Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
0
500
Farm pop. Density
inh./km²
0 - 0,1
0.10 - 0.32
0.32 - 0.60
0.60 - 1.00
1.00 - 2.17
Method: Quartic Kernel density
smoothing in a flexible bandwidth
of the 30 nearest counties
Source: US Census
Designed and made by JM Zaninetti, University of Orleans, CEDETE Institute
Figure 2.8. Density of the agricultural population 2000
Migration from rural to urban environments is very high. Between 1970 and
2000, the population of farms declined by 64% (see Figures 2.9 and 2.10). Most
states lost between 50% and 80% of their farm population within 30 years. Alaska is
an exception because of the commitment of its Indigenous population to the
traditional lifestyles of hunters and fishermen. It is on the west coast, where
agriculture specialized early in the cultivation of highly profitable crops, that the
farm population has declined least. In these areas, Hispanic immigration has
contributed to the renewal of the farming population. The decline is fastest in the
South where the plantation economy pursues its reconversion to forestry and an
emerging “poultry belt” and mechanization. Iowa, the Midwestern state considered
to typify rural America, experienced a decline similar to that of the national average.
The average age of farmers today is high, around 55 in 2002. The end of American
family farming is perhaps just around the corner. As the world's leading producer,
will the US know how to develop sustainable agriculture without farmers?
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