PEORIA, Ill. — In Chillicothe, Ill., a Peoria County community of 6,000 residents surrounded in three directions by agricultural properties and bordered on the east by the Illinois River, some residents are worried about a commercial solar farm under development on the town’s western outskirts. The former agricultural land, which is currently being re-graded for erosion control by Whiting, New Jersey-based Mill Creek Renewables, was a recent topic of hot discussion on the town’s social media forums, with some expressing sadness and concern at the loss of prime agricultural land. 

The development is, of course, representative of a larger trend of farmland-to-development rezonings across Illinois and the Midwest. Using what is likely the best available dataset, economists at the University of Illinois and Ohio State University have determined that 55 percent of the 1.6 million agricultural acres lost across the Midwest since 2000 can be credited to development. The majority of the agricultural land lost to development was classified as being located on the fringes of large urban areas, according to researchers Mujahidul Islam, Ani Katchova and Carl Zulauf. 

The report from the University of Illinois and Ohio State University confirmed that solar and wind farm developments are not the primary culprits in farmland acreage losses. “If a desire exists to reduce the loss of agricultural land to development, it must address the expansion of large urban areas,” the authors concluded.

“Within the context of conversion to development, the role of large urban areas is paramount as 81 percent of agricultural land lost to development in the eight states (studied) occurred within Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs),” the authors wrote in their August 5, 2024 article,  “Agricultural Land Lost to Development in the Midwest.” (farmdoc daily (14):144, Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois). The eight states considered for the study were Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin.

According to satellite images and other cartographic data gleaned from the National Land Cover Database (NLCD), the researchers determined that from 2001 and 2021, agricultural land in the eight Midwestern states decreased from 150,312,467 acres in 2001 to 148,716,812 acres in 2021, a total decline of 1,595,655 acres. Of the agricultural land lost, 877,386 acres (55 percent of 1,595,655) were converted into developed land, likely due to urbanization, infrastructure expansion or other development activities. Other uses included conversion to forest, barren land, open water or grassland. 

“When measured as number of acres, Illinois had the highest amount of agricultural land lost to development (155,653 acres), followed by Indiana (133,243 acres) and Wisconsin (128,679 acres). Michigan, Missouri, and Iowa lost the least number of agricultural acres to development at 52,629, 85,424, and 87,592, respectively,” the report stated. 

Considering the share of agricultural land in the Midwestern states lost to development in MSAs, Illinois was again the leader at 89 percent. Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin joined Illinois in losing over 80 percent of their agricultural land to development within MSAs. 

“The highest number of acres converted from agricultural to developed land was the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin MSA, with 92,673 acres converted,” the authors reported. “The MSA with the second highest loss of agricultural land to development was the Minnesota MSA of Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington at 65,754 acres, followed by the Indiana MSA of Indianapolis-Carmel Anderson at 61,919 acres.”

Will County (part of the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin MSA) had the largest amount of agricultural land converted to development at 31,566 acres, accounting for 20 percent of the total ag-to-development conversion in the state. Within Illinois, the metro St. Louis area had the second-most ag land lost to development (15,740 acres) and Rockford was third (8,225 acres). 

The second-highest overall region for MSA land loss was Polk County, part of Iowa’s Des Moines-West Des Moines MSA, which lost 19,664 acres. The third-highest loss was 18,068 acres in Hamilton County within Indiana’s Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson MSA. 

In Peoria County, Illinois, zoning commissioner Andrew Braun reported three active permits for erosion control on land sited for future solar farm development that were active on September 10, 2024, including the Chillicothe project. The two other projects are for adjacent solar farms in Radnor Township that should produce sufficient power for 2,200 homes.

“Since 1998, we’ve had 59 rezonings approved from some form of agricultural zoning district to another district. Unfortunately, our report doesn’t list acreage,” Braun said. A perusal of the list of Peoria County rezonings shows the majority of the applications, especially the older ones, were for development of subdivisions, condominiums, storage yards and business expansions. 

American Farmland Trust (AFT) reported in 2022 that America’s farm and ranch lands are rapidly disappearing. According to AFT, each state faces a choice: let poorly planned development of farmland redevelopment continue or work to safeguard more farmland through better land-use planning and additional farmland protection tools. 

AFT’s report, “Farms Under Threat 2040,” utilizes high-resolution spatial analysis tools to identify exactly where agricultural land has been converted to urban and low-density residential land uses. The report also anticipates future threats.

Minnesota lost about 180,000 acres of ag land between 2001 and 2016, according to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDOA). By 2040, the state is on track to lose about another 300,000, Minnesota Public Radio reported. 

MPR noted that while losing farmland is a concern for the state, solar energy projects make up only a “very small percentage” of the actual loss of prime farmland. This is according to Michael Zastoupil, MDOA agricultural and food systems planner, who said that residential development is the main driving cause in farmland loss. 

“Cities expanding in particularly low density residential development, or suburban sprawl, is probably the number one factor. Another factor is actually just that there are a lot of retiring farmers out there that don’t know who they’re going to pass on their farm to,” Zastoupil said.