Growing a Nation Growing a Nation  
    A History of American Agriculture 1960  
    by decade by category      
     
   
Economic Cycles



1958-70
Extended business expansion
1964-73
Vietnam War





Farm Economy



1966
Federal minimum wage extended to some farm workers






Farmers & the Land

1960
Total population: 180,007,000; farm population: 15,635,000; farmers 8.3% of labor force; Number of farms: 3,711,000; average acres: 303; irrigated acres: 33,829,000
1960s
State legislation to keep land in farming increases
1964
Wilderness Act




Farm Machinery and Technology
1960-69
Commercial fertilizer use: 32,373,713 tons/year
1960
One farmer supplies 25.8 persons (est.)
1965
5 labor-hours required to produce 100 pounds (1/5 acre) of lint cotton with tractor, 2-row stalk cutter, 14-foot disk, 4-row bedder, planter, cultivator, and 2-row harvester
5 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (3 acres) of wheat with tractor, 12- foot plow, 14-foot drill, 14-foot self-propelled combine, and trucks; 99% of sugar beets harvested mechanically; Federal loans and grants for water/sewer systems
1968
96% of cotton harvested mechanically
Crops & Livestock

1960s
Soybean acreage expands as an alternative to other crops
1960
96% of corn acreage planted with hybrid seed
1961
Gaines wheat distributed
1966
Fortuna wheat distributed



Transportation


1960s
Financial condition of northeastern railroads deteriorates; rail abandonments accelerate; agricultural shipments by all-cargo planes increase, especially shipments of strawberries and cut flowers
Agricultural Trade and Development


1960-69
Agricultural exports: $5.76 billion/year or 22.9% of total exports
1964
Trade Expansion Act





Life on the Farm


1962
REA authorized to finance education TV
in rural areas
1968
83% of all farms have phones; 98.4%
have electricity





Farm Organizations & Movements

1960s
United Farm Workers Organizing Committee begins unionizing California farmworkers
1960s
Commodity groups move to forefront of influence with Congress
1962
Silent Spring, by U.S. biologist Rachel Carson, warns of dangers to wildlife from indiscriminate use of persistent pesticides, such as DDT. The book becomes a best-seller
1966
Fair Labor Standards Act extended to include agricultural labor; Federal minimum wage extended to some farmworkers
Agricultural Education & Extension



1964
Antipoverty programs lead to expansion of extension education programs in inner cities
Government Programs & Policy
1960s
The Government uses food surpluses for the needy at home and abroad; State legislation to keep land in farming gains impetus
1961, 1962
Agricultural Acts extend and enlarge earlier programs
1964
Food Stamp Act; Agricultural Act provides voluntary control program for cotton and wheat
1965
Appalachian Regional Development Act; Food and Agriculture Act establishes voluntary 4-year price and adjustment program
1966
President's Committee on Rural Poverty appointed; Child Nutrition Act
1967
Wholesome Meat Act
1968
Wholesome Poultry "Products Act"; special food service program for children
1969, 1971
White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health
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