2. Agricultural Use: Pre- and Post-Conslruclion 



What has happened to agriculture in the flood-control reservoir areas since 

 acquisition of the land by the federal government and construction of the 

 dams? Is there more or less agricultural production? To answer these 

 questions in detail requires a comparison of measurements made at the 

 two points in time. Comparison of conditions for these two periods must 

 deal with an unusual situation. The pre-construction agricultural production 

 was carried out by individuals operating farm units typical of the local 

 situation. In the post-construction condition, private holdings have been 

 consolidated under federal ownership and a certain portion leased for 

 agricultural use under competitive bidding. 



In this situation a complete farm and tract survey would be the best 

 means of making a comparison of conditions. However, such a pre-con- 



A field forint'rlv pit:! of a large and produdive iariii in ihe traiiklin I'alls 

 area. Hay yields declined to about one-fourth of immediate post-construction 

 level in a decade v/ith little or no treatment. A new lessee planned to plant 



silage corn. 



struction survey was not made of the farms and tracts in the reservoir areas, 

 although some data were obtained in the process of land appraisal and 

 acquisition of the sites. It was therefore necessary to develop a methodology, 

 using all data available to approximate a complete farm and tract survey. 

 A detailed discussion of the method developed and the source and types 

 of data used are given in Appendix I. 



In comparing agricultural production from the reservoir in two periods, 

 it must be recognized that many trend changes would be expected over 

 a time period of 15 to 20 years. In the case of Franklin Falls, Blackwater, 

 ^ad Surry Mountain, the time period extended from about 1938 to 1955, 

 while for the Edward MacDowell Reservoir it extended from about 1948 

 to 1955. 



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