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Underlying the data in this chapter is one of the epic stories in world history. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries powerful forces continuously reshaped American agriculture. A hallmark of the nineteenth century was the settlement of the continent with the addition of hundreds of millions of acres of farmland and millions of farms and farmers. In the twentieth century, the amount of farmland changed little, but the growing gap in opportunities between the farm and nonfarm sectors led to a massive exodus from America's farms. In the 1950s alone, more people moved off farms than resided on farms in 2000. Over the course of the past 200 years, mechanical and biological innovations dramatically increased farm productivity and changed the nature of farm work. At the new millennium, the typical farm worker produced more than fifteen times as much output as did a worker in 1900. New transportation and communications technologies – such as railroads, automobiles, surfaced roads, telephones, radios, and televisions – significantly reduced the distance between farm and urban life. Along with these changes, improvements in the storage and handling of goods and the growth of urban populations broadened the market for farm goods, creating incentives for farmers to specialize. With this came an increase in farm size and income, along with a growing dependence on nonfarm inputs in the production process. Until the 1930s, American agriculture closely approximated the competitive ideal of a large number of producers who were subject to the dictates of the marketplace. This changed in the 1930s as the federal government responded to prolonged agricultural crises by dramatically increasing its role in the farm economy.
The data presented in this chapter documenting these enormous structural, demographic, and economic changes are crucial to our understanding of the past and to our ability to develop appropriate policies for the future. Throughout most of human history, and even in large parts of the world today, the dominant concern has been how to produce enough food and fiber to feed and clothe the population. Unlocking the causal relationships that explain the sources of productivity growth in American agriculture remains one of the important intellectual challenges of our time. This task requires a better understanding of such issues as the linkages between the scientific research community and the farm sector, and of the role of market forces and government policies in the invention and diffusion of new technologies. To grapple with all of these issues, measurement and data are called for.
Agriculture is no stranger to controversy, especially regarding distributional questions and labor market institutions. The information presented in this chapter offers a valuable starting point for the study of such complex issues as the prevalence of tenancy and sharecropping in the American South, the decline in the number of family farms, and the distribution of government support payments. The series on the output and prices of specific crops and livestock provide the basic data for our understanding of the health and performance of the farm economy. The sections dealing with farm structure, productivity, and government policy provide the data or raw materials for analyzing the transformation and integration of the American farm sector over the past two centuries.
The five essays that follow offer an overview of the major trends in American agricultural development. Table Da-A draws on issues relevant to all five to provide a unifying overview of key landmarks in American agricultural development. This table highlights scientific and technological breakthroughs, the course of labor productivity, and important legislative changes. Together these developments have revolutionized rural life and farm productivity.
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