Commodity crops are continuing to eat up the vast, near-mythical sweep of North American grasslands, with nearly 2 million acres being plowed under every year, mostly for corn, soybeans and wheat, according to new research.

A survey, published this month by researchers at the World Wildlife Fund, analyzes for the first time the breadth of grasslands across three countries, from the Chihuahuan Desert in Mexico, across the Great Plains and other American regions, up to the Prairie Provinces of Canada. Using region-specific datasets, the researchers found a cumulative loss of about 1.8 million acres in 2023—roughly twice the size of Chicago.

Already the United States has lost roughly 70 percent of its grasslands to agriculture and development. These ongoing annual losses nibble away at the iconic landscape, which has seen fewer protections than other ecosystems, including forests. Advocacy groups say grasslands are the most imperiled ecosystems in the world.

“Grasslands get overlooked,” said Suzy Friedman, a senior director who oversees Great Plains policy at WWF. “They are not recognized for the value and benefits that they provide for agriculture, for carbon, for water quality, for wildlife, for recreation and for being a foundational and critical component for countless rural communities and tribal communities.”

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