The National Land Cover Database shows that agricultural land in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin dropped from 150,312,467 to 148,716,812 acres between 2001 and 2021. That represents a decrease of almost 1.6 million acres, and development was responsible for 55% of the lost ground.

In Iowa, development accounted for 90% of the lost farmland. However, Illinois lost the largest amount of farmland at 155,653 acres. Almost 80% of this lost land can be attributed to urban expansion.

This loss of agricultural land has been a long-standing topic. Central to this issue is the expansion of large urban areas.

Read more on farmland being lost to development here.