Agricultural Field in the Great Plains Region of Montana

Agricultural fields and an abandoned farmstead in eastern Montana in the Great Plains region. The Great Plains region of the United States has experienced significant land-use change since European settlement, with vast swaths of grasslands converted to agricultural lands. Access to water, technological changes, a growing biofuels industry, fluctuating demands for agricultural products, and government policies have resulted in periodic historical shifts in land use in the region and may drive major land-use changes in the next several decades. Land use and land management in the region have significant implications for carbon storage and greenhouse-gas fluxes.