Technological change has diminished land's share in the value of agricultural production. But, Federal acreage reduction programs have supported lands share in the value of production, mitigating the rate of decline due to technological trends. The rate at which land-saving technical change occurs increases with acreage diversion programs because they induce artificial scarcity. Acreage controls restricting land as a factor in crop production have transferred both benefits and cash payments to

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... andowners through capitalization into land values. The analysis supports the notion that the relative importance of farmland and agriculture in a nation's economy will decrease over time.