NRI publishes Status Update and Trends of Texas Working Lands 1997-2022

The new Texas Land Trends program report Status Update and Trends of Texas Working Lands 1997–2022 celebrates over two decades of applied research and extension outreach at the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute (NRI). Since its inception, the program has been an important resource in understanding the complex landscapes of Texas’ working lands—farms, ranches, and forests increasingly threatened by rapid population growth.

“In this cycle, we examine new patterns and identify trends following the release of the Census of Agriculture datasets by the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service,” said Roel Lopez, Ph.D., director of the NRI. This most recent report both specifically describes the status and recent changes in land values, ownership patterns and land use of privately-owned Texas working lands and shows on a larger scale how Texas has changed over the last 25 years.” Lopez said some highlights of the report relate to the areas of population growth, changing land values, ownership size and working lands.

Population Growth

Texas contains eight of the top 15 most rapidly growing cities in the nation. From 1997 to 2022, the Texas population increased 55% from 19 million to 30 million residents or nearly 1,100 new residents per day. Eighty-eight percent of the population increase occurred within the state’s top 25 highest growth counties.

Land Values

As with previous Texas Land Trends reports, the largest increases in land values were observed in proximity to major metropolitan areas. The average state-wide market value of Texas working lands rose 55% since 2017, from $1,951/acre to $3,021/acre, and more than 500% over the last 25 years.

Ownership Patterns

Texas lost over 17,000 operations in the last five-year period, though still has almost 2,500 more operations than in 1997, totaling over 230,000. Average ownership size increased from 509 to 541 acres between 2017 and 2022. Small farms and ranches of less than 100 acres in size represent 60% of all ownerships but only account for 3% of the land devoted to working lands in 2022. Larger operations over 2,000 acres in size saw the sharpest five-year decline in the last 25 years with more than 1,000 operations lost between 2017 and 2022.

Working Lands

From 1997 to 2022, Texas saw approximately 3.7 million acres of working lands converted to non-agricultural uses. There was a conversion of nearly 1.8 million acres in the last five-year period alone. Accounting for most working lands in the state, grazing lands have steadily decreased since 1997, losing about 6.7 million acres to other land uses over the 25-year period. In contrast, wildlife management acres have significantly increased in recent years, growing from about 94,000 acres in 1997 to approximately 7.1 million acres in 2022.

“The report shows as Texas continues to grow in population and economy, the demand for rural land, especially in areas surrounding major urban centers and transportation corridors, will continue to increase and have long-term impacts on working lands,” Lopez said. “Lands across the state are following much of the same trends in ownership fragmentation and conversion in the last five-year period as have been observed since 1997.”

He also noted population growth and increasing land values are creating incentives for landowners to subdivide and sell their land. He said it’s important for us to acknowledge that the benefits from working lands go beyond the economic benefits they provide from general agricultural production in the form of crops, livestock, timber and more.

“Open spaces in Texas also provide valuable ecosystem services that we rely on for everyday necessities, such as air and water quality, carbon sequestration and wildlife habitat,” he said. “Fragmentation and conversion of working lands diminishes the natural processes of healthy ecosystems, creates an increased financial burden to mitigate impacts and elevates pressures on remaining open spaces to provide these services for growing urban areas.”

Lopez said the future conservation of working lands is directly linked to private landowners who strategically steward these properties. “Informed conservation and urban planning efforts should include and engage with these landowners as well as explore methods to incentivize the continued stewardship of working lands in Texas over the next 25 years and beyond,” Lopez said.

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