Agricultural Acres Down Significantly Over Last 100 Years

 

According to Vegetable and Specialty Crop News, “Agricultural acres have dropped dramatically over the last 100 years throughout the Southeast. According to stacker.com, Georgia and Alabama were two of the top four states to see their farm land decrease the most.” The loss has come as farmlands have shifted to new housing developments as well as commercial uses. Fortunately, efficiency and yield have improved our productivity, which means we have been able to feed more people with less acreage. You can read more at https://vscnews.com/agricultural-acres-down-southeast-100-years/.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.