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12 - The Transformation of Northern Agriculture, 1910–1990

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2008

By
Alan Olmstead  and
Paul Rhode
Edited by
Stanley L. Engerman  and
Robert E. Gallman
Alan Olmstead
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
Paul Rhode
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Stanley L. Engerman
Affiliation:
University of Rochester, New York
Robert E. Gallman
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
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Summary

INTRODUCTION

American farms and farmers ”ain’t what they used to be.” To start with, there are not so many of them. In 1910, 32 million people, comprising 35 percent of the nation’s population, lived on 6.4 million farms. By 1990 only 1.8 percent of the U.S. population (4.6 million people), remained on America’s 2.1 million farms. Although dwindling in numbers, the remaining farm work force is highly productive; in 1990, the typical farm worker produced fifteen times as much as his counterpart in 1910. Over this period, the differences between farmers and non-farmers have diminished, so it is now difficult even to define either the farm sector or who is a farmer. Today one-half of people who work on northern farms do not live on farms, and one-half of the people who live on farms work off farms. In 1989 the average income per northern farm was $46,500; but 51 percent came from non-farm sources and another 12 percent from government payments.

Powerful forces have reshaped northern agriculture. Mechanical and biological innovations dramatically increased farm productivity and changed the nature of farm work. The transportation and communication revolutions integrated the farm with the rest of society. The growth in non-farm wages put enormous pressure on agricultural labor markets. And twenty years of depression forged a new farm policy. In 1910 northern agriculture closely approximated the competitive ideal; today it is a highly regulated industry. Federal programs originally justified as emergency measures have proven very difficult to end as Jefferson’s once resourceful farmers have become dependent on government handouts.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Economic History of the United States , pp. 693 - 742
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2000

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