States' abil ity to <br />meet future commodity demands. This is also the determinant in estimating <br />the interregional shifts in agricultural production as the High P1 ains <br />states undergo changes in agricu1 tura1 production due to either dec1 ining <br />water supplies or groundwater management strategies. <br /> <br />Trends in Land Use <br /> <br />The Un ited States has a total 1 and area of 2,264 mill ion acres <br /> <br /> <br />--1,897 mill ion acres in the 48 contiguous states. Some 465 mill ion acres <br /> <br />{including 83 million acres of cropland pasture some of which has not been <br /> <br /> <br />tilled in recent years1 are classed as cropland. Alaska and Hawaii togeth- <br /> <br /> <br />er have only about 1/3 million acres of crop1and--so, unless otherwise <br /> <br /> <br />indicated, U.S. cropland acreages given in this section will only include <br /> <br /> <br />that in the 48 contiguous states. <br /> <br />Cropland acreage, excluding cropland pasture, has stabilized after <br />declining steadily during the 1950's and 1960's {Table 11-10 shows land use <br />for selected years since 19001. It was at its near all-time high of 409 <br />flIi11 ion in 1950 and decreased to 382 mill ion in 1974. <br /> <br />II-51 <br />