Download or read book Industrializing the Corn Belt written by Joseph Leslie Anderson and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the late 1940s to the early 1970s, farmers in the Corn Belt transformed their region into a new, industrial powerhouse of large-scale production, mechanization, specialization, and efficiency. Many farm experts and implement manufacturers had urged farmers in this direction for decades, but it was the persistent labor shortage and cost-price squeeze following WWII that prompted farmers to pave the way to industrializing agriculture. Anderson examines the changes in Iowa, a representative state of the Corn Belt, in order to explore why farmers adopted particular technologies and how, over time, they integrated new tools and techniques. In addition to the impressive field machinery, grain storage facilities, and automated feeding systems were the less visible, but no less potent, chemical technologies--antibiotics and growth hormones administered to livestock, as well as insecticide, herbicide, and fertilizer applied to crops. Much of this new technology created unintended consequences: pesticides encouraged the proliferation of resistant strains of plants and insects while also polluting the environment and threatening wildlife, and the use of feed additives triggered concern about the health effects to consumers. In Industrializing the Corn Belt, J. L. Anderson explains that the cost of equipment and chemicals made unprecedented demands on farm capital, and in order to maximize production, farmers planted more acres with fewer but more profitable crops or specialized in raising large herds of a single livestock species. The industrialization of agriculture gave rural Americans a lifestyle resembling that of their urban and suburban counterparts. Yet the rural population continued to dwindle as farms required less human labor, and many small farmers, unable or unwilling to compete, chose to sell out. Based on farm records, cooperative extension reports, USDA publications, oral interviews, trade literature, and agricultural periodicals, Industrializing the Corn Belt offers a fresh look at an important period of revolutionary change in agriculture through the eyes of those who grew the crops, raised the livestock, implemented new technology, and ultimately made the decisions that transformed the nature of the family farm and the Midwestern landscape.

Download or read book Industrializing the Corn Belt written by Joseph Leslie Anderson and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 704 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From 1945 to 1972 Iowa farmers remade their landscape in the image of an industrial model characterized by large-scale production, the substitution of capital for labor, strict cost accounting, specialization, and efficiency. Farm families were leaders in adopting new technology to solve their problems in the post World War II period, a contrast to the pre-war years when experts such as college educated professionals, journalists, and industry leaders advocated the application of industrial ideals to agriculture. Many farmers industrialized production because of a persistent postwar farm labor shortage and a cost-price squeeze in which the prices farmers paid for products increased faster than prices they received for commodities. They used pesticides, fertilizer, and feed additives to boost yields and livestock gains as well as altered crop rotations and traditional cycles of livestock production. They purchased, borrowed, or hired new machines, remodeled existing structures or built new ones. Iowa's landscape of the early 1970s was still dedicated to agriculture, but new agricultural production techniques resulted in changed land use patterns and work cycles that would have been unrecognizable to farmers who lived from 1900 to 1945. By 1972 pesticides, fertilizers, feed additives, hay balers, and combines were common on Iowa farms. While a minority of producers used combines for harvesting shelled corn and confinement feeding systems, the value of these practices for lowering unit costs and maximizing production was proven. Many new techniques that increased production simultaneously created problems. Farmers learned that success in controlling pest species allowed new pest species that were resistant to pesticides to thrive. Public concern over pesticide, fertilizer, feed additives, and manure runoff also led to government regulation that limited farmers' technological choices. Furthermore, as farmers invested more money in pesticides and fertilizer, they found that they needed expensive new harvesting and grain storage techniques to reduce harvest losses. The financial costs of field equipment, automated feeding systems, and storage facilities pressured farmers to increase production per acre and spread those costs over more acres. Farmers' technological choices kept many families in agriculture but compelled many more to leave.

Download or read book Making the Corn Belt written by John C. Hudson and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Civil War demonstrated that, even though its agriculture was distinctive, the larger region was divided in social and political terms.

Download or read book Practical Corn Culture written by William Thomas Ainsworth and published by . This book was released on 1914 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Corn Belt Harvest written by Raymond Bial and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 1991 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Text and photographs describe the United States Corn Belt region and its harvest season.

Download or read book A Corn belt Farming System which Saves Harvest Labor by Hogging Down Crops written by J. A. Drake and published by . This book was released on 1917 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Corn belt Farming System which Saves Harvest Labor by Hogging Down Crops written by and published by . This book was released on 1926 with total page 14 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Corn Belt written by Oliver Edwin Baker and published by . This book was released on 1927 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Adjusting Corn Belt Farming to Meet Corn borer Conditions written by Kenneth Hayes Myers and published by . This book was released on 1932 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A Corn Belt Farming System Which Saves Harvest Labor by Hogging Down Crops written by J. A. Drake and published by Hardpress Publishing. This book was released on 2012-01 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Download or read book Utilization and Cost of Power on Corn Belt Farms written by and published by . This book was released on 1933 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book From Prairie to Corn Belt Farming written by Bogue and published by Times Books. This book was released on 1972 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Agricultural and Industrial Demand for Corn written by Geoffrey Seddon Shepherd and published by . This book was released on 1935 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Organizing the Corn Belt Farm for Profitable Production written by Charles Bovett Sayre and published by . This book was released on 1929 with total page 674 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book What of the Corn Belt written by F. L. Garlock and published by . This book was released on 1926* with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Corn Belt Committee Resolutions written by and published by . This book was released on 1926 with total page 10 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Inside the Corn Industry written by Andrea Pelleschi and published by ABDO. This book was released on 2016-12-15 with total page 115 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Some commodities command massive economic, social, and political influence. This title examines the business around corn, the most ubiquitous crop in the United States. It explores corn's many uses, complex supply chain, and attendant environmental debates. Features include essential facts, a glossary, selected bibliography, websites, source notes, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.