 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 & 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 & 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 |
|
