642 



steam and later with internal combustion engines) , chemical fertilizers 

 and pesticides, aircraft to sow seed and spread chemicals, and mechani- 

 cal contrivances to convert many different crops into standardized 

 marketable units. Among the most important of technologies were the 

 discoveries in plant and animal genetics. 



As a consequence of technology, agriculture in the United States 

 became increasingly divided into two distinct categories : one was an 

 industrial business and the other a precarious way of life, yielding 

 barely enough product with Government assistance to maintain the 

 capital and the soil. 



At first, the numbers of farms increased as land was opened to pur- 

 chase, homesteading, and subdivision of unmanageable land grants. 

 This process continued up to around 1935, when the number of farms 

 peaked at 6.8 million. Thereafter the number started to decline to 3.7 

 million in 1962, with 1 million forecast by 1980. Significantly, the num- 

 ber of farms of 1000 acres or larger rose from 29,000 in 1880, to 81,000 

 in 1930, and to 131,000 in 1954." "By 1959 these big units, which were 

 only 3.7 percent of all farms had acquired 49 percent of all the land 

 and their average size had reached 4,048 acres — more than six square 

 miles apiece." They averaged annual sales of $94,000, had an average 

 value of $220,000, and produced almost one-third of all crops and live- 

 stock. By 1963, the top three percent of all farms was producing more 

 than the bottom 78 percent.*'^ 



POLITICAL, AND ECONOMIC TRENDS 



The political role of the farmer and the response of the Congress to 

 the needs of the farmer appear to have been affected by the techno- 

 logical revolution in agriculture. Around 1800, something like 90 per- 

 cent of all citizens of the United States lived on farms. Much of the 

 legislation between 1800 and 1900 had a rural or agricultural bias, 

 including the Northwest Ordinance, creation of the Department of 

 Agriculture, the land grant colleges, the Homestead Act, railroad 

 land grants and subsidies, the Interstate Commerce Commission, and 

 sustained support for agricultural research. 



But urbanization began to take its toll before the end of the century. 

 By about 1890, the Nation was divided 50-50 between urban and rural 

 populations, and thereafter the disproportion proceeded swiftly. By 

 1970 it was approaching 95 urban and five rural. Concern for the 

 non-agricultural sector was indicated in the creation of Departments 

 of Commerce, Labor, and Housing and Urban Development. 



The gross value of agricultural production in the United States 

 climbed steadily throughout the latter half of the 19th century — from 

 $4.1 billion annually during the decade 1869-1878 to $8.4 billion in the 

 years 1897-1901. Thereafter, it remained fairly constant through 1936 

 ($9.8 billion), and then began to creep upward again, reaching $14.1 

 billion in 1955.*^^ It is interesting however, to compare farm and non- 

 farm productivity during these years. (See table 1) 



81 "Series K 61-72. Farms and Land ia Farms, by Size of Farm : 1880 to 1954." In. U.S. 

 Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census. "Historical Statistics of the United States. 

 Colonial Times to 1957." (Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1960), page 279. 



^2 Edward Higbee. "Farms and Farmers in an Urban Age." (New Yorli, The Twentieth 

 Century Fund, 1963), page 3. 



*• "Series F 44^8. Gross Domestic Product Originating in Private Farm and Nonfarm 

 Sectors and Government, in 1929 Prices : 1869-1955." In "Historical Statistics of the 

 United States : Colonial Times to 1957." op. cit., page 140-1. 



