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ASC Outlines
Agriculture Changes
Amazing changes in American agriculture were cited today by H. S. Barksdale, Chairman of the Rappahannock County Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation (ASC) Committee as “believe-it-or-not” facts of the last two decades.
“We’ve seen more change in 20 years than we had in the 80 yean before that,” he said. “Back in 1870 one farmer provided food and fiber for every five persons. It took sixty years for that ratio to double -- by 1930 one farmer was growing food and fiber for every 10 persons. By 1960, the ratio was one farmer to supply every 26 persons. Today one U. S. farmer provides food and fiber for about 45 persons.”
This rapidly increasing efficiency, he said, means that Americans today pay only about 16 and a half per cent of their disposable income for food - less than any people anywhere have ever paid. Disposable income is after - taxes income -- the money people actually have for spending purposes.
Other changes cited include the. drop in farm population -- down' to 10 million today from about 26 million in 1947. During the same period, farm consolidation has cut the number of farms in half -- from 6 million to 3 million. The land in farms, however, remained relatively unchanged ~ about 1.1 billion acres.
What it adds up to is a technological and economic revolution in American agriculture. More Americans need to realize that agriculture is not a static industry, but is actually one of the leaders in our technological progress.
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