A Revolution Down on the Farm: The Transformation of American Agriculture since 1929
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.98 (743 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0813192420 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 240 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-12-13 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
"Fills an important niche on the business of farming, but needs an update" according to A. Howell. There are not many books written about the practice and history of farming -- I suppose most farmers are not inclined to be writers -- and Conkin does a good job surveying the many aspects of this central activity to American life and history. Probably the strongest part of the book is the author's own early recollections of the farming l. "Critical of American agriculture? This is how we got here ." according to J. Cippel. As Americans grow more concerned about where their food comes from, it is important to understand how our current agricultural system developed. Paul Conkin's "A Revolution Down on the Farm," a history of American agriculture since the Great Depression, provides an excellent account.According to Conkin, new technologies allowed American a. "Effective and concise account of American farming" according to jtk. A Revolution Down on the Farm is a concise and accessible accounting of farming in America. The subtitle, The Transformation of American Agriculture Since 1929, correctly summarizes the primary focus of the book. Conkin does provide some background that goes beyond those earlier years, but it's aim focuses on the changing landscape of far
Productivity on American farms has increased tenfold, even as most small farmers and tenants have been forced to find other work. Conkin's lifetime. He examines the history of American agriculture, showing how New Deal innovations evolved into convoluted commodity programs following World War II. Although the increased production and mechanization of farming has been an economic success story for Americans, the costs are becoming increasingly apparent. farmers leading the way. Conkin assesses the skills, new technologies, and government policies that helped transform farming in America and suggests how new legislation might affect farming in decades to come. Today, only 300,000 farms produce approximately ninety percent of the total output, and overproduction, largely subsidized by government programs and policies, has become the hallmark of modern agriculture. Humans have been farming for thousands of years, and yet agriculture has undergone more fundamental changes in the past 80 years than in the previous several centuries. Farmers are able to feed an exponentially growing planet because the greatest industrial revolution in history has occurred in agricul
This cogent, thorough history should prove fascinating for anyone interested in the changing landscape of American agriculture. 198 photographs. As such, he's personally witnessed many of the radical changes he covers in this practical, thorough and clearly-written story of the American farm's 20th century transformation into the world's breadbasket. From Publishers Weekly Author and Vanderbilt University history professor Conkin (The State of the Earth: Environmental Challenges on the Road to 2100) grew up on a subsistence farm in Tennessee, working summers as a harvest hand, and members of his family still farm. . All rights reserved. Along the journey from family homestead to hyper-efficient industrial farm, the most useful chapters explain the origin and development of convoluted federal and state farm policy (and why attempts at reforms so often fail) for both rural and urban