The number of farms globally will shrink in half as the average existing farm size doubles by the end of the century, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Colorado-Boulder. The study tracks the number and size of farms year-over-year from the 1960s and projecting through 2100.
Zia Mehrabi, an assistant professor of environmental studies at UC-Boulder, said the study shows a turning point from widespread farm creation to widespread consolidation on a global level. Farm size and the number of existing farms are associated with key environmental and social outcomes, he said.
Mehrabi used data from the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations related to agricultural area, gross domestic product per capita and rural-population size of more than 180 countries. He used the data to reconstruct the evolution of farm numbers from 1969-2013 and then to project those numbers through 2100.
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