1981-82 Recession 1983-90 Business expansion 1980s Farm financial crisis affects farmers with heavy debt loads 1980 Total population: 227,020,000; farm population: 6,051,000; farmers 3.4% of labor force; Number of farms: 2,439,510; average acres: 426; irrigated acres: 50,350,000 (1978) 1980s For the first time since the 19th century, foreigners (Europeans and Japanese primarily) begin to purchase significant acreages of farmland and ranchland 1986 The Southeast's worst summer drought on record takes a severe toll on many farmers 1987 Farmland values bottom out after a 6-year decline, signaling both a turnaround in the farm economy and increased competition with other countries' exports 1988 Scientists warn that global warming may affect the future viability of American farming; one of the worst droughts in the Nation's history hits Midwestern farmers 1980-89 Commercial fertilizer use: 47,411,166 tons/year 1980s More farmers use no-till or low-till methods to curb erosion 1980 One farmer supplies 75.7 persons (est.) 1987 1-1/2 to 2 labor-hours required to produce 100 pounds (1/5 acre) of lint cotton with tractor, 4-row stalk cutter, 20-foot disk, 6-row bedder and planter, 6-row cultivator with herbicide applicator, and 4-row harvester 3 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (3 acres) of wheat with tractor, 35-foot sweep disk, 30-foot drill, 25-foot self-propelled combine, and trucks; 2-3/4 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 1989 After several slow years, the sale of farm equipment rebounds; more farmers begin to use low-input sustainable agriculture (LISA) techniques to reduce chemical applications 1980 The first American patent for a genetically engineered organism, a bacterium used to clean up oil spills, is granted 1980s Biotechnology becomes viable for improving crop and livestock products 1983-84 Avian influenza of poultry eradicated before it spreads beyond a few Pennsylvania counties 1986 Antismoking campaigns and legislation begin to affect the tobacco industry 1980 Railroad and trucking industries deregulated 1980-89 Agricultural exports: $35.6 billion/year or 15% of total exports 1980s European grain and animal exports become more competitive with U.S. products 1981 U.S. agricultural exports peak at $43.8 billion, then decline until 1987; President Reagan lifts the grain embargo against the Soviet Union 1988 The U.S.-Canada trade accord initiates free trade in all commodities Mid-1980s Low prices and indebtedness affect many farmers in the Midwest; many rural counties decline in population 1986-88 Country singer Willie Nelson organizes first of the Farm Aid concerts to benefit indebted farmers 1980s Enrollments in colleges of agriculture drop in wake of the farm crisis 1985 USDA scientists indicate that agricultural chemicals infiltrate ground water more than previously thought 1983 USDA Secretary John Block implements a payment-in-kind (PIK) program, resulting in the third-largest acreage reduction ever 1985 Food Security Act lowers government farm supports, promotes exports, and sets up the Conservation Reserve Program 1989 30 million acres retired under the Conservation Reserve Program of the 1985 Food Security Act   Next Decade >>
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