Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
0
50
0 km
Corporate Farming (%)
3 - 8
8 - 11
11 - 15
15 - 20
20 - 30
Method: Quartic Kernel density
smoothing in a flexible bandwidth
of the 30 nearest counties
Source: US Agricultural census
Designed and made by JM Zaninetti, University of Orleans, CEDETE Institute
Figure 2.7.
Extension of corporate farming 2002
The US Census continues to count the population of farms. In the last decennial
census, the farm population did not exceed 3 million people, representing about
1.1% of the total population of the United States (see Figure 2.8).
Rural agricultural density is 0.32 inhabitants/km² for the 48 conterminous states,
ranging from 0.1 to 0.6 inhabitants/km² depending on the state. Only in some parts
of the Midwestern plains and southeastern Pennsylvania is a population of more than
1 inhabitant per km² able to live directly off the land. West of the 100th meridian,
the density of agricultural population declines rapidly. The mountains of the western
inlands are deserted countryside. Other areas of low density can be found around
Lake Superior, in northeastern Maine, and in southern Florida. In the West, the
Willamette Valley and the Central Valley in California are oases of rural settlement.
