THE CHANGING STRUCTURE OF AGRICULTURE



could have received from alternative uses of their resources. Those
having returns of less than $5,000 received only 43 percent of their
“parity returns.” By far the most farms are in the North Central and
Southern states.

Farms are quite heavily capitalized—over 215 billion dollars in
1967. Real estate accounts for about 165 billion dollars of this. Av-
erage assets per farm worker in 1967 were $41,000 as contrasted
with $3,000 in 1940. Although farmers have average incomes below
those of nonfarm persons, the farm family has a net worth almost
five times as great.

This heavy capitalization nonetheless is not accompanied by
widespread incorporation. There are only 6,703 corporate units in
the twenty-two states for which reports are now available. These
represent 0.7 percent of total farm units and 4 percent of cash re-
ceipts in these twenty-two states. Over 80 percent of these units were
family or individual corporations. Part-ownership—father-son ar-
rangements, in many instances—is much more prevalent than cor-
porations as an ownership form. One-fourth of all our farms are
part-owner units. These include one-half of the land in farms. Ten-
ants account for about a fourth of our farm units, and sharecroppers
are so few that they are no longer reported as a separate group.

CHANGES IN STRUCTURE

Early Agricultural Development of the United States

The United States is handsomely blessed with land and water
resources. Before Adam Smith wrote
The Wealth of Nations, Eng-
land, France, Holland, and Spain were already in the process of
developing these land resources. Unutilized or underutilized human
resources from Europe and captive human resources of Africa were
settled on lands accessible to coasts and navigable rivers. Much of
this population knew how to farm and little else. Over 90 percent
of our population was on farms during colonial days.

Land situated on navigable waters was soon filled. Toll roads
and canals were extended inland in attempts to commercialize new
lands. Land with no access to means of transport accommodated a
self-sufficient agriculture for a while. The pace of immigration then
began to build up American cities.

The advent of railroads provided the technical means for reduc-
ing transport costs by as much as 50 to 1. But the railroads served
in one respect to delay the industrialization of the United States.
They helped to retain a comparative advantage for agriculture in
this country. As important perhaps, land was made available to any-
98



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