1939-45 World War II; wartime recovery 1946-70 Postwar boom 1945-60 Expansion of vertical integration, especially in the broiler industry 1940 Total population: 131,820,000; farm population: 30,840,000; farmers 18% of labor force; Number of farms: 6,102,000; average acres: 175; irrigated acres: 17,942,968 1940s Many former southern sharecroppers migrate to war-related jobs in cities 1940-49 Commercial fertilizer use: 13,590,466 tons/year 1940 One farmer supplies 10.7 persons (est.) 1941-45 Frozen foods popularized 1942 Spindle cottonpicker produced commercially 1945-70 Change from horses to tractors and increasing technological practices characterize the second American agricultural revolution; productivity per acre begins sharp rise 1945 10-14 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (2 acres) of corn with tractor, 3-bottom plow, 10-foot tandem disk, 4-section harrow, 4-row planters and cultivators, and 2-row picker; 42 labor-hours required to produce 100 pounds (2/5 acre) of lint cotton with 2 mules, 1-row plow, 1-row cultivator, hand hoe, and hand pick 1940s and 1950s Acreages of crops, such as oats, required for horse and mule feed drop sharply as farms use more tractors 1945-55 Increased use of herbicides and pesticides 1947 U.S. cooperates with Mexico to prevent spread of foot-and-mouth disease 1942 Office of Defense Transportation established to coordinate wartime transport needs 1940-49 Agricultural exports: $2.42 billion/year or 22% of total exports 1940-46 Overseas assistance during wartime emergency 1945 United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration established 1945 Food and Agriculture Organization of the Untied Nations established 1946 International Emergency Food Council established 1947 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) establishes working procedures that have substantially reduced tariffs between member nations 1948 Foreign Assistance Act provides for European Recovery Program 1949 International Wheat Program 1940 58% of all farms have cars; 25% have phones; 33% have electricity 1947 National Farm Labor Union (formerly Southern Tenant Farmers Union) organizes strike among California farmworkers 1940 584,000 students enrolled in agricultural courses 1941 Extension agents work in every rural county in the country, including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico 1946-54 Land-grant college enrollment increases greatly as veterans enroll under G.I. bill 1941 National Victory Garden Program launched; Steagall Amendment provides for price support to expand production of nonbasic commodities 1942-49 Price controls and food rationing during wartime emergency 1946 National School Lunch Act; Research and Marketing Act provides for research in improving marketing and distribution of agricultural products 1948, 1949 Agricultural Acts incorporate principle of flexible price support and provide change in parity formula   Next Decade >>
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