Farmland shrinking in Northeast Ohio

CLEVELAND (AP) — The latest agriculture census shows northeast Ohio is rapidly losing its remaining farmland.

The region lost nearly 100,000 acres between 2002 and 2007, when one out of every five arable acres disappeared, the Census shows.

Lorain County saw more than 37,000 acres pulled from agricultural production, the second-largest drop in Ohio. Medina County shed more than 27,000 acres to rank seventh.

The two counties combined accounted for more than 10 percent of the state’s lost farmland.

“When you drive around in the summer, you just don’t see the corn waving as much,” said Andy McDowell, who works for the Western Reserve Land Conservancy in Lorain County.