The State of American Agriculture

The American Agriculture started to be slow in progress during the 17th century
until that its productivity increased vastly during the 18 th century because of the
mechanical advances that are used for crop production and extraction (Slavin, S.,
2010). Abundance of capital equipment and advanced technology make American
farmers and workers far more productive than worker in poor nations. It minimizes
theworkforce and maximizes the production of crops (Schiller, B. et al., 2013). In
line with this fast advances in agriculture like the mechanical cotton picker which
was introduced in 1944 by the International Machinery was also successfully
produced in the market. This mechanical cotton picker has greatly help the farmers
in labor that resulted to triple times of pounds of cotton picked (Slavin, S., 2010).
While Agriculture is the most productive sector in the economy of the America
during the end of 18th century, 90% of American people earned a major portion in
their living by farming compared today which is only 3% of the total population.
Each region of America became specialized in the productions of particular crops,
goods and services determined by the climate, soil and natural bounties. Examples
are in the Southern part which the soil is fertile and new, produces low cost and
high quality tobacco that are rapidly exported to European countries; rice and
indigowere also the crops yield. While in the middle regions were grains, other
foodstuffs and lumber that enjoyed comparative advantage in production(Walton,
G.&Rockoff, H., 2010).
Since the Word War II the family farms are strongly vanishing and are being
squeezed out by huge agricultural corporate farms even there is a price-support
payment that is rightly executed by the government. Tackling with the large farms
sector, it has accounted for more than three-quarters in agricultural sales. In lieu,
large farms experiences high cost because of the high maintenance used of
equipment and huge acreage needed for growing production of rice, corn, wheat
and soybean(Slavin, S., 2010).
In 2002, President George W. Bush signed a 10-year $190 billion farm bill that
provides large farmer with annual subsidies of $19 billion This farm bill of 2002
allows the government to subsidized the overproduction of agricultural commodities
so the it can compete with the world market (Slavin, S., 2010).