Ask the Scholar

{
    "localId": "165976352",
    "label": "Report, A New Life for Farm Families and the Soil They Work",
    "core": "doc",
    "dtoType": "document",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/165976352"
}

{
    "id": "165976352",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/165976352",
    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Report, A New Life for Farm Families and the Soil They Work",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/165976352",
    "collections": [
        "President's Secretary's Files (Truman Administration)",
        "General Files"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-psf/602190/876257/876257-01-001.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-psf/602190/876257/876257-01-001.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-psf/602190/876257/876257-01-001.jpg",
    "imageCount": 18,
    "hasImages": true,
    "source": "import",
    "hasTranscription": false
}

{
    "url": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/165976352",
    "naId": 165976352,
    "levelOfDescription": "item",
    "recordType": "description",
    "ocrSource": "nara-archive"
}

{
    "seq": 12,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-psf/602190/876257/876257-01-012.jpg",
    "mediaId": "eb0fe3a2f6523230",
    "ocrText": "T\nAND\nRECORDS\nSERVICATA\n- 12 -\nFarm\nIn 1930 there were only 920,000 tractors on American\nMachinery\nfarms -- now there are about 4,100,000 -- over four times as\nmany. Today there are 21/2 times as many trucks on farms as in\n1930 -- seven times as many milking machines, ten times as many\nmechanical cornpickers, and thirteen times as many grain combines.\nThe spectacular increase in mechanization is a big\nfactor in the agricultural production story.\nGreater\nTotal farm production in 1951 was nearly 50 percent\nOutput\nabove 1932 and farm output per man-hour was about 75 percent\nhigher.\nIn the past quarter century crop yields have Irisen\nmore than 40 percent. Milk per cow is up 25 percent and eggs\nper hen are up about 50 percent. This increased output each\nyear is worth more than 10 billion dollars at current prices.\nHigher\nBut agricultural progress means more than increased\nIncomes\nfarm income. In 1900 one farm worker produced enough to feed\nhimself and 7 other people. Today one farm worker produces\nDoubled\nenough for himself and 14 others. This doubling of the overall\nEfficiency\nefficiency of farming has meant that more and more people could\ndevote their energies to industrial production. If we still\nhad to employ 85 percent of our population in producing food\nas many nations have to do, we would not be the mighty nation\nwe are today.\nThe Consumption Story\nMore\nAlthough our Iopulation has grown by more than 30\nPeople\nmillion persons since 1932, on the average the men, women, and\nchildren of the Nation are now eating much more food than they\ndid in 1932, or in the \"prosperous' year of 1929. Meat con-\nsumption per person is about 10 percent above 1929. We are\nMore\nalso consuming more dairy products, more eggs, and many more\nFood\nfruits and vegetables per person than in 1929. Per capita\nconsumption of food in 1951 was 13 percent above the 1935-39\naverage.\nMore\nIