ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the question of how the economic and environmental costs of agricultural land in the United States are likely to respond to the growth in demand for production, in technology, and in the supply of land over the next several decades. This issue is important because the cost of land is a significant element in the cost of agricultural production. Rising land costs that are not offset by declining costs of other resources or growth in productivity would increase production costs and raise questions about the adequacy of agricultural land. This underscores the point that the real issue is the cost of agricultural production, and that the adequacy of agricultural land can be judged only by its contribution to changes in cost, given the contribution of other resources.
