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A Companion to American Agricultural History (Wiley-Blackwell, 2022) Lauck, Jon. American agriculture and the problem of monopoly: the political economy of grain belt farming, 1953-1980 (U of Nebraska Press, 2000). Riney-Kehrberg, Pamela. ed. The Routledge History of Rural America (2018) Schapsmeier, Edward L; and Frederick H. Schapsmeier.
The history of agriculture in the United States covers the period from the first English settlers to the present day. In Colonial America, agriculture was the primary livelihood for 90% of the population, and most towns were shipping points for the export of agricultural products. Most farms were geared toward subsistence production for family use.
The agricultural policy of the United States is composed primarily of the periodically renewed federal U.S. farm bills.The Farm Bills have a rich history which initially sought to provide income and price support to US farmers and prevent them from adverse global as well as local supply and demand shocks.
The word agriculture is a late Middle English adaptation of Latin agricultūra, from ager 'field' and cultūra 'cultivation' or 'growing'. [7] While agriculture usually refers to human activities, certain species of ant, [8] [9] termite and beetle have been cultivating crops for up to 60 million years. [10]
The Three Sisters planting method is featured on the reverse of the 2009 US Sacagawea dollar. [1]Agricultural history in the Americas differed from the Old World in that the Americas lacked large-seeded, easily domesticated grains (such as wheat and barley) and large domesticated animals that could be used for agricultural labor.
New agricultural practices like enclosure, mechanization, four-field crop rotation to maintain soil nutrients, and selective breeding enabled an unprecedented population growth to 5.7 million in 1750, freeing up a significant percentage of the workforce, and thereby helped drive the Industrial Revolution.
Crop rotation is a required practice, in the United States, for farms seeking organic certification. [18] The “Crop Rotation Practice Standard” for the National Organic Program under the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, section §205.205, states that
Agricultural monocultures refer to the practice of planting one crop species in a field. [15] Monoculture is widely used in intensive farming and in organic farming.In crop monocultures, each plant in a field has the same standardized planting, maintenance, and harvesting requirements resulting in greater yields and lower costs.