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APPLICATION OF IMPORTANT FARMLAND INVENTORY <br />The major objective of the nationwide Important Farmlands Inventory is <br />to assess the quantity, quality, location and distribution of lands <br />having the potential: to meet current and future needs of our nation, <br />the states and local comununities. <br />Our nation is blessed with millions of acres pf high quality soils and <br />favorable climatic conditions that produce food and fiber in excess of <br />our nations needs. Rapid improvement in soil and crop management <br />practices have created a situation which may appear on the surface <br />that concern for perserving good farmland would not be justified. <br />However, there are many land use changes occurring which are eroding <br />our agricultural production capability -- but occurring in subtle <br />ways. For example, leap frog subdivision development into primarily <br />high ford and fiber producing agricultural areas may not remove a <br />large amount of land from production, but conflicts which arise such <br />as bad odors, restricted aerial sprzying of crops, difficulty for <br />agricultural service industry to safely deliver fertilizer, seed, <br />etc., all con ±rfbute to a demise in dgricultural production activity <br />_- the result being that agricultural services go out of business or <br />move elsewhere. Thus, the producer is left without efficient and <br />econornical services -- the end result being a change in nature of <br />agricultural product i orr or going out of business. Conflicts. <br />tunforeseen by must persons in initial planning land conversions, in <br />the long term, result in rather dramatic impacts tan a viable <br />agricultural economy. <br />The issue of agricultural land quality is complex and dynamic. <br />Factors such as quality and quantity of irrigation water, soils, <br />adaptability of crops, diversity in types of agriculture and <br />accessibility to markets, as well as ather4 considerations play an <br />important role in maintaining a viable agricultural enterprise. The <br />information provided in this publication arrd on the Important <br />Farmland Maps does not address all of these factors. Rowever, it is a <br />necessary step in evaluating the agricultural production capability of <br />a county in terms of kinds, extent and distribution of the <br />agricultural lands. <br />A rapidly growing population and expanding energy development has <br />increased the convers on of agricultural land In Colorado. The trend <br />will most likely continue in the future. The information provided by <br />the Important Farmland Iriventory -ai1l be used :)y planners at all <br />levels to assess the rate, anount, and kinds of land conversion taking <br />place. The inventory is useful i,7 determining the impact of extending <br />urban communities into surrounding agricultural lands and in <br />evaluating the impact of lasses of irrigatil)n water which often <br />accompanies urban ex?ansion. <br />Various techniques for retaining agricultural lands are in use by <br />different states. Although these may vary in their ability to retain <br />land suitable for production, they all should utilize some method to <br />evaluate the quality of the land they are attempting to preserve. <br />