🏜️ A closer look at how land loss, development, and food futures collide—here in Texas and around the world

“Isn’t growth a good thing?”

That’s a fair question. And with Texas so large and always booming, it can feel like there’s plenty of land to go around. If cities are expanding and we already produce so much food, maybe losing some farms isn’t a big deal?

The truth is, it’s complicated—but it really is a big deal.

Across Texas—and the world—we’re finding out that when farmland disappears, it leaves behind a bigger gap than most people realize.

🌎 First, This Isn’t Just a Texas Problem

1. The U.S. lost 11 million acres of its best farmland between 1992–2012—land near cities, with rich soil and access to markets.
2. If trends continue, we’ll lose another 18 million acres by 2040—an area larger than South Carolina.

Source: American Farmland Trust, “Farms Under Threat” (2020)

1. Globally, farmland and topsoil are disappearing due to sprawl, erosion, and overuse. The UN estimates 33% of soil worldwide is already degraded—putting food production at risk for billions.

Source: UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

📍But Texas? It’s Losing Farmland Fast

In just the past 25 years, Texas has lost 3.7 million acres of working land—much of it to development. Over 1.8 million acres vanished in just the last five years.

Source: Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, Texas Land Trends Report (2022)

In fact, American Farmland Trust calls Texas farmland "the most threatened in the nation".

And the land that’s being lost? Often it’s near cities, where farmland is most productive and most at risk of being paved over for parking lots, subdivisions, or shopping centers.

🌿 Why That’s a Problem

💧 1. Farms Do More Than Feed Us

Working land provides natural services: filtering water, absorbing floods, storing carbon, supporting wildlife. When we pave it, we don’t just lose food—we lose function. These benefits are worth trillions globally, and cost billions to replace with human-made infrastructure.

🚜 2. Not All Land Is Created Equal

Sure, we produce a lot of food—but it’s not just about volume. It’s about location, quality, and resilience.

1. Having farmland near cities shortens supply chains, meaning fresher, higher-quality food and better resources in times of crisis
2. Farmland can contain prime soils that grow more food with less effort; growing in convenient areas doesn't always produce as well
3. Local farms diversify the system and reduce reliance on distant mega-farms

Once this land is gone, it’s lost for generations—or forever.

💸 3. Shrinking Farms Struggle

Texas is seeing a surge in fragmented farms—smaller plots that are harder to manage and harder to profit from.

1. Many family farms can’t break even on under 100 acres
2. Losing scale means losing long-term viability

Source: Texas A&M University

🏘️ 4. Development Without Balance Creates Imbalance

We all need housing and jobs. But most new development in Texas is low-density sprawl, which:

1. Uses more land per person
2. Increases runoff, heat, and infrastructure costs
3. Doesn’t replace the ecosystem or economic role that farmland played

Source: American Farmland Trust

🌱 What We Lose When We Lose Farms

1. Fresh, local food you can trace to the grower
2. Hands-on learning for families and schools
3. Rural economies built on stewardship, not speculation
4. Cultural continuity and connection to land and tradition

Farming is more than production. It’s people, place, and purpose.

🌱 What You Can Do

This issue is bigger than a blog post. It touches food, environment, housing, equity, culture, and the choices we leave to future generations.

If this matters to you, here are some ways to get involved:

🗳️ Support Policy & Advocacy Groups

These organizations work every day to protect farmland, promote smart growth, and influence policy:

1. American Farmland Trust – A national leader in farmland protection, climate-smart agriculture, and policy reform. Their Farms Under Threat report maps land loss across the U.S.
2. Texas Land Conservancy – Protects land across Texas through conservation easements and land stewardship partnerships.
3. Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute (NRI) – Provides research and data on Texas land trends, guiding smarter land use decisions.
4. Land Trust Alliance – Supports a national network of local land trusts that conserve millions of acres.

👣 Make Local, Tangible Choices

1. Visit farms in your area—not just for fun, but to keep them viable. Ask about how they’re managing land pressures.
2. Talk to local leaders about land conservation in city planning.
3. Shop from farmers’ markets, CSAs, and regional food systems.
4. Tell your stories. If a farm visit changed how you think about food or land, share that. It matters.

💚 Where Delve Fits In

At Delve, we’re proud to support small Texas farms through immersive experiences that connect people to the land—not just for fun, but to build relationships, empathy, and support.

Booking with us directly helps farmers diversify income, share their stories, and keep land in production—but more importantly, it helps people like you see the big picture and care more deeply about protecting it.

We’re not the leaders of this movement—we’re part of it.