JEFFERSON CITY (AP) - Missouri counties with some of the state's best cropland declined in population over the past decade.
Almost half the counties north of the Missouri River have fewer residents than were living there in 2000, and several Bootheel counties along the Mississippi River in the southeastern part of the state also lost population. It is a swatch of rural Missouri suited well for growing crops, although some people have drifted out.
Population figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau show that some of the most significant population losses were in Atchison County in the northwest corner on the Iowa and Nebraska border, in Carroll County along the Missouri River in the central region and in Pemiscot County in the Bootheel.
All three counties had much of their farmland classified in the state's top categories for cropland, according to a 2004 survey from the State Tax Commission. More than 80 percent of the cropland in Atchison County was rated in the four highest categories while Pemiscot County in the far southeastern corner had around 96 percent.
For tax purposes, Missouri farms are divided into eight groups based on land quality, with the best in the low Grade 1 category and the worst in the higher Grade 8 category.
In all, about half the farmland in counties that lost population over the past decade was in the four highest grades. In counties that added people since 2000, most of the farmland was in the lowest three grades.
Despite soil good for crops, Pemiscot County lost about 1,700 people or nearly 9 percent of its population. Atchison County's population declined by more than 11 percent or by 745 people, which was the sharpest population decline in Missouri. In the 2000 census, Atchison County also led the state with a more than 13 percent population drop during the 1990s.
Kent Fisher, a county commissioner in Atchison County since 1997, said it did not feel like the area was in decline and that a new hospital was completed there this fall. Fisher said sales tax collections increased last year and that much of the population loss this decade likely stemmed from the closing of a juvenile facility in Tarkio.
"I don't think anyone would have believed you if you were saying that we were in decline because that's not the attitude that we have here," Fisher said.
Demographics also seem to have played some role.
Sherry Palmer, manager of MFA Agri Services in Linn County, moved to north-central Missouri from Kansas City a couple decades ago. She said some older farmers have died, and that others have retired from farming and then held an auction to rent out land. Plus, many younger residents have gone to more urban areas seeking jobs after graduation.
"Back in the 1980s, when the older farmers retired or passed away, the farming operation went on to the younger generation, but the younger generation now has moved away," Palmer said.
Most of the counties in Missouri that lost population this past decade were in rural areas. However, St. Louis County and St. Louis city accounted for more than three-quarters of the total population loss by counties since 2000. St. Louis city decreased by 29,000 people, and St. Louis County dropped by 17,000 people.
Meanwhile, some of the fastest growing areas since 2000 were in southwestern Missouri counties, though several counties in the St. Louis-area north of the Missouri River also had significant growth rates.
The fastest growing was Christian County between Springfield and Branson, which increased by 43 percent. Neighboring Taney County grew by 30 percent.
Among those who have come to southwest Missouri is Lou Lapaglia, who lives near Nixa after moving to Christian County eight years ago from St. Louis County. Now the county's presiding commissioner, Lapaglia said expansion has been steady but not overwhelming. He said the growth has led to new theaters, groceries and tractor supply stores while the county also has competed for other economic development opportunities.
"It's just a nice place to live with the growth," he said.