Thanking The American Farmer

(Forbes) Whether you shop at Wegmans Trader Joes Publix Kroger or any other grocery store they all have one thing in common. Those aisles of beautiful colorful fresh produce lean meats whole grain cereal and everything in between all start with a farm and probably a hard-working farm family. Over the past century agriculture research gains in this country have been harnessed to work towards efficiencies in accomplishing a single mission: clothing feeding fueling and sheltering the world using fewer resources. This under-appreciated innovation has given Americans the healthiest safest most affordable and most abundant food supply on earth and we cannot take that for granted. American farmers are amongst the most innovative people of our population. They are global leaders in technology adoption and sustainably intensifying production. Over the past century weve seen monumental yield and production increases on Americas farms. In 1950 the average corn yield was 38.2 bushels per acre; in recent years its been as high as 176.4 bushels per acre. These productivity gains are not a coincidence. They are the result of American farmers deliberately using technology and innovation to more efficiently and effectively cultivate their land. The knowledge skill and risk-taking business acumen required to be successful in agriculture match up with what it takes to be a successful industrial CEO. Since 1935 the number of farms in the U.S. fell from 6.8 million to 2 million. The productivity increases on farms across the country allowed people to leave the farm for jobs in the cities. While there has been a significant decrease in the number of farms the farm output of the remaining farms has skyrocketed by 295. U.S. farm output is forecasted to be $430 billion in 2019 compared to $146 billion (adjusted for inflation) from the 1930s. Despite less land in operation productivity increases have supported the rise of the U.S. in becoming a dominant competitor amongst our counterparts in the world marketplace.