The Commission on intergovernmental relations Page: 16
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ductivity and changed both the farm and the farmer. With
more cultivated land but fewer people working it than in 1900,
farmers supply food for twice as large a total population at a far
higher living standard. Subsistence farms are still numerous,
but many farms are factories, and their proprietors are businessmen
as well as farmers, with investments and records to keep.
They provide a sharp contrast to the still surviving pattern of
sharecropping agriculture.
State and county governments have played a role in this transformation
of rural life, with schools and land-grant colleges and
highways and fairs. They have encouraged the significant influence
of such youth organizations as 4-H Clubs and Future
Farmers of America. Agricultural producer co-ops, fostered by
the State and National governments, have contributed, too.
It is partly cause and partly consequence that the era of the
agricultural revolution matches very closely the period of greatest
expansion in the manifold programs of the Department of
Agriculture. Farmers use the National Government freely, and
regard the Department as essential to their welfare. The network
of agricultural experiment stations and county extension
activities is one of the leading examples of National-State
cooperation.
Closely allied to the revolutions in industry and agriculture is
the emphasis on natural resource development and conservation
which began to be felt about 1900. Land use and water use
since that time have claimed much governmental attention, with
programs for soil conservation, irrigation, reclamation, flood
control, hydroelectric power, and stream pollution abatement.
Forests are coming to be treated as tree farms. Wildlife, parks,
and recreation facilities have become public concerns. Mineral
and petroleum resource conservation and development have
become increasingly important objectives of public policy.
Changes in our foreign trade likewise reflect our economic
growth. Where coffee, bananas, and tin once comprised our
main imports, today we look abroad for such items as iron ore,
copper, bauxite, nickel, manganese, and tungsten, in addition to
commodities which were never a part of our natural resources.
Some of these goods are imported because the increase in consumption
of all types of raw materials has sharply reduced our
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United States. Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. The Commission on intergovernmental relations, book, June 1955; Washington, D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1051/m1/30/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.