 Economic Cycles
|
1981-82
Recession
1983-90
Business expansion |
Farm Economy
|
1980s
Farm financial crisis affects farmers with heavy debt loads |
Farmers & the Land
|
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 |
Farm Machinery & Technology
|
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 |
Crops & Livestock
|
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 |
Transportation
|
1980
Railroad and trucking industries deregulated |
Agricultural Trade & Development
|
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 |
Life on the Farm
|
Mid-1980s
Low prices and indebtedness affect many farmers in the Midwest; many
rural counties decline in population |
Farm Organizations & Movements
|
1986-88
Country singer Willie Nelson organizes first of the Farm Aid concerts
to benefit indebted farmers |
Agricultural Education & Extension
|
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 |
Government Programs & Policy
|
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 |
|
