Milestones in U.S. Farming and Farm Policy
Carolyn
Dimitri
Anne Effland
U.S. agriculture underwent a tremendous transformation
during the 20th century—the structure of
farming and rural life today barely resembles
that of the early 1900s. A comparison of six basic
agricultural indicators across the century reveals
a dramatic transformation of the U.S. agricultural
sector. Snapshots of five points in time—1900,
as the century opened; 1930, as the Depression
began; 1945, as World War II ended; 1970, as the
post-war economic expansion began to wane; and
2000/02, on the brink of a new century—serve
to highlight key milestones of change in U.S.
farming and farm policy during the 20th century.
100
years of structural change in U.S.
agriculture |
|
|
1900 |
1930 |
1945 |
1970 |
2000/02 |
|
Number of farms (millions) |
5.7 |
6.3 |
5.9 |
2.9 |
2.1 |
Average farm size
(acres) |
146 |
151 |
195 |
376 |
441 |
Average
number of commodities produced per
farm |
5.1 |
4.5 |
4.6 |
2.7 |
1.3 |
Farm share of population
(percent) |
39 |
25 |
17 |
5 |
1 |
Rural share of population
(percent) |
60 |
44 |
36(1950) |
26 |
21 |
|
|
|
------------
Percent ----------- |
Off-farm
labor* |
na |
100
days |
27 |
54 |
93 |
|
na=not
available.
*1930, average number of days worked
off-farm; 1945, percent of farmers
working off-farm; 1970 and 2000/02,
percent of households with off-farm
income.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Census
of Agriculture, and Census of Population,
various issues, 1900-2000; USDA Census
of Agriculture, 2002; and B. Gardner,
American Agriculture in the Twentieth
Century, 2002. |
|
Integration of farming into the wider economy,
1900–30
New
farming technologies and growing demand for consumer
goods drew agriculture and farm households into
a more integrated relationship with the general
economy. Farm household use of purchased farm
inputs and household goods, such as cars and radios,
often required increased use of credit, and market-determined
commodity costs and prices became more critical
to farm profitability and farm household well-being.
Agricultural producers received high prices through
most of this period, due to domestic demand fueled
by an increasingly urban population and by export
demand spurred by World War I. A sharp drop in
export demand following the war triggered a price
collapse in 1920-21 that continued through the
decade and led to widespread farm bankruptcies
and an economic crisis in the agricultural sector.
In response, political efforts began in the 1920s
to secure government policies to improve access
to credit and to support agricultural prices that
would enhance farm incomes.
National crises and the foundations of Federal
farm policy, 1930–45
Economic
distress in the agricultural sector in the 1920s
was followed by the Great Depression in the 1930s,
leading to unprecedented government intervention
(via the New Deal) in the form of emergency programs
for both the industrial and the agricultural sectors.
The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, effectively
the first farm bill, launched the New Deal’s
emergency farm programs. The act’s goals
were to raise prices for farm products and protect
the equity of farmers in debt. Relief and structural
adjustment programs addressed the problems of
marginal farms and rural poverty. The Soil Conservation
and Domestic Allotment Act of 1936 reflected a
new interest in soil conservation, simultaneously
establishing programs to improve farm incomes
and protect soil resources. Renewed demand generated
by World War II improved farm prices by 1945,
and U.S. agriculture entered a sustained period
of productivity gains.
Structural transformation of the farm sector,
1945–70
By
1970, animal power on farms had given way to tractors
and other machinery for farm production processes.
Advances in productivity through mechanization,
plant and animal breeding developments, and new
chemical fertilizers and pesticides led to fewer,
larger, more specialized farms and a massive migration
out of farming. Farm families increasingly sought
income and opportunities from off-farm work, facilitated
by a diversifying rural economy. Productivity
increases led to commodity surpluses in government
warehouses, the result of loan programs that allowed
farmers to forfeit commodities in lieu of repayment
when prices fell. Commodity policies were adjusted
to reduce buildup of surpluses, while new policy
approaches, such as food assistance and the soil
bank programs, sought to increase demand and reduce
supply in ways that simultaneously addressed such
concerns as poverty and soil conservation.
Globalization and new stakeholders in agriculture,
1970–2000/02
Over
the last three decades, agriculture worldwide
became increasingly integrated. While exports
continued to account for 20-30 percent of U.S.
farm income, U.S. farmers faced new challenges,
including the emergence of new foreign competitors
and trade tensions over new technologies and food
safety assurances. At home, new stakeholders joined
the farm policy debate, as consumers became increasingly
concerned about food safety, nutrition, food variety
and quality, and food prices, and environmental
interests worked to bring environmentally friendly
production methods to agriculture. The food industry
responded with increased use of contracting and
supply chain coordination to ensure supply and
quality control. Government expenditures on food
and nutrition programs and natural resource conservation
increased, and commodity policy shifted toward
greater market orientation, with the 1990 farm
bill giving growers greater planting flexibility
and the 1996 farm bill basing payments on historical
production rather than current output.
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