(800) 853-2651
SHOP NOW

Interesting tidbit of US farming history.

O

oldtanker

Well-known Member
The percentage of the population who were farmers in the US:

1790: 90%
1820: 80%
1840: 69%
1850: 64%
1860: 58%
1870: 53%
1880: 49%
1890: 43%
1900: 38%
1910: 31%
1920: 27%
1930: 21%
1940: 18%
1950: 12.2%
1960: 8.3%
1970: 4.6%
1980: 3.4%
1990: 2.6%

Now you go back to say the WWI time frame most American city dwellers had some connection with a farm. Grand parents or aunts and uncles who farmed or worked in AG related industries at least.

Just food for thought.

Rick
 
I wonder if those statics apply only to persons who identify as farmers on the census or include farm workers, part time farmers,
etc.? A percentage of all those deriving income from agriculture in total would be interesting too. At one time food was grown,
harvested and consumed in a local area. Now transportation, processing etc is involved. Some say "change is good". I tend to think
"some change is good but not all".
 
That chart is a little deceiving as only the farm owner is credited with being on the farm.It'd be like saying the head of Ford makes all the Ford cars he employees a lot of people to help him build those cars just like most farmers don't do all the work on their farms.Not like the old days when most farmers were like me on mine a one man deal.
 
Could the most current figures be based on the percentage of people filing farm income on their income taxes: full time farmers; part time and hobby farmers; widowed land lords; investors in corporate farms; etc. The 1990 US census estimated our population at 249 million people. 2.6 percent of that would have been 6.5 million farmers in 1990, that sounds high for only 18 years ago.

I wonder what the latest percentage available is for 2016 or 2017: maybe around 1.5 percent or less? In the last two decades high grain prices have pushed a lot of small livestock farmers out of business. Now-a-days many full time farming families need one spouse to have an off-farm job to provide health care benefits for the family.
 
Now I don?t want this though to turn ugly, so just
don?t go there, but we?re coloured folks even
considered as persons in the census data before
the civil war census in 1860. This alone would skew
the numbers some what, and most of these folks
would have been working on farms.
 
Read somewhere there are 2.3 million farmers in the US now. Maybe 1.5 % of the population. If you didn't send in your last census maybe you were not counted.
 
Bruce, the same thing could be applied today. Do they count migrant workers, and their spouses, and under age kids, both legal and illegal residents?
 
The current US population estimate for July 2018 is about 328 million. 2.3 million farmers would be about 0.7 percent of the total population, that sounds like it could be right for full time farmers.
 
I think they were counted in the oldest numbers. Before the Civil War, for states' representation in congress was determined by population and slave were counted as three fifths of a free person. It was a strange compromise.
 
Henry Ford's employees were most likely counted as: assembly line workers; machinists; tool makers; accountants; manual laborers; foremen; managers; secretaries; etc, the same as if they worked in any other industry. I suspect people who are employed on farms are counted the same way, as farm laborers rather than farmers.
 
That's why we have the electoral college.
If it wasn't for that, we would be ruled by
city folks that have no idea of what the
rest of the country needs.
 
(quoted from post at 08:06:57 08/21/18) Interesting that the biggest drop percentage wise was 1790 to 1840.
Click to expand...

I think the way it is displayed is deceiving, it is 10% spread over 30 years, or about 3.3% every 10 years if the decrease was linear. The 1820-1840 was 11% over 20 years (5.5% every 10 years), and the rest are given every 10 years.
 
I'm surprised the 70's and 80's percentage drop wasn't higher. When I was a kid in the 70's, the closest town was five miles away. In that five miles there were a dozen 50 - 75 cow dairies - there's two left now. It's a vanishing way of life
Pete
 
It is also deceiving in that the total population increase is not mentioned. Even if the number of farmers stayed the same for 10 years, the percent of total population that are farmers would would be less due to the total population increasing. 10 farmers in 100 people is 10% while 10 farmers in 150 is just under 7% of total population even though there are still 10 farmers.
 
RLP ...... I know I've questioned you before with some of your replies but I'm wondering ....... why the big "hate on" for city folk? It seems to be a continuing theme with some of your comments. I'm sure there are a few of those urban dwelleres that have a tiny bit of an idea of what the country needs. All the intelligence in the country can't be the sole property of country folk I don't think.
 
(quoted from post at 19:28:00 08/21/18) RLP ...... I know I've questioned you before with some of your replies but I'm wondering ....... why the big "hate on" for city folk? It seems to be a continuing theme with some of your comments. I'm sure there are a few of those urban dwelleres that have a tiny bit of an idea of what the country needs. All the intelligence in the country can't be the sole property of country folk I don't think.
Click to expand...
say, perhaps not so much as intelligence, but very, very different needs, controls, revenue streams, and on & on.
 
Where do you get hate from? Don't try to change the meaning of my posts. I guess no one ever explained to you that city folks know little of farming needs or the needs of the country.
 
(quoted from post at 10:41:33 08/21/18)
(quoted from post at 08:06:57 08/21/18) Interesting that the biggest drop percentage wise was 1790 to 1840.
Click to expand...

I think the way it is displayed is deceiving, it is 10% spread over 30 years, or about 3.3% every 10 years if the decrease was linear. The 1820-1840 was 11% over 20 years (5.5% every 10 years), and the rest are given every 10 years.
Click to expand...

Chadd from what I could find out they didn't start out doing the census every 10 years. Only when they felt the need. Then it was decided to have the needed numbers of people serving int he house they decided to go with 10 year intervals.

Rick
 
Yepper and looking at WWII time line, once "Rosy" got out of the house...off the farm, she never went back.

However I know of folks around here that farmed large tracts. During the war they went to Dallas to work production lines and when it was over came back
home....but that wasn't the norm as I observed. Where I bought my farm 40 years ago, Cisterns and seasonal, shallow, shovel dug wells were the only
means of water and they were all over the place indicating the presence of inhabitants in reasonable numbers at one point in time. "Cotton is King" had a lot
to do with it and when synthetic fabrics came along, they moved to town as they couldn't afford to farm.
 
To check where we really stand, go farmgateblog.com to check the parity prices.

2012, corn $12, beans $28.90, wheat $18.30, and milk $52.10

2013, corn $12, beans $27, wheat $18, and milk $52

Maybe parity is what the white collar farmers get and the real prices are what we blue collar farmers get.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Tractor Parts Tractor Manuals

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Copyright © 1997-2024 Yesterday's Tractor Co.

All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.

Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor Headquarters
Website Accessibility Policy

Back
Top