PLOWPRINT

WWF's 2023 Plowprint analysis reveals that 1.6 million acres of grasslands in the US and Canadian Great Plains were plowed in 2021, contributing to a total loss of 32 million acres since 2012. The report identifies crop insurance subsidies and biofuels policies as primary drivers of this conversion. To combat this, WWF recommends that the US Congress use the Farm Bill to strengthen the Sodsaver provision, expand the Grassland Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), and protect Inflation Reduction Act funding. Additionally, the report supports the North American Grasslands Conservation Act and amendments to the Renewable Fuel Standard to ensure biofuels do not incentivize the conversion of native sod.

• In 2021, plow-up destroyed 1.6 million acres of grasslands across the US and Canadian portions of the Great Plains, with over 400,000 of those acres located in the Northern Great Plains region.
• Since 2012, when WWF began tracking the region, a total of 32 million acres of grasslands have been converted to plowed land.
• The most common crops planted on converted acres in 2021 across the Great Plains were wheat (27%), corn (18%), and soy (17%). In the Northern Great Plains specifically, wheat accounted for 40%, corn 18%, and soy 10%.
• Land ownership patterns in the Northern Great Plains show that 80% of Tribal lands, 97% of public lands, and about 70% of private lands remain as intact grasslands.
• The conversion of grasslands is driven largely by policy-based incentives rather than a need for more food production, specifically crop insurance premium subsidies and biofuels policies; many converted acres are used for non-food crops like biofuels.
• The Central Grasslands Roadmap (CGR) identifies 700 million acres of Central Grasslands across Canada, the US, Mexico, and Indigenous Lands, categorizing them into core grasslands (435 million acres), vulnerable grasslands (186 million acres), and converted/altered grasslands (134 million acres).

APA

WWF International (2023). PLOWPRINT. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/672/6wlbsmxokc_PlowprintReport_2023_final.pdf

Chicago

WWF International. PLOWPRINT. 2023. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/672/6wlbsmxokc_PlowprintReport_2023_final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=WWF International |title=PLOWPRINT |date=2023 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/672/6wlbsmxokc_PlowprintReport_2023_final.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wwfinternational2023plowprint, author = {{WWF International}}, title = {{PLOWPRINT}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2023}, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/672/6wlbsmxokc_PlowprintReport_2023_final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }