ABSTRACT
While this volume is about agricultural lands, only one chapter (that by Brewer and Boxley) deals directly with the land base. Most of the attention has been on demand for agricultural commodities and on the various combinations of resources by which that demand can be met, land being only one of those resources. Thus, the problem is seen to be not just one of preserving the agricultural land base; as always, it is one of the best use of economic resources. To what extent will other resources substitute for land in agricultural production and to what extent may demand for agricultural output be forced to adjust to competing uses of land? Is some agricultural land better employed in other pursuits? The papers in this volume remind us that there is no inflexible requirement for agricultural output and even less of one for land in agriculture. Thus, we must consider not just policies for land retention, but rather, a wider range of options affecting agricultural demand, supply, and land.
