The Changing Scale of American Agriculture

The Changing Scale of American Agriculture PDF Author: John Fraser Hart
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
ISBN: 9780813922294
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
Few Americans know much about contemporary farming, which has evolved dramatically over the past few decades. In The Changing Scale of American Agriculture, the award-winning geographer and landscape historian John Fraser Hart describes the transformation of farming from the mid-twentieth century, when small family farms were still viable, to the present, when a farm must sell at least $250,000 of farm products each year to provide an acceptable level of living for a family. The increased scale of agriculture has outmoded the Jeffersonian ideal of small, self-sufficient farms. In the past farmers kept a variety of livestock and grew several crops, but modern family farms have become highly specialized in producing a single type of livestock or one or two crops. As farms have become larger and more specialized, their number has declined. Hart contends that modern family farms need to become integrated into tightly orchestrated food-supply chains in order to thrive, and these complex new organizations of large-scale production require managerial skills of the highest order. According to Hart, this trend is not only inevitable, but it is beneficial, because it produces the food American consumers want to buy at prices they can afford. Although Hart provides the statistics and clear analysis such a study requires, his book focuses on interviews with farmers: those who have shifted from mixed crop-and-livestock farming to cash-grain farming in the Midwest agricultural heartland; beef, dairy, chicken, egg, turkey, and hog producers around the periphery of the heartland; and specialty crop producers on the East and West Coasts. These invaluable case studies bring the reader into direct personal contact with the entrepreneurs who are changing American agriculture. Hart believes that modern large-scale farmers have been criticized unfairly, and The Changing Scale of American Agriculture, the result of decades of research, is his attempt to tell their side of the story.

The Changing Scale of American Agriculture

The Changing Scale of American Agriculture PDF Author: John Fraser Hart
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
ISBN: 9780813922294
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Get Book Here

Book Description
Few Americans know much about contemporary farming, which has evolved dramatically over the past few decades. In The Changing Scale of American Agriculture, the award-winning geographer and landscape historian John Fraser Hart describes the transformation of farming from the mid-twentieth century, when small family farms were still viable, to the present, when a farm must sell at least $250,000 of farm products each year to provide an acceptable level of living for a family. The increased scale of agriculture has outmoded the Jeffersonian ideal of small, self-sufficient farms. In the past farmers kept a variety of livestock and grew several crops, but modern family farms have become highly specialized in producing a single type of livestock or one or two crops. As farms have become larger and more specialized, their number has declined. Hart contends that modern family farms need to become integrated into tightly orchestrated food-supply chains in order to thrive, and these complex new organizations of large-scale production require managerial skills of the highest order. According to Hart, this trend is not only inevitable, but it is beneficial, because it produces the food American consumers want to buy at prices they can afford. Although Hart provides the statistics and clear analysis such a study requires, his book focuses on interviews with farmers: those who have shifted from mixed crop-and-livestock farming to cash-grain farming in the Midwest agricultural heartland; beef, dairy, chicken, egg, turkey, and hog producers around the periphery of the heartland; and specialty crop producers on the East and West Coasts. These invaluable case studies bring the reader into direct personal contact with the entrepreneurs who are changing American agriculture. Hart believes that modern large-scale farmers have been criticized unfairly, and The Changing Scale of American Agriculture, the result of decades of research, is his attempt to tell their side of the story.

Crop Production

Crop Production PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Agriculture
Languages : en
Pages : 112

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Book Description


Soil Exhaustion as a Factor in the Agricultural History of Virginia and Maryland, 1606-1860

Soil Exhaustion as a Factor in the Agricultural History of Virginia and Maryland, 1606-1860 PDF Author: Avery Craven
Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press
ISBN: 9781570036811
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
Recognized since its initial publication in 1926 as a watershed in American historiography, Avery Odelle Craven's study of soil depletion in Virginia and Maryland links elements of Frederick Jackson Turner's frontier thesis, causal aspects of the expansion of slavery, and the economics of staple-crop production into a unified view of southern history from the colonial era to the onset of the Civil War. In this volume Craven initiates a discussion that has changed the way historians view the relationship between historical events and the physical environment. Using Maryland and Virginia as a case study, Craven assesses the abusive relationship between southern planters and their most valuable and abundant resource-the land-to posit that soil depletion and other ruinous agricultural practices contributed greatly to the economic crisis faced by mid-nineteenth-century America. His study traces a series of poor social and economic choices that affected the land and the survival of those who occupied it. Craven's findings still resonate with students and scholars of frontier, social, economic, agricultural, and environmental history.

