PLOW PRINT 2022 REPORT

In 2020, approximately 1.8 million acres of grasslands were converted to cropland across the Great Plains, with 385,000 acres lost in the Northern Great Plains. For the first time since the report's inception, wheat has replaced corn as the primary crop driving this loss across the entire region. While the 2020 conversion rate was lower than the five-year average, nearly 10 million acres have been plowed since 2016. The report highlights policy mechanisms for conservation, including the North American Grasslands Conservation Act and the 2023 Farm Bill, and notes the threat of woody-encroachment as a significant, though separate, driver of grassland loss.

• In 2020, nearly 1.8 million acres of grasslands were destroyed across the US and Canadian Great Plains, with 385,000 acres specifically plowed for cropland in the Northern Great Plains.
• Since 2016, a total of nearly 10 million acres of grasslands have been plowed across the Great Plains region.
• Wheat has become the leading crop driving annual grassland loss across the entire Great Plains, surpassing corn for the first time in the report's history. In 2020, wheat accounted for 24.0% of crops on converted acres across the Great Plains and 43.8% in the Northern Great Plains.
• Woody-encroachment, defined as the expansion of non-native shrubs and trees like eastern red cedar, is a significant threat to grasslands. A cited study indicates that since 1999, woody plants have increased on over 108 million acres in the western US, an area 2.3 times the size of Nebraska.

APA

WWF International (2022). PLOW PRINT 2022 REPORT. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/642/9ufzp89wfj_PlowprintReport_2022_Final_e.pdf

Chicago

WWF International. PLOW PRINT 2022 REPORT. 2022. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/642/9ufzp89wfj_PlowprintReport_2022_Final_e.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=WWF International |title=PLOW PRINT 2022 REPORT |date=2022 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/642/9ufzp89wfj_PlowprintReport_2022_Final_e.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wwfinternational2022plow, author = {{WWF International}}, title = {{PLOW PRINT 2022 REPORT}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2022}, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/642/9ufzp89wfj_PlowprintReport_2022_Final_e.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }