Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
produces the surplus; that if there were only effi cient producers they would manifest
their brains and ability, not only [by] economical production but also by studying
probable price trends and adjusting their production to prospective demand. It's the
ignorant ineffi cient producer who goes “hog wild” and plants over all-creation, thus
creating the surplus. Brains, ability, information:—these three never injured any
industry. The trouble with farming is that it hasn't enough of them. As one man
recently said, “My ignorant neighbor is a menace to me.” (April 1931, 3-5)
This quotation makes the moralistic character of Crocheron's Progressiv-
ism quite clear. Growers who did not have the brains and ability to increase
the effi ciency of their land were not only doomed, they were actually
responsible for the poor market conditions. This argument also further
naturalized the failure of certain growers; those who could not plan and
adjust properly for hard times were ignorant and would be the losers in a
struggle for survival.
Crocheron was likely correct about the relationship between effi ciency
and overproduction: if growers could get higher yields from fewer acres,
they could keep fewer acres in production and still make money. The
reality of this situation for many of the smaller growers, though, made it
diffi cult to take advantage of this advice. In fact, after several decades of
decreasing farm sizes, the period after the Great Depression saw a recon-
solidation of agricultural land in the state, as many smaller growers got
out of farming (Liebman 1983, ch. 3).
Farm advising during its fi rst two decades coincided with the rise of
industrial agriculture in the form that we know it today. Looking back,
it is tempting to draw a direct line of cause and effect, to see Cooperative
Extension as a means for Progressive elites and urban industrialists to
project their vision and interests into the countryside. Farm advisors' work
promoting effi cient new production practices helped to create the techno-
logical and economic infrastructure for industrial agriculture. Their dis-
courses of effi ciency and expertise served to legitimate the consolidation
of niche industry farms. While these discourses sounded like calls for
transformation, Danbom's thesis about the moral conservatism behind
Progressive ideals suggests that maintaining and retrenching social bound-
aries was also an important part of the movement. Cooperative Extension's
paradigm of knowledge, effi ciency, and progress suited small growers in
some crops quite well, but it did little to alleviate the structural and eco-
nomic troubles facing small growers of niche market crops.
