Question

What kinds of innovations effected the way that agricultural markets transitioned from craft production to mass production? Discuss a specific innovation that effected the evolution of agricultural production. How did the make-up of the agricultural labor force change and how did changes in efficiency and productivity in agricultural labor effect supply, demand and wages in the agricultural markets? What other policies and structural changes have affected agricultural production in the US in the past 300 years?

Answer 1

The list of innovations that effected the way that agricultural markets transitioned from craft production to mass production is large and consists of following important innovations :

1. Hybridization

2. Innovating multi uses for crops which include bioplastics and biofuels.

3. Mechanization of farming

4. Intensive farming

5. Modern agriculture units in the U.S. range from the common hobby farms, small-scale producers to large commercial farming.

Discussion on Mechanization of farming : A specific innovation that effected the evolution of agricultural production.

Mechanization of farming is the process of using agricultural machinery to mechanise the work of agriculture. This innovation has greatly effected the evolution of agricultural production. It improved farm worker productivity. This has allowed farming to become much less labour-intensive and labour dependent. Agriculture machines includes both common tools like tractors, trucks, combine harvesters, other countless types of farm implements and sophisticated tools like computers in conjunction with satellite imagery and satellite navigation used in precision agriculture to increase yields.

Impact on the agricultural labor force

The U.S. agricultural workforce consisted of a mixture of self-employed farm operators and their family members and hired workers and both types of employment have been on a continuous  decline, due to mechanization. According to data from the National Agricultural Statistical Service's (NASS) Farm Labor Survey (FLS), the number of self-employed and family farmworkers declined from 7.60 million in 1950 to 2.06 million in 2000, a 73-percent reduction and the proportion of hired workers has increased over time. Wages for the Nation’s directly hired farmworkers have risen by just under 1-percent per year since 1989, reaching an annual average of $13.32 per hour in 2017.

Other policies and structural changes that have affected agricultural production in the US

1. Policies directed at developing and supporting family farms like  Land Act of 1820, the Homestead Act, and the Morrill Act of 1862.

2.  Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act, 1938.

3.  Agricultural subsidy

4. Consolidation policy like "get big or get out" .