Agriculture

Although more than half of the world’s population depends on agriculture for their source of livelihood, farmers account for only 2 percent of the American workforce. At the same time, however, American farms produce more than a quarter of the world’s wheat and corn, and America ranks as the third leading exporter of rice. This inverse relationship between the number of farmers and their high yields reveals the degree to which agriculture continues to be influenced by modern technological innovations in transportation, communication, and the biological sciences.

After World War II, returning soldiers often left their rural homes and migrated to the cities to pursue urban professions; by 1960 the number of farmers had fallen by nearly 40 percent. Despite this massive loss of farm workers, the expanse of American farmland remained relatively stable, declining only 4 percent, and in 1960 the average size of each farm increased by almost a third to 303 acres. The trend continued for every decade after; the number of farm workers fell by a third, the total acreage of farmland declined by only 4 or 5 percent, and the average farm grew by 10-20 percent. By 1990 there were 4.5 million farmers (2.6 percent of the labor force) who worked 987 million acres (13 percent less than in 1960) with an average farm size of 461 acres. Increasingly, much of this farming took place on corporate-owned farms, leased to individual farmers. During this same period, the average yield per farmer increased nearly 300 percent: one farmworker in 1965 could produce enough food and fiber for 35 people; by 1993 a single worker provided for more than 100 people. Because of the importance of agriculture to the American economy, the United States government aided farming through farm subsidies, funding for agricultural research, purchase of surplus agricultural products distributed through the food stamp program, and foreign trade policies.

Since World War II, agriculture in the United States has experienced a silent revolution. The more obvious innovations in personal computers often obscure the more mundane advances in agriculture and animal husbandry. The unpredictable nature of weather and ecology guarantees an element of risk in any farming endeavor. As early as the 1950s, agricultural scientists tried to limit the extent of that risk by experimenting with genetic engineering of crops to ensure higher yield, greater tolerance to heat and frost, and greater resistance to insects and disease. One way to increase yield is to shorten the maturation cycles of a given crop; for example, the shorter growing period of dwarf varieties of rice allow for an additional growing cycle per year. Another way to increase yield is to increase the size and amount of product, for example, more ears of corn per stalk, or more quarts of milk per cow. Other modifications of crop tolerances have allowed grain sorghum, which was originally a tropical plant, to be grown as far north as North Dakota. Moreover, the higher tolerance to temperature and moisture fluctuations compounded

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By the stronger resistance to insects and disease also help ensure consistently higher yields. The farming community generally recognized the significance of these scientific innovations, and by 1970 more than 850,000 students were enrolled in agricultural education courses outside of the farmstead.

During the 1960s and 1970s, scientists relied primarily on controlled mating systems; the desired traits that occur naturally in two or more species of plant are transferred to a more commonly cultivated species through cross-pollination to form new hybrids. Over successive generations, the desired traits are enhanced while the undesirable traits are extinguished. Beginning in the 1980s, developments in genetic engineering allowed scientists to manipulate traits directly at the chromosome level. This opened the way for hybrids between species that would otherwise be incompatible through the natural mating process. Given the enormous genetic variability that exists throughout the plants in the world, the number of possible combinations is virtually unlimited.

Other innovations in communication and transportation have directly influenced agriculture. The interstate highway system helped liberate farmers from dependence on a fixed rail system and further expanded the range of available markets. An increase in all-cargo airplane routes during the 1970s was especially helpful for farmers dealing in fresh fruit or vegetables. By the 1980s agriculture was becoming specialized on a global scale. Developing nations no longer had to rely on diverse crop production, and could instead focus on the crops best adopted to their climate. Though the United States exports more than $50 billion a year in agricultural products, it still imports $37 billion a year in other specialty goods. The advances in transportation allow Israeli farmers to sell fresh tomatoes in Alaskan markets with no noticeable degradation of quality.