Agricultural Statistics 2020

Agricultural Statistics 2020 PDF Author: U S Dept Of Agriculture
Publisher: Bernan Press
ISBN: 9781636710136
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 490

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Book Description
Agricultural Statistics is published each year to meet the diverse need for a reliable reference book on agricultural production, supplies, consumption, facilities, costs, and returns. Its tables of annual data cover a wide variety of facts in forms suited to most common use. The estimates for crops, livestock, and poultry made by the U.S. Department of Agriculture are prepared mainly to give timely current state and national totals and averages. They are based on data obtained by sample surveys of farmers and of people who do business with farmers. The survey data are supplemented by information from the Census of Agriculture taken every five years. Being estimates, they are subject to revision as more data become available from commercial or government sources. Unless otherwise indicated, the totals for the United States shown in the various tables on area, production, numbers, price, value, supplies, and disposition are based on official Department estimates. They exclude states for which no official estimates are compiled. Extensive data includes statistics for the following: -Grain and Feed -Cotton, Tobacco, Sugar Crops, and Honey -Oilseeds, Fats, and Oils -Vegetables and Melons -Hay, Seeds, and Minor Field Crops -Cattle, Hogs, and Sheep -Dairy and Poultry -Insurance, Credit & Cooperatives -Agricultural Conservation & Forestry -Consumption & Family Living -Fertilizers & Pesticides Miscellaneous Agricultural Statistics such as Foreign Agricultural Trade Statistics including exports, fisheries and more. Professionals in the following fields to include farmers, ranchers, soil conservationists, surveyors, agricultural economist consultants, livestock manufacturers, livestock feedlot operators, food distributors, animal scientists, food chemists, food brokers, farm and land appraisers (and more) may have the greatest interest in this volume.

Sustainable Market Farming

Sustainable Market Farming PDF Author: Pam Dawling
Publisher: New Society Publishers
ISBN: 1550925121
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 459

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Book Description
Growing for 100 - the complete year-round guide for the small-scale market grower. Across North America, an agricultural renaissance is unfolding. A growing number of market gardeners are emerging to feed our appetite for organic, regional produce. But most of the available resources on food production are aimed at the backyard or hobby gardener who wants to supplement their family's diet with a few homegrown fruits and vegetables. Targeted at serious growers in every climate zone, Sustainable Market Farming is a comprehensive manual for small-scale farmers raising organic crops sustainably on a few acres. Informed by the author's extensive experience growing a wide variety of fresh, organic vegetables and fruit to feed the approximately one hundred members of Twin Oaks Community in central Virginia, this practical guide provides: Detailed profiles of a full range of crops, addressing sowing, cultivation, rotation, succession, common pests and diseases, and harvest and storage Information about new, efficient techniques, season extension, and disease resistant varieties Farm-specific business skills to help ensure a successful, profitable enterprise Whether you are a beginning market grower or an established enterprise seeking to improve your skills, Sustainable Market Farming is an invaluable resource and a timely book for the maturing local agriculture movement.

Virginia Wine

Virginia Wine PDF Author: Andrew A. Painter
Publisher: George Mason University
ISBN: 9781942695066
Category : Wine and wine making
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
No state can claim a longer history of experimenting with and promoting viticulture than Virginia--nor does any state's history demonstrate a more astounding record of initial failure and ultimate success.An essential addition to any wine lover's library, Virginia Wine: Four Centuries of Change presents a comprehensive record of the Virginia wine industry, from the earliest Spanish accounts describing Native American vineyards in 1570 through its astonishing rebirth in the modern era.Grape cultivation--for agriculture, horticultural curiosity, and wine production--has absorbed ambitious Virginians since April 1607, when a few casks of European wine washed ashore onto the dunes of Cape Henry in the company of a band of travel-weary English settlers. Andrew Painter chronicles the dynamic personalities, diverse places, and engrossing personal and political struggles that have established the Old Dominion as one of the nation's preeminent wine regions. Virginia's wine industry now accounts for nearly $1 billion in annual sales, with more than 275 wineries growing more than thirty varieties of grapes. The author discusses a multitude of wine-industry trends, events, secondary industries, and jobs that have revolved around the growing of grapes and the making and promotion of wine. This is the definitive look at Virginia's wine history and culture, in an agricultural and industrial sector that is itself unique within world commerce and society. Distributed for George Mason University Press

The Old-fashioned Cookbook

The Old-fashioned Cookbook PDF Author:
Publisher: Gramercy
ISBN:
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Book Description


No Ordinary Moment

No Ordinary Moment PDF Author: Aaron Purcell
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781949373769
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
In 2022, Virginia Tech will celebrate its 150th anniversary. What started as a fledgling school to promote agricultural, mechanical, and military education grew into a comprehensive research university with a global land grant mission. As part of the upcoming celebrations, "Virginia Tech: 150 Years in 150 Images" will provide a unique look at the history of Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University from its late nineteenth century origins up to the present day. The book includes 150 unique or rare photographs and other items from the Special Collections and University Archives at Virginia Tech. These iconic and less familiar historic photographs celebrate the milestones and lesser-known achievements of the past 150 years and point to the bright future of Virginia Tech.

History of Agriculture in the Southern United States to 1860

History of Agriculture in the Southern United States to 1860 PDF Author: Lewis Cecil Gray
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Agriculture
Languages : en
Pages : 612

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Book Description


The Historical Archaeology of Virginia from Initial Settlement to the Present

The Historical Archaeology of Virginia from Initial Settlement to the Present PDF Author: Clarence R. Geier
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781541023482
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
The book includes six chapters that cover Virginia history from initial settlement through the 20th century plus one that deals with the important role of underwater archaeology. Written by prominent archaeologists with research experience in their respective topic areas, the chapters consider important issues of Virginia history and consider how the discipline of historic archaeology has addressed them and needs to address them . Changes in research strategy over time are discussed , and recommendations are made concerning the need to recognize the diverse and often differing roles and impacts that characterized the different regions of Virginia over the course of its historic past. Significant issues in Virginia history needing greater study are identified.