Agriculture in USA

At the edge of an endless forest we see small family farms. In the distance, farmers behind horses and plows till the soil. At this moment, in early 19th century America - families labor on the farm, producing food, building materials, even clothing - for their survival or subsistence. If a farm produces more than it consumes, it can be traded for what they can’t produce, it’s a surplus. These people are poor subsistence farmers. “Oh no!

We’re living the American Dream!” You know, he might be right? Around the 1820’s, 90% of the US population lives and works on farms. As the US grows through the 19th century, many of these farmers settled farther west beyond the crowded east. Finding cheap land, they grow garden crops like corn, beans, wheat and raise hogs and dairy. Hoping to get by another year.

Generally, small farmers don’t produce cotton, sugar or tobacco which require much land, labor and investment. These crops are grown at plantations and sold to global markets - they’re commodity crops. The founders of the United States believe small family farms will strengthen the US.. making people more independent and economically self-reliant... ...often called “The American Dream.” Through agriculture, the US is an early major player in the global economy. Before the US Civil War 1861-1865, gigantic plantations worked by slave labor, successfully produce high amounts of commodity crops, like cotton.

But following the Civil War, slavery is abolished. And the US plantation system and commodity markets lost a free workforce. In the northern states factories, the industrial revolution steams ahead. Inventors focus upon mechanical automation of agriculture and transportation, replacing the loss of human labor with machines. By 1900, The US spans from the Atlantic to the Pacific containing most possible growing zones.

40% of the population work on farms and one american farmer produces enough agricultural products to feed four people. The agricultural mechanization of farming starts an agrarian revolution: animal traction is replaced by trucks and tractors, combine harvesters take over the farm work of many. Advances in deep well drilling and damming rivers bring new possibilities to the desert west. From California to Texas irrigation turns the driest deserts into highly productive growing zones. But, growing water needy crops like almonds, cotton, wheat and citrus in the desert cost...

Irrigation depletes the aquifers and rivers of water. After World War II, agriculture goes high-tech. Scientific research develops new synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. In the 1980’s scientists create seeds that grow faster, with higher tolerance to drought and - better yields - genetically engineered seeds. Today, one american farmer produces enough food to feed 166 people.

Now, less than 2 percent of the population work with farming. About 20 percent of the US area is cultivated. In addition, around 25 percent are pastures. This means that almost half of the country's surface is used for food production. And, one third of the farmland is used to produce food and agricultural products for worldwide export.

Making the United States the world's largest exporter of wheat, corn, soybeans and cotton. Throughout the US, most people left the countryside for city life a long time ago. called urbanization. Farms - like efficient standardized factories, grow larger and larger in scale, and are often owned by large multinational corporations. What farmers remain, look more like machine operators, truck drivers or scientists.

And plowing a field is now a lonely air-conditioned job.