1. Food, Land & People in a Changing America
The story of American Agriculture
Debra Spielmaker

2. Geography, the Climate and Land
Deep well drained topsoil, prime agricultural land.
Temperate climate, moderate temperature, and adequate rainfall.
What is agriculture?

3. Early America, the Food and Land
Food production harvesting techniques of Native Americans
Three Sisters: Corn, Squash, and Beans
Pumpkins, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Peanuts, Sunflowers, Cotton, Pineapples & Blueberries
Farming and Traditions, Green Corn Ceremony
Crop and livestock production

4. America, the Food and Land
Today, almost half of the world’s food crops come from the plants that were first grown in the Americas.

5. Early America the Fiber and Land
Plant leaf and stem fibers
Cotton
Indians knew how to weave cotton
1600s southern colonies grew this crop on a small scale for self sufficiency
1700s Cotton is grown on a larger scale in southern colonies

6. America, the People the Land, and a New Economy
Indians lived a sustainable life.
New colonists in Jamestown were forced to work on the farms if they wanted to eat (the preferred looking for gold).
Tobacco production allowed the Virginia colony to succeed and establish a stable form of government.

7. Hearts and Minds
“There seems to be 3 ways for a nation to acquire wealth: the first is by war...this is robbery: the second by commerce, which is generally cheating: the third by agriculture, the only honest way...”
Benjamin Franklin

8. Transformed America, the Food, Land and People
Significant events creating the most progressive culture in the world!
Columbus introduces calves,
goats, sheep, pigs, hens, fruit,
and old world vegetable seeds.
English colonists plant grain,
potatoes, pumpkins, and melons.
Indians teach Jamestown
settlers how to grow corn.

9. Hearts and Minds
“I know of no pursuit in life in which more real and important services can be rendered to any country than by improving its agriculture, its breed of useful animals, and other branches of a husbandman’s care.”
George Washington

10. Transformed America, the Food, Land and People
- First Negroes arrive at Jamestown.
U.S. Ambassador Ben Franklin
sends soybean seeds back
from France.
George Washington breeds the
first mules in the U.S.
Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin.
Thomas Jefferson invented the
moldboard plow.
Whiskey Rebellion: western
farmers revolt against a grain tax.
Farmers make up 92% of the population, of 5 million.

11. Hearts and Minds
“Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most wedded to its liberty and interests, by the most lasting bonds.”
Thomas Jefferson

12. Transformed America, the Food, Land and People
1803 – Louisiana Purchase, a port for
American farmers.
Cotton replaces tobacco as the main crop in the south.
Beginning of the “Industrial
Revolution.
U.S. canning industry started.
Erie Canal finished.
Sheep and wool industry emphasized.
1830 – 275 labor hours to produce 100 bushels of wheat (5 acres)

13. History and Technology
Cotton Gin

14. Southern Dependency A burial description…
“The grave was dug through solid marble, but the marble headstone came from Vermont. It was a pine wilderness but the pine coffin came from Cincinnati. An iron mountain overshadowed it by the coffin nails and screws and the shovel came from Pittsburgh…A hickory grove grew nearby, but the pick and shovel handles came form New York…That country, so rich in underdeveloped resources, furnished nothing for the funeral except the corpse and the hole in the ground.”

15. History and Technology
Spinning Mill

16. History and Technology
Transportation Erie Canal

17. Hearts and Minds
“Every nation should … be able to feed and clothe and defend itself. If it rely upon a foreign supply that may be cut off…it cannot be independent. “
Henry Clay

18. Transformed America, the Food, Land and People
Cyrus McCormick invented the grain reaper, and the concept of paying installments or buying on credit.
Grain combine patented.
John Deere manufactures steel plow.
Sir John Laws founded the
commercial fertilizer industry
by developing a process for
making superphosphate.
Rembert & Prescott developed
a mechanical cotton picking
machine.
1845 – 1855 Great Potato famine in Ireland.

