"We wanted to preserve our agricultural industry and 80 percent of our remaining farmland."

About 10 percent of the region's farmland is irrigated, allowing intensive farming in those regions.

Another 40 percent of the county's farmland is used for horticulture, livestock, fruit and hay .

The wall separates the village from 60 percent of its farmland.

These farms accounted for 5.2 percent of the country's farmland.

Mr. Davis predicted that without the boundary, 75 percent of the area's farmland would be lost in the near future.

Thirty percent of the nation's farmland was reported to be eroding excessively.

Scenic Hudson, a preservation group, bought development rights to about 16 percent of the town's farmland in 1998, ensuring a future with open vistas.

Four percent of the nation's farmland was cultivated by state farms, which employed 4.9 million people in 1985.

Until this decade, crop insurance, which began in 1938, was limited to 26 crops on 10 percent of the nation's farmland.