Food for Thought

The American farmer's success is one of the less publicized wonders of the 20^th century. By the mid-1970s a single farmercould grow enough food to feed himself, 45 other Americans, and 8 foreigners. Agriculture is one of the biggest and most basic productive enterprises. It feeds the Nation and supplies raw materials to most industries. In a single year farmers in the United States grow crops valued at some $25 billion.

The ever intensifying production has exacted¹ its price. In an attempt to stabilize farm income, the US Government has paid farmers billions of dollars in the past decade. Spokesmen² for the consumers have charged farmers and the food-processing industry with sacrificing nutrition and taste in their efforts to mass-produce meat, poultry, fruit, vegetables, and grain products.

Much of the machinery on US farms is automated, computers determine what cows eat. Such technology costs money. In 1940 American farmers invested about $52 billion in land, livestock buildings, and equipment. By the 1990s the amount had сlimbed to more than $400 billion, even though farms had dropped in number from 6 million to fewer than 3 million. Many people had to sell their small family farms because they could not find the necessary capital to run them. Nevertheless, about 95 percent of US farms are still family owned, although nowadays they tend to be large and are often incorporated. Meanwhile, true corporation farms, supervised by boards of directors and professional managers, are increasing in number.

Intensive farming methods are being implemented everywhere, farmers are experimenting with new crops. This is necessary if the US population, expected to grow in the next century, is to be fed. It is anticipated that the number of American farms will be cut in half, to about 1.5 million, while the amount of cultivated land will remain about the same. Farm output, however, will probably double.

Some agriculturists envision a future where weather will be made to order, robots will operate the farm machinery, millions of identical cattle will be produced as clones from a single superior "parent", and crops will grow lush and green under a pollution-free sky. It is a fairy tale, but the truth is that the amazing productivity of American farmers has ensured that much of the world will have enough to eat for the next 20 or 30 years.