I agree with Randy. Although in MT we've often lots of wild vegetation, often native prairie, interspersed amongst croplands, in many parts of other states, that's not the case.
Many intensely farmed areas have ittle or no field margins, hedgerows, barrow pits, etc. Large farms are taking out hedgerows and wind breaks. Some specific examples: in some parts of eastern WA, fields are tilled on very steep slopes, and the ground is tilled right up to the pavement, leaving no margins at all. In the corn belt, there are sometimes islands of riparian zones, but in some states we found miles of roads beside corn fields, where we ssaw the margins btw the roads and field either being mowed or sprayed with herbicides. In Central Valley and Imperial valley of CA, not only did we see what Randy reports, but many areas - one field runs right into another, the only break being either a dirt, gravel, or paved road.
As an aside, with respect to the value of field margins, my uncle got through the Great Depression, with its droughts, and grasshopper plaques in eastern MT with his ranch and cattle herd intact. He deliberately left wide margins go wild and to 'weed'. When the grasshoppers and crickets hit, they did damage to his grazing land and crops, but the hoppers and crickets concentrated much of their feeding these margins, helping to conserve his hay fields and rangeland.
He was also innovative - when things got very bad, he noticed lots of Prickly Pear Cactus on his rangeland. Because of the spines, his cattle won't eat it. So, Uncle Willie set up a backpack with tanks filled with kerosene; and each day, Willie walked his rangelands, torching the prickly pear. The fire and heat burned off the spines. His cattle herd followed behind, eating the fleshy pads of the Prickly Pear as soon as it cooled down.
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