THE FARM INDEX—A PROPOSED ADDITION TO THE SAFE INDEX

The SAFE (Strategic Assessment of Florida's Environment) index is an environmental measurement system that covers five areas, i.e., air quality, surface water quality, groundwater quality, water quantity and use, and natural resource protection. For each area, indices have been developed that encompass that area. It appears that another area may help reflect the impact of Florida's expanding population, i.e., the Farm Index. Florida's expanding population must be housed in some way, and it would appear that this is done at the expense of farm land given up for development. Total farm acreage in Florida was obtained from statistical sources and presented in chronological order. The index was calculated as before with 1969 taken as a base year (1969 value = 100). A major problem was obtaining consistent data because the definition of "farm" changed several times over the years.