19. Transformed America, the Food, Land and People
Michigan and Pennsylvania established
the first state agricultural colleges.
Mason jars, used for home canning.
President Lincoln creates the first
Department of Agriculture and
the Morrill Land Grant College Act.
Homestead Act give 160 acres to
settlers who will farm the land for five years.
Barbed wire invented.
Utah State University
Established 1888

20. Land Distribution Land Acts Sale Prices Size of Tract
Ordinances of
$1 per acre
640 – acre tracts
Act of 1796
$2 per acre
Act of 1800
320 – acre tracts
Act of 1820
$1.25 per acre
160 & 80 acre tracts
Preemption Act of 1841
(grants to railroads &canals at $2.50 per acre)
Graduation Act of 1854
From 12.5 cents per acre to $ 1 per acre, depending on value
Homestead Act 1862
Free Homesteads
160 acre tracts

21. Transformed America, the Food, Land and People
Transcontinental railroad completed.
Pasteurization invented.
Refrigerator railroad car patented.
Milking machine invented.
Automatic milker, 2000
Farmers make up 58 % of the population.
labor hours to produce 100 bushels of wheat on 2.5 acres

22. Patterns of Conflict and Economic Turning-Points
Fiber (wool) production and textile mills (dependence on England’s mills).
Conflicts with Indians
Tobacco to Cotton, late 1700s
Farm profits and depression

23. 1880’s
First hybrid crop developed – corn (greatly increased yield and quality)
First pesticide discovered (Bordeaux mixture increased crop yield & quality)
Federal Hatch Act (established agricultural experiment stations nationwide)

24. 1890’s
First gasoline tractor built (agriculture’s greatest achievement)
Boll weevil invades U.S. cotton (forced farmers to diversify & improve land management)
Rural Free Delivery (mail service to farmers improved communication)

25. 1900’s
George Washington Carver found new uses for peanuts (agricultural expansion and diversification)
Hog cholera serum developed (first commercial animal health product)
First agricultural extension agent hired (dispersed agricultural research)
4-H Clubs established (first effort to educate rural youth in agriculture)
Food & Drug Act/Meat Inspection Act (forced improved livestock production methods to insure food safety)

26. 1910’s
Disease resistant plants developed (improved crop yield and quality)
Mechanical combine developed (threshed crops on the move to harvest more acres faster)
American Farm Bureau organized (national farmer organization)
Smith-Lever Act (formally established cooperative extension service)
Smith-Hughes Act (established agricultural education in public schools)

27. 1920’s
Small tractors developed (mechanized agriculture on small acreages)
Future Farmers of American founded (agricultural youth leadership organization)
Agricultural research lays groundwork for second agricultural revolution

28. 1930’s
Artificial insemination of dairy cattle became commercially feasible due to development of liquid nitrogen (improved animal genetics)
Rural Electrification Association founded (made electricity available to rural America and began the move to electrical equipment)
Farm Credit Act passed (provided money for lending to farmers)

29. 1940’s
Agricultural pesticide use becomes commercially feasible (improves crop production and efficiency)
Mechanized cotton picker developed (reduced need for manual labor)
End of the “sharecropper” era – agriculture becomes a business

30. 1950’s
Anhydrous ammonia becomes available (greatly increased crop yields)
Screw worm eradicated by release of sterile male flies (first application of biotechnology in agriculture)

31. 1960’s Improved quality of life for Rural America
83% of farms have telephones
98% of farms have electricity
98% of farms have automobiles
American farmers experience great prosperity

32. 1970’s
High-yielding wheat varieties developed (increased ag exports & wheat acreage expansion)
Hog cholera eradicated (first successful elimination of disease in livestock)

33. 1980’s
Computer use in agriculture (decision-making, equipment control, marketing, communication)
Boll weevil eradicated (first successful use of scientific research and biotechnology to eliminate a crop pest)
Embryo transfer in cattle perfected (permitted rapid genetic improvement in livestock)

