American farmer

“ In general it has paid the American farmer better to cultivate crops like cotton and wheat, which are peculiarly adapted to the conditions of soil, climate, and labor in the United States, rather than those crops which can be grown as well or better abroad. ”

“ Not only since its inception in 1840 has this industry contributed to the supply of plant food, which in the end means human food, but it has noted the wasteful methods of agriculture being practiced, unconsciously frequent, in many parts of this country, and it has put forth continuous efforts along the lines of educating the American farmer to grow larger yields of better crops, to maintain and increase the fertility of the soil, and increase the average yield per acre. ”

“ In the beginning of the nineties, one of the leaders of the Farmers’ Alliance, Senator Peffer, wrote as follows: ‘The American farmer of to-day is altogether a different sort of man from his ancestor of fifty or a hundred years ago. A great many men and women now living remember when farmers were largely manufacturers ”

“ A period in which the annual corn crop increased to almost one billion bushels, and wheat and oats were each above the 170 million bushel mark. In 1860, almost 21 million dollars' worth of agricultural implements were sold to the American farmers. The old, hard method of farming was due for the discard, and along with the new farmer and his vision of agricultural conquest came the farm hand. The Civil War closed this period and the whole country faced a readjustment of its ideas to suit the fact that the industrializing process was invading every avenue by which the people lived. ”

“ It's no secret that American agriculture is facing hard times. And it's particularly painful to know that those affected are among our most productive and hard-working citizens. American farmers are the backbone of our country. ”

“ In this Country, however, the direct and practical bearing of these experiments on the every-day business of the farm is not fully appreciated, and this is perhaps largely owing to the fact that the American farmer is owner of the soil he tills, and is not therefore compelled to give that strict attention to every detail of the economy of farm management that is essential to the successful practice of farming in Great Britain. ”

“ Insects and mildews and unexpected heats may blast a whole harvest, and the farmer has nothing to fall back upon. He may make more money, for a time, by raising wheat exclusively; but he impoverishes his farm. He should raise cattle and sheep and grass and vegetables, as well as wheat or corn. Then he is more independent and more intelligent, even as a nation is by various industries, which call out all kinds of talent. ”

“ The farmers therefore are the founders of human civilization." We pause each year at this time to express our gratitude to American farmers and the millions of Americans working in agriculture-related jobs, and we recognize the importance of agriculture and the essential role that farmers play in our national life. Intertwined with our national history, culture, and economy, American farms continuously sustain us and people around the world with rich produce and crops. Thanks to the professionalism and care of American farmers, we enjoy an abundance of quality and affordable food. ”

“ This awakening is due not merely to the desire of agriculturists to be in fashion, nor to the efforts of agricultural pedagogues, but to a real need. It is common knowledge that in America we have not farmed, but have mined the soil. We have "skimmed the cream" of fertility, and passed on to conquer new areas of virgin soil. This pioneer farming has required hard work, enterprise, courage, and all the noble traits of character that have made our American pioneers famous and that have within a century subdued a wilderness to civilization. But the farmer of today faces a new situation. ”

“ American farmers and ranchers are the heart and soul of America and they represent the determined, self-reliant character of our Nation. We are proud of American agriculture and we recognize agriculture's critical role to our Nation's bright future. ”

“ B——, to visit the bounty lands. Traveled to Milton, a small town over the American bottom, twenty miles. This soil cannot be surpassed in fertility by any land upon the globe. Eighty and 100 bushels of corn to the acre are common crops without any labor except that which is necessary in planting. This, in truth, is the promised land—the land that flows with milk and honey. Stock in any quantities may be raised free from expense, and every article made by the farmer commands as high a price as in Philadelphia, and a more ready market. ”

“ Intensive systems of farming that must be adopted to adjust American agriculture to present needs means a larger working capital for the farmer, he must use more labor, more commercial fertilizers, better seed and he must drain his land. ”

“ American farmers, ranchers, and their families are dedicated to producing crops and livestock that not only feed the American people, but also have become increasingly important to the global economy. ”

“ As a rule, American farmers are well-to-do, not only earning a good living for their families, but constantly extending their holdings. Their farms are increasingly well improved, stocked, and supplied with labor-saving and efficient machinery. ”

“ The farm hand of today is no longer the potential equal of his employer, and all the old show of social equality is rapidly disappearing; only in the backwoods sections can it yet be found, and there the farm hand is usually the son of a neighboring farmer and therefore carries the status of his father. ”

“ He owns more than a score of horses, cows, and mules and swine in large numbers, and is considered a prosperous farmer. In college the son of this farmer has studied chemistry, botany, zoölogy, surveying, and political economy. In my conversation I asked this young man how many acres his father cultivated in cotton and how many in corn. With a far-off gaze up into the heavens he answered that he did not know. When I asked him the classification of the soils on his father's farm, he did not know. ”

“ The new necessities of the farmer gave him a new view of his industry and in his effort to meet the new situation he turned to agricultural societies, fair associations and the scientific breeding of live stock, all of which were of wonderful assistance in the development of the country by demonstrating its resourcefulness. ”

“ The Census of 1920 shows that hardly thirty per cent of the people are today engaged in agriculture, the basic industry of the United States, as compared with perhaps ninety per cent when the nation began. Yet American farmers, though constantly diminishing in proportion to the whole population, have always been, and still are, able to feed themselves and all their fellow Americans and a large part of the outside world as well. They bring forth also not merely foodstuffs, but vast quantities of raw material for manufacture, such as cotton, wool, and hides. ”

