Farmland: Urbanizing it into oblivion

Re: “Preservation agenda hurting farmland,” (TNT letter, 11/24).

The letter writer would like to blame liberal minnows and their legions of supporters for the loss of thousands of acres of farmland. But these people are aware that we’re in the middle of one of Earth’s largest species die off, and they don’t want to become another extinct specie, despite the best efforts of folks who want to burn, plow, dig and cover the earth into oblivion.

Stephen Hawking, one of Earth’s most brilliant minds, gives us about 1,000 more years before humans have used up everything here that supports life.

As to the conservative untruth that liberals are at the root of disappearing farmland, a much better source of information is the American Farmland Trust, an organization created by farmers for farmers. It states that the No. 1 reason for disappearing farmland in California is urbanization and land development.

Worldwide, about 5,000 acres of cropland are lost to soil salination every day. Hawking may be overly optimistic.

This story was originally published December 13, 2016 at 4:54 PM with the headline "Farmland: Urbanizing it into oblivion."