1970-80 Inflation rates increase, while economic growth slows 1972 Russian wheat sale brings higher farm prices 1970 Total population: 204,335,000; farm population: 9,712,000; farmers 4.6% of labor force; Number of farms: 2.780, 000; average acres: 390 1972 Clean Water Act 1970-79 Commercial fertilizer use: 43,643,700 tons/year 1970s No-tillage agriculture popularized 1970 One farmer supplies 47.7 persons (est.) 1975 2-3 labor-hours required to produce 100 pounds (1/5 acre) of lint cotton with tractor, 2-row stalk cutter, 20-foot disk, 4-row bedder and planter, 4-row cultivator with herbicide applicator, and 2-row harvester 3-3/4 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (3 acres) of wheat with tractor, 30-foot sweep disk, 27-foot drill, 22-foot self-propelled combine, and trucks; 3-1/3 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (1 1/8 acres) of corn with tractor, 5-bottom plow, 20-foot tandem disk, planter, 20-foot herbicide applicator, 12-foot self-propelled combine, and trucks 1970 Plant Variety Protection Act; Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Norman Borlaug for developing high-yielding wheat varieties 1972 Molecular biologist Paul Berg pioneers the techniques that make possible the transfer of genes from one strand of DNA to another 1975 Lancota wheat introduced 1978 Hog cholera officially eradicated 1979 Purcell winter wheat introduced 1972-74 Russian grain sale causes massive tie-ups in rail system 1970-79 Agricultural exports: $19.8 billion/year or 19% of total exports 1971 Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research organized to fund regional research institutes in developing countries 1972 I ncreased exports to Soviet Union and elsewhere absorb agricultural surpluses, especially of grains and oilseeds 1979 Grain embargo against the Soviet Union following its invasion of Afghanistan 1970s Rural areas experience prosperity and immigration 1968 90% of all farms have phones; 98.6% have electricity 1970 7,994 cooperatives with 6.2 million members 1970 Earth Day is celebrated for the first time 1971 The Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association is organized 1973 Fifty farmers organize California Certified Organic Farmers 1979 The American Agriculture Movement organizes a "tractorcade" demonstration in Washington, DC 1970 853,000 students enrolled in agricultural courses 1974 Agreement between USDA and land-grant colleges establishes Council on International Science and Education 1970s Surplus disposal through sales abroad leads to easing of production controls and great reliance on market prices 1970 Agricultural Act reduces controls; Environmental Quality Improvement Act 1972 Rural Development Act 1973 Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act emphasizes maintaining or increasing instead of controlling production   Next Decade >>
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