“ Instead of creating an era of small farms, the tendency is for the big farmer to finance further purchases of land through the credit banks, and these are a decided tendency towards concentration. The "Land Trust" is well upon the way.
The universal application of machinery to agriculture has definitely industrialized farming and created three distinct classes in the rural regions—the farmers, the tenants, and the laborers. ”

“ The trapper, hunter, and explorer had gathered most of their harvest, and the ranchmen and cowboys with their herds of cattle were roaming the great grazing areas, waging war on thieves, land syndicates, and finally going down to defeat in the contest with the small farmer who fenced off the fertile fields and planted his homestead there. ”

“ The rapid rise of the factory system in the North, due to the use of steam and a flood of labor saving inventions with a consequent transfer of home industries into the shops, the invention of agricultural machinery such as the reaper, mower, thresher, etc., the extension of the railway system and the development of the prairie states caused an era of specialization which transferred agriculture into the commercial stage. Crops were now grown primarily for the market and incidentally for the use of the farmer and his family, a reversal of the former process. ”

“ The general farmer is now taking the place of the range men as the breeder and feeder of cattle. Better methods are producing more and better cattle and, despite the trustification of the slaughtering business by the packing interests, the raising and finishing of "block" cattle is a most attractive side of modern farming. ”

“ America's farmers and ranchers help feed the world, fuel our Nation's economy, and lead global markets in output and productivity. The efficiency of American agriculture has provided this country with abundance our ancestors could not have imagined. ”

“ The gigantic scale on which wheat-raising is here conducted 10would seem incredible if faithfully described to an old-time New England farmer. The improvement which has been made in machinery connected with sowing, reaping, harvesting, and threshing grain enables one man to do as much in this western country as a dozen men could accomplish twenty-five or thirty years ago. There are wheat farms here embracing twenty thousand acres each, where economy in labor is of the utmost importance, and where the employees are so numerous as to be kept under semi-military organization. ”

“ American agriculture is a modern-day miracle. In the last 30 years, United States farmers have increased productivity by 50 percent. Now, fewer than 4 percent of our population provides our Nation's agricultural products-and enough more to feed millions of people overseas. ”

“ Laws were made to establish a gradation of ranks; but it was soon found that the soil of America was entirely opposed to a territorial aristocracy. To bring that refractory land into cultivation, the constant and interested exertions of the owner himself were necessary; and when the ground was prepared, its produce was found to be insufficient to enrich a master and a farmer at the same time. The land was then naturally broken up into small portions, which the proprietor cultivated for himself. Land is the basis of an aristocracy, which clings to the soil that supports it; ”

“ While America has changed from an agricultural to an industrial society, the American farm has remained a vital thread in the fabric of our national life. Farmers and ranchers exemplify the values on which our country was founded`hard work, faith, family, and devotion to community and to the land—and they have made American agriculture a leading global industry and a source of pride for our Nation. ”

“ If they can be kept upon the farm until or unless they are prepared for a higher class of work, it will be the greatest possible boon to American farming. Agriculture suffers in this country peculiarly from the scarcity, the instability, and the high cost of labor; and unless it becomes more abundant, less fluid, and more efficient compared to its cost, intensive farming, as practiced in Europe, will scarcely be possible in the United States. ”

“ With each season, America's farmers demonstrate anew our ability to persevere and thrive. The great traditions of hard work and determination that have consistently characterized American agriculture will help our Nation envision a rich harvest of plenty for the twenty-first century. ”

“ Throughout our Nation's history, America's farmers and ranchers have provided us with an abundant, affordable supply of food and fiber. As we prepare to enter the 21st century, we recognize that rural America will continue to be a cornerstone of our national prosperity. Generating more than 22 million jobs and contributing a trillion dollars each year to our economy, American agriculture is one of our most important and productive industries. ”

“ Every grain of wheat and corn pulled the balance down on the American side of the scale.
Eastern Agriculture Affected.—In the East as well as abroad the opening of the western granary produced momentous results. The agricultural economy of that part of the country was changed in many respects. Whole sections of the poorest land went almost out of cultivation, the abandoned farms of the New England hills bearing solemn witness to the competing power of western wheat fields. Sheep and cattle raising, as well as wheat and corn production, suffered at least a relative decline. ”

“ When America was a new country, farms were many and small. Farmers and their families used most of what they produced, and the rest was usually sold locally. Even in 1862, when Abraham Lincoln created the Department of Agriculture, 60 percent of our labor force gained their livelihood on the farm.
Today, while less than 2 percent of American workers are actually employed on farms, thanks to new approaches and advanced technologies, our farmers feed not only the people of the United States, but also much of the world. ”

“ The American agricultural industry is the leading global provider of food. Its remarkable rates of production are a continuing tribute to the ingenuity, diligence, and creativity of our country's farmers and ranchers. But agriculture is not just one industry among many—it is the very heart of our economy. The aggregate output of our food industry is unparalleled in human history. This enormous production makes farmers and ranchers key contributors to the collective wealth of our country. ”

“ Production agriculture is one of the great miracles of American -- of the American experience. Today, 125,000 farms in America today produce 75 percent of all that we eat and much of what we export. So it's a challenge, but we're up to it. ”