Similarly, innovations in personal computing technology during the 1990s enabled farmers to more precisely manage their planting, fertilizing, and harvesting schedules. Dedicated computing instruments are included in most farm implements, and can be easily taken to each farm site for direct analysis. These advances allow fewer farmers to manage larger operations; in 1965 it took corn farmers five labor-hours to produce 100 bushels of wheat, but by 1987 it took half that time. Larger farms are more economically efficient because they can arrange for volume discounts in purchasing grain, seed, or fertilizer. They can also arrange more stable markets by contracting directly with processors, thus avoiding the middle distributors. In addition, large farms typically require smaller investments in machinery per acre.

This push toward greater economies of scale has forced American farmers to adopt more sophisticated methods for procuring the necessary capital investment. Land remains

Participants at a protest organized by Farm Aid officials to raise awareness of the plight of family farms in America (Smith/Getty Images)

The greatest single expense for farmers; the total worth of farm assets was $861.5 billion in 1992, with real estate accounting for $671 billion of that amount (78 percent). As a result, many modern farmers rent the land they manage, rather than own it directly. Another strategy avoids the costly investment in specialized farm equipment through outside contracts for specific services. A modern American farmer might rent his land; contract an airplane operator to seed, fertilize, and apply herbicide and pesticides; and contract a neighbor farm to harvest his crops. Ranchers employ similar contracts for sheep shearing, dehorning, or artificial insemination of their livestock.

Agriculture in America has experienced significant changes toward greater specialization and intensive devel-opment—not all of which have been welcomed by the American public. During the mid-1960s, Cesar Chavez organized 60,000 migrant farmworkers in California in an attempt to ensure higher wages and benefits. Through a series of strikes, boycotts, and marches, Chavez forced growers to sign union contracts with the labor supply. In 1970 he called on consumers to boycott grapes until the growers agreed to his demands, and an estimated 17 million Americans stopped buying grapes. In 1975 California governor Jerry Brown signed the Agriculture Labor Relations Act, which established collective bargaining for farm workers throughout California.

To the general public, Chavez helped create a public image of “corporate farmers” who exploit workers and small family operations to reap greater profit. During the 1980s, many farmers fell into heavy debt and were forced to sell their farms. Statistically, the decline in farmworkers remained the same as had been experienced in each previous decade, but since most of those who left during the 1980s were forced out by debt rather than by choice, the farm “crisis” assumed greater proportions in the public eye. Country singer Willie Nelson organized three Farm Aid concerts to benefit indebted farmers from 1986-88. In 1990 Congress responded to the rise in farm bankruptcy by passing the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act to increase farmers’ flexibility in planting while still allowing government support and subsidies.

Another area of public discontent stems from the new scientific methods of production. Starting as early as the 1960s, but becoming ever more vocal in the 1990s, several naturalist groups formed to protest modern farming techniques. Originally inspired by the use of toxic pesticides during the 1960s, modern natural food advocates often oppose the use of any artificial fertilizers, special growth hormones, or biogenetic engineering. They argue that modern farming techniques promote cancers and may produce other disease and deformities. Many animal rights advocates oppose all meat and dairy production as examples of cruelty to animals. Lobbying efforts by these activists, consumer advocates, and other interest groups led to more stringent Food and Drug Administration regulations for processing plants, and the passage of stricter truth-inlabeling laws. These changes encouraged meat and dairy associations to pursue more aggressive advertising campaigns. With the exception of a slight increase in the number of local farmer’s markets, the public discontent has had little impact on the general trend in American agriculture.

Agriculture remains the basic element upon which every civilization must depend. Modern agriculture in the United States has evolved into a highly sophisticated and specialized industry requiring a decreasing percentage of total resources. Though science and technology may contradict the traditional images of a pastoral rural society, they remain an intricate part of farming today.

See also ECONOMY; IMMIGRATION.

Further reading: Randal S. Beeman and James A. Pritchard, A Green and Permanen-t Land: Ecology and Agriculture in the Twentieth Century (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2001); M. C. Halberg, Economic Trends in U. S. Agriculture and Food Systems since World War II (Ames: Iowa State University Press, 2001).

—Aharon W. Zorea