United States Department of Agriculture
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Cropland Use

The 1997 National Resources Inventory (NRI) defines cropland as a Land cover/use category that includes areas used for the production of adapted crops for harvest. Two subcategories of cropland are recognized: cultivated and noncultivated. Cultivated cropland comprises land in row crops or close-grown crops and also other cultivated cropland, for example, hayland or pastureland that is in a rotation with row or close-grown crops. Noncultivated cropland includes permanent hayland and cropland used to produce perennial horticultural crops such as strawberries.

In 1997 19% of the Nation's total land base (excluding Alaska) was used for the production of crops. This represents a decline from 1982 when 22% of the land base was used for crop production. The 1997 NRI database includes detailed information for estimating how cropland is used and managed, and how competing land use pressures affect cropland use and management.
 

Minnesota Land Cover/Use

In 1982, Minnesota had 23 million acres of cropland. By 1997 cropland acreage had declined to 21.4 million acres. In that 15-year period, 1.4 million acres were converted to Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land, 229,000 acres were converted to developed land, 752,000 acres were converted to pasture, and 230,000 acres were converted to forestland, Federal land, water, or other minor uses. Conversely, during the same period, 823,000 acres of pastureland, and 148,000 acres of forestland, Federal land, developed land, water, and other minor land uses were converted to cropland.

Between 1992 and 1997, although there were large acreages converted to other use's, there were equally large acreages converted from other use's into cropland , resulting in a net gain of 59,000 acres of cropland.

Cropland now represents 40% of Minnesota's total land base, far in excess of the national ratio.
 


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