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USDA Says Farmland In Ky. Is Shrinking

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says farms and land devoted to farming in Kentucky has drastically decreased in recent years.

The Census of Agriculture says between 2007 and 2012, Kentucky had the greatest percentage decrease in farmland of any state in the U.S.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports farmland declined in the state over that time by 943,000 acres, or 6.7 percent. The number of farms in Kentucky also declined, from 85,260 in 2007 to 77,064 in 2012.

Daniel Smaldone, a spokesman for Kentucky Farm Bureau, says the state probably saw a decline because some land was unproductive and some was intentionally rotated out of production.

Other states with the largest percentage declines in farmland were Alaska (5.4 percent), Georgia (5.2 percent), Mississippi (4.6 percent) and Wisconsin (4.1 percent).

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