Second place winner -

Protecting Our Farm and Ranch Land

By: Melissa Williams
Weleetka High School B Weleetka, OK
2nd Place Essay Contest Winner B 2003

Agriculture provides the nation with an abundance of food and many other products. Farmland is the basis of economics for many suburban and rural areas. Also in order for the agricultural business to expand it involves the importance of nearly 23 million employees and many more Americans contribute to this prudent investment. Farmland also provides goods with cultural and ecological importance, such as scenic views and social heritage. More importantly agricultural land provides a long-range of environmental benefits such as, wildlife habitats, clean air and water and flood control.

Still, everyday our great land loses previous farmland, due to the increase in urban populations. Rural areas, where most farming and ranching take place, are being destroyed because the cities are becoming over populated. Moreover, agricultural land is more desirable to developers, for building, because it is flat and very well drained. The lands where developers wish to build are at vital areas where the soil is very fertile for growing crops. Streams, lakes, and other waterways locate this farmland. These areas attract the most scenic attention from people living in urban areas. This gives the developers the upper hand, because they can afford to charge high prices to urban dwellers that seek a convenient homestead, not too farm from the city and not too farm out in the country. Farmland is depleting due to poorly planned development. As we abuse our land, it loses productivity. It takes thousands of years to develop fertile soil. The factors needed to create fertile soil are climate control, biology, geology, and a great deal of good luck.

We can protect our land from such damage by establishing growth management laws, creation of agricultural districts and differential tax assessments. In order to help farmers and ranchers in Oklahoma, utilizing differential tax assessments can help. This law is established to help local governments to set the value of agricultural land to suit the market of agriculture compared to full fair market value of agriculture, that is relatively higher.

In an effort to introduce communities to various tools to preserve our farmland, Robert Wagner and Kevin Schmidt of the American Farmland Trust (AFT), held an informational workshop at the Regents Conference Center in Poteau (May 21-23, 2002).

Not just Oklahoma is fighting for farmhand protection; the Colorado Cattleman's Association developed a successful agricultural land trust program. Hearing the Colorado Cattleman's method, the Michigan Farm Bureau took their approach and included a bus trip for farmers along the Mid-Atlantic States to demonstrate how protecting farmland works.

Another means to protect our farmland is to encourage Oklahomans to support the Oklahoma Uniformed Conservation Easement Act that passed in 1999. This act is a voluntary agreement that allows a landowner to limit the type or amount of development on their property while retaining private ownership of the land and the ability to continue to farm and live on the property.

In addition to the conservation easement, development rights are donated or sold to a government entity or private land trust. People grant conservation easements because they want to protect their property from development; the donation from an easement also gives the contributor a substantial financial advantage. The surveyor, to ensure that no disqualifying development occurs, monitors the easement periodically. Agricultural laws can protect farm and ranchland; individuals can also help preserve our fertile soil on our own. One technique is not to abuse our land; for example, during one season of cultivation, farmers can rotate each crop. If a farmer plants a corn crop for one planting season, then the next year plants peas, for the reason that peas have a high concentration of nitrogen, it replenishes the soil by giving it a nutritious and fertile drink. In addition, another great aspect of rotating crops is that it can prevent many funguses from destroying the farmer's cash crop. It is simple logic that by working the land for a certain amount of time it gets worn out; therefore, it needs a break.

Not only farmland becomes overworked, ranchland is another major abused resource. Many ranchers are unaware of the threat of overgrazing. Most people know cattle and horses eat an abundance of grass, wheat, and a number of many other fiber products. When cattle and horses are concentrated in one area they eat all that is in sight. As these animals eat grass and other grass crops they pull the roots up along with it, this results in no possibility of new natural grass development. Furthermore, these animals are fairly large and as they trample over the ground grasses and essential fibers are destroyed. By understanding the cause of this damage, ranchers can prevent destruction by alternating areas where cattle and horses graze. Planting wheat seeds and properly fertilizing grazing areas will lower the risk of damage to the ranchland.

Farm and ranch lands provide us with many essential goods that help individuals in their everyday lives. These agricultural lands are at risk because of the growing population, natural occurrences, and our own carelessness. There are many techniques that have been developed to preserve our farm and ranch lands. Hopefully, in the future many more methods will be developed so that people may never have to worry about losing their precious agricultural lands. In the mean time, they can utilize their knowledge in order to protect their farm and ranch lands.

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