Why Not All Land is Farmed

Hello everybody! I hope you are all doing well. As some of you may know, I am currently studying Agricultural Education and Rangeland Management at Chadron State College. A big misconception that I have heard from people not involved in agriculture is that land that is not farmed is wasted. Here is why that couldn't be further from the truth!

Rangeland has many different purposes. Grazing, hunting, recreation, water, and natural resources are all things that can be obtained from rangeland. Let's take a look at our own state of Nebraska. Much of the crop farming that is done in Nebraska is in the eastern part of the state, whereas the Nebraska Panhandle is more dedicated to ranching and cattle grazing. Why is this? One of the reasons is because of topography. Topography is the arrangement of the natural and artificial physical features of an area. This can include hills, mountains, rivers, lakes, dams, etc. If you drive around in the Nebraska Panhandle, you'll notice that the ground is very hilly and rugged, making it very difficult to use equipment.

Another reason that we don't farm some land is because the soil may not be suited for row crops. The percentages of sand, silt, and clay in a soil determine the soil texture. Sand is the biggest particle, silt is in between, and clay is the smallest. Since clay particles are much smaller than silt or sand, clay has much more surface area compared to the other two. Because of this, clay has a higher water holding capacity than sand, making clay much more suited for row crops than soils with sand or silt. Soils with more sand or silt are better suited for grazing and haying. If you go to the NRCS website and do a Web Soil Survey, you'll notice that some soils in western Nebraska contain more sand and silt whereas the soil has more clay in eastern Nebraska. This is why some parts of Nebraska are suited for row crops and some are better for ranching! Also, when soils are abused or not managed well enough, the health and productivity of the soil deteriorates. A great example of this is the Dust Bowl that happened in the 1930's. Before it occurred, farmers and ranchers broke up and tilled the soil to excessively. That mixed with a severe drought and high winds resulted in major soil erosion and health decline. In order to keep our soil and environment healthy, we need to understand how to manage our soils.