Irrigated farmland lost ground to large new urban increases as the California Dept. of Conservation's Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program conducted its 1998 biennial land use inventory. This inventory of agricultural and urban land use covers 44.1 million acres of the state's private and public land. The inventory covers 48 counties, 46 of which have modern soil surveys, and represents approximately 90% of the agricultural land in the state. Chapters: summary and analysis; important and interim farmland tables; regional conversion summary 1996-1998 and 1998 regional acreage summary; farmland of local importance definitions. Charts, tables and maps, some in color.