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Impacts Of Technology On U.S. Cropland And Rangeland Productivity, Office Of Technology Assessment

Congressional Research Service Reports

This Nation's impressive agricultural success is the product of many factors: abundant resources of land and water, a favorable climate, and a history of resourceful farmers and technological innovation. We meet not only our own needs but supply a substantial portion of the agricultural products used elsewhere in the world. As demand increases, so must agricultural productivity. Part of the necessary growth may come from farming additional acreage. But most of the increase will depend on intensifying production with improved agricultural technologies. The question is, however, whether farmland and rangeland resources can sustain such intensive use.

Land is a renewable …