Farming and Agriculture
The Great Depression
In the 1930's, farming was very difficult but it was necessary for many farmers to feed their family since there wasn't any work. It would've worked fine if it wasn't for one problem. The worst drought in U.S. history was going on. So, farmers were lacking money, crops, water, seeds, and usable land. To survive, farmers had to be very conservative with their resources. They had to be very innovative and create new tools. One example is the seed planter. It would evenly plant seeds without wasting too much land or too many seeds. There was also the commercial fertilizer that could put much needed resources in the soil.
Above: Seed planters were very useful for evenly distributing seeds without wasting many.
Below: Fertilizers became very common on failing farms.
1981
The 1980's were a difficult time for agriculture many families lost their farms. Technology was evolving during that time especially in the farming industries. Machines started to take the jobs of farmers. The machines were faster and more efficient, which means the machines were taking over. Another factor of the decrease in the agriculture industry is expansion. Because of the new technology farmers wanted to use the machines on more land so they expanded. This expansion gave them reason to buy more machines to help with the bigger property. Many farmers did not have the money to buy these machines so they borrowed money from banks. Then later they were put into debt because they could not pay it back, as a result they lost their farm.
Above: A harvest in Nebraska during the 1980's
2008
In 2008 farming had evolved a lot since the 1980's or the 1930's, new technology made farming easier all over the world. In the case of the recession farming was an essential. International exports from the US made a large portion of the money made in 2008. About 22% of the US agriculture was exported to another place. These exports were 10% of the US exports. Agriculture was not as affected as other industries during the recession, therefore it was one of the very few industries still bringing in money. The net income of the agriculture was $87-89 billion.