A History of American Agriculture

Randi Swandaru (LNS Presentation Class)

Background

•Food comes from agriculture •Talks about

Agriculture is a matter of life or death(Soekarno, 1963)

Farmers & Land

Farm Economy

Corps & Livestock

Farmers & LandNo Year Population % of Labor Force1 1790 3,929,214.00 902 1840 9,012,000.00 693 1850 23,191,286.00 644 1860 31,443,321.00 585 1870 38,558,371.00 536 1880 50,155,283.00 497 1890 62,941,714.00 438 1900 75,994,266.00 389 1910 91,972,266.00 3210 1920 105,710,620.00 2711 1930 122,775,646.00 2112 1940 131,820,000.00 1813 1950 151,132,000.00 12.214 1960 180,007,000.00 8.315 1970 204,335,000.00 4.616 1980 227,020,000.00 3.417 1990 261,423,000.00 2.6

A Significant Change!!!

1790

1850

1870

1890

1910

1930

1950

1970

1990

0

20

40

60

80

100

% Farming to Total Labor Forces

Significant Years•1845-55

Potato famine in Ireland and the German Revolution of 1848 greatly increase immigration

•1887-97Drought reduces settlement on the Great Plains

•1940sMany former southern sharecroppers migrate to war-related jobs in cities

•1991Farm entrepreneurial population: 5,024,000

Farm Economy• 18th century

Northern farmers produce a variety of crops and livestock; Southern plantation agriculture concentrates on export

crops.• 1850-61

The South, with its primarily agricultural economy, is politically strong

• 1889-1919Farm prosperity

Farm Economy• 1910s

Farm credit is a steadily growing rural issue• 1920

Collapse of agricultural prices• 1932

Farm prices and income reach Depression bottom • 1950

Large agricultural surpluses

Farm Economy• 1966

Federal minimum wage extended to some farm workers • 1972

Russian wheat sale brings higher farm prices• 1980s

Farm financial crisis affects farmers with heavy debt loads • 1996

Net farm income reaches a record $54.9 billion

Corps & Livestock• 17th and 18th centuries

New crops from Europe include clover, alfalfa, timothy, small grains, and fruits and vegetables;

• 1805-15Cotton begins to replace tobacco as the chief southern cash crop

• 1849First poultry exhibition in the United States1874-76

• Grasshopper plagues in the West.,1877 U.S. Entomological Commission established for work on grasshopper control

• 1900-20Extensive experimental work to breed disease-resistant varieties of plants,

Corps & Livestock• 1910-20

Grain production reaches into the most arid sections of the Great Plain

• 1930-35Use of hybrid-seed corn becomes common in the Corn Belt

• 1945-55Increased use of herbicides and pesticides

• 196096% of corn acreage planted with hybrid seed

• 1990sBiotechnology brings important new developments in dairy, corn, and other commodities; genetically engineered crops and livestock appear

Conclution

•America is a big market for 3rd world countries

Decreasing Number of Farmers

& Land

Farm Economy

Corps &

Livestock

Citation•Crops & Livestock

http://www.agclassroom.org/gan/timeline/crops_livestock.htm

•Farmers & Land http://www.agclassroom.org/gan/timeline/farmers_land.htm

•Farm Economy http://www.agclassroom.org/gan/timeline/farm_economy.htm

Thank You