Deborah Fitzgerald
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300088137
- eISBN:
- 9780300133417
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300088137.001.0001
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
This book traces the diffusion of industrial agriculture by looking closely at the main components of this process in its first generation, between 1918 and 1930. The story begins in 1918 because a ...
More
This book traces the diffusion of industrial agriculture by looking closely at the main components of this process in its first generation, between 1918 and 1930. The story begins in 1918 because a number of new, large-scale farms began operation then and were described in the national press as bellwethers of a new industrial farming era. The number of these farms continued to grow through the 1920s, peaking in 1929. The book examines the contextual gridwork on which the transformation from traditional to industrial agriculture hung, and discusses the great diversity of American rural landscapes and the farm products that came from them, as well as their amenability to the industrializing push. It also examines the role of World War I in destabilizing both farm production and rural expectations. After exploring the intriguing and ultimately irresistible attraction of new factories and businesses that promoted rational management and mechanization, and which seemed a fitting model for agriculture, the book discusses the development of two metrics that were used to frame and maintain the industrializing impulse: quantification and mechanization. It also explores the emergence of agricultural economics as an academic discipline, and its practical application in farm communities and federal agencies.Less
This book traces the diffusion of industrial agriculture by looking closely at the main components of this process in its first generation, between 1918 and 1930. The story begins in 1918 because a number of new, large-scale farms began operation then and were described in the national press as bellwethers of a new industrial farming era. The number of these farms continued to grow through the 1920s, peaking in 1929. The book examines the contextual gridwork on which the transformation from traditional to industrial agriculture hung, and discusses the great diversity of American rural landscapes and the farm products that came from them, as well as their amenability to the industrializing push. It also examines the role of World War I in destabilizing both farm production and rural expectations. After exploring the intriguing and ultimately irresistible attraction of new factories and businesses that promoted rational management and mechanization, and which seemed a fitting model for agriculture, the book discusses the development of two metrics that were used to frame and maintain the industrializing impulse: quantification and mechanization. It also explores the emergence of agricultural economics as an academic discipline, and its practical application in farm communities and federal agencies.
Deborah Fitzgerald
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300088137
- eISBN:
- 9780300133417
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300088137.003.0001
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
This chapter introduces twentieth-century agriculture and the “farm crises” of the 1920s and 1980s. In the mid-1980s, a disturbing phenomenon began occurring in rural America. In the preceding ...
More
This chapter introduces twentieth-century agriculture and the “farm crises” of the 1920s and 1980s. In the mid-1980s, a disturbing phenomenon began occurring in rural America. In the preceding decade, farm advisers and agricultural business dealers counseled many families to enlarge their farms, increase their herds, and purchase bigger, more sophisticated machinery so that they could take advantage of an exploding world market for American farm products. After a few years, however, market slowdowns became contractions, and many families ultimately found themselves unable to sell all that they had produced on the farm, at any price. The chapter examines this “farm crisis,” which was devastating to many families who had long prided themselves on their conservative business dealings and good judgment. It reveals that the “farm crisis” of the 1980s seemed to echo an earlier collapse, the farm crisis of the 1920s.Less
This chapter introduces twentieth-century agriculture and the “farm crises” of the 1920s and 1980s. In the mid-1980s, a disturbing phenomenon began occurring in rural America. In the preceding decade, farm advisers and agricultural business dealers counseled many families to enlarge their farms, increase their herds, and purchase bigger, more sophisticated machinery so that they could take advantage of an exploding world market for American farm products. After a few years, however, market slowdowns became contractions, and many families ultimately found themselves unable to sell all that they had produced on the farm, at any price. The chapter examines this “farm crisis,” which was devastating to many families who had long prided themselves on their conservative business dealings and good judgment. It reveals that the “farm crisis” of the 1980s seemed to echo an earlier collapse, the farm crisis of the 1920s.
