GRASSLANDS GET SQUEEZED AS ANOTHER 1.6 MILLION ACRES GO INTO CROPS

As the year winds down, NPR is looking at a few key numbers that explain the big trends of 2013. Today's number: 1.6 million. That's 1.6 million acres – about the area of the state of Delaware. That's how much land was removed this year from the federal Conservation Reserve Program, or CRP, which pays farmers to keep land... (read more)