Title: Why Preserve Farmland? : ConservationTools
Headings: Why Preserve Farmland?
Why Preserve Farmland?
Introduction
Farmland Preservation Anchors the Farm Economy
Protects Our National Security
Supports Our Economy
Creates Jobs
Keeps Money in Local Communities
Provides Tax Revenue; Requires Little Government Service
Supports Agritourism
Delivers Ecosystem Goods and Services
Sustains a Tradition
Farmland Preservation Tools

Content: His neighbor worries about the disruptions the development will cause, and downsizes his operation. Having already struggled with declining revenues due to the loss of other farms, the local agriculture supply store closes. It lays off its employees, and they move their families elsewhere to find new jobs. Then a few farmers decide it’s not worth the longer drive to buy supplies, and they sell. The nearby processing plant loses business and is forced to lay off workers too. Other farmers in the area watch their options narrow and fear that others will also sell their land for development. They conclude that their farms will inevitably be lost, so they stop investing in new machinery and labor. Eventually, they leave their fields fallow in anticipation of selling for development.[3] The downward spiral of the local farm economy eventually becomes irreversible. Farmland preservation aims to prevent the downward spiral. It aims to secure enough farms as permanent anchors so that people can see that their local farm economy can weather the loss of a number of non-protected farms without capsizing.