Where Water and Land Meet Agriculture affects broad swaths of
Missouri’s land- thousands of watersheds and millions of acres-
and it has a major impact on our environment. Cropland,
ranchland and timber are major land uses in our state. Because
the Missouri Coalition for the Environment advocates for the
health of our environment, we engage the forces that shape the
land in our state, impact our food supply and our water.
Missouri is a Rural State… With nearly 39 million rural acres,
Missouri ranks 13th in the nation for rural land acres- that’s
about 87% of the state’s land area. Agriculture dominates our
landscape. It also affects our state’s politics. Missouri has
nearly 6 million mouths to feed with the bulk of the population
living in urban areas. Nearly 70% of Missouri’s people live on
just 2.6% of its land. The Census Bureau’s most recent estimate
places Missouri’s rural population in 2009 at 1,564,967; about
26% of the state’s estimated 5.9 million people. Because
agriculture dominates our landscapes