Not only is there less farmland in Virginia than ever before, but it’s disappearing at a faster rate than ever before.

A Census of Agriculture report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that Virginia lost 521,000 acres of farmland from 2002 to 2007, the largest decline in the past 20 years. That’s more than the combined land area of Richmond and the counties of Chesterfield and Henrico.

Virginia, despite its farmland losses, is still farmland rich. It still has a little over 8 million acres in farmland.

[Read](http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/business/agriculture/article/FARMMAIN26_20090425-232405/264044/ “Read the Article”) (Richmond Times-Dispatch)