34. 1990’s
Genetic engineering developed (used in crops in livestock to improve production and decrease pesticide use)
Precision agriculture using GPS technology (more efficient use of fertilizer and pesticides to reduce cost and pollution)

35. 2000’s
What’s Next?
Almost 99 percent of all U.S. farms are owned by individuals, family partnerships or family corporations. Less than 1 percent of America's farms and ranches are owned by non-family corporations.
About 94 percent of U.S. ag products sold are produced on farms that are owned by individuals, family partnerships and family corporations. Non-family corporations account for only about 6 percent of U.S.ag product sales.
In 1935, the number of farms in the United States peaked at 6.8 million.
Today, there are 2.13 million farms dotting America’s rural landscape. Texas had the most farms (229,000) in 2003, followed by Missouri (106,000), Iowa (90,000), Tennessee (87,000), Kentucky (87,000) and Oklahoma (83,500).

36. 2000+ More of the same (improvements in current technology)
Digital animal identification
Biofuel use in farming
Intense water management
E-Commerce
Food security
Organic agriculture
Who knows?????
In 2002, the average age of a farmer was 55.
There were 236,269 farms operated by women in the United States in 2002, a 12.6 percent increase from 1997.
There were 50,443 farmers of Spanish, Hispanic or Latino origin in the United States in 2002, a 51 percent increase from 1997.
There were 29,145 black farmers in the United States in 2002, a 9 percent increase from 1997.
In 2002, there were 7,913 multiple race farmers in the United States.

37. Ethanol
With a record production of 2.81 billion gallons of ethanol in 2003, 1 billion bushels of corn and 12 percent of the grain sorghum crop were used to produce fuel for our vehicles. In 2003, 73, ethanol plants were in operation in the United States, with 14 new plants under construction.

38. Introduction of Precision Agriculture
Yield Monitors
Cotton
Peanuts
Wheat
The picture is an example of what a yield map would look like after you collected data.

39. Variable Rate Irrigation
VRI is a way to control the amount of water that is applied to a field.

40. Precision Agriculture
Plant Breeders are working hard to create better and higher yielding crops.
GPS, Global Positioning Systems have become a helpful tool in Agriculture.

41. Precision Agriculture
Soil Electro-conductivity monitors.
Disk electrodes are move through the soil and collect clay content, soil texture, and amount of salts

42. Food, Land and People = Agriculture
Does agriculture have a different definition today than 250 years ago?
What do you think Ben Franklin, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson would say about agriculture today?
How did these men shape our American culture and our future?
Is agriculture as important today as in 1776? 1877?

43. What is Sustainable Agriculture? Marty Baker Co-State SARE Director
Answer: “Sustainable” includes many types of agriculture

44. Sustainable Ag: The Official Definition
“...All agricultural production systems and practices which are economically viable, environmentally sound, and socially acceptable ...”

45. Sustainable Ag: Official Definition
“. . . and which contribute to a better quality of life for agricultural producers and their families and the general public.”
--Texas Cooperative Extension Sustainable Agriculture Strategic Plan

46. Sustainable Production
Farm profitability
Environmental stewardship
Quality of life for farm families and rural communities

47. Sustainable Goals Sustain economic viability
Sustain environmental stewardship
Sustain social responsibility and quality of life

48. Sustainable is Not Always Organic
But it is innovative

49. When is Agriculture Sustainable?
Maintains a diverse ecosystem
Reduces environmental impacts
Minimizes pest problems
It has to be profitable

50. Sustainability is
A goal
A direction
A guiding principle

51. Is Sustainability a Philosophy or a Set of Practices?
Sustainability has to be adaptable and supportive of community environments

52. Sustainability is Profitable
Includes production and processing
Business concepts and marketing

53. Sustainable is Environmental Management
Soil management
Crop management
Livestock management
Water management
Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

54. S.A.R.E. & the Texas Program
SARE = Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education
Mutual goal of both programs is to teach technical skills and to provide information

55. And Don’t Forget Marketing…
Most sustainable operations fail not from poor production practices but from lack of marketing
Photos by Robert Burns