Some Forces Affecting the Changing Structure, Organization, and Control of American Agriculture

The original broad charge given to us by President Hildreth for this address was to consider "the implications of the changing structure, organization, and control of American agriculture." Upon asking for a possible narrowing of the topic, Jim magnanimously agreed to change "the" to "some." Upon our suggestion to Jim of the names of several economists who knew something about this topic, he mumbled that he was looking for a couple of "appropriate types" to go "where angels fear to tread." At the outset we should say something about the direction and scope of our comments. Our emphasis will be on structural change and control in agriculture, interpreted rather broadly. We single out land value escalation as an issue of major importance and deserving of special attention because of possible effects on the future structure and control of the farming subsystem. It is our contention that the driving forces affecting future changes are coming from outside agriculture, rather than from decisions made within. Analyzing the past is a necessary first step in understanding present trends and future possibilities. Our procedure, therefore, is to provide first a short overview of structure research in agriculture and indicate how the policy/control aspects of agriculture have changed in concert with industrialization. Second, we review some of the major changes taking place in the food and agriculture system giving particular attention to the interface between production agriculture and nonfarm rural interests. We then examine the record on rising farm real estate values, considering selected external and internal forces and possible resultant effects on structure and control in agriculture. We conclude with general observations on future developments and problems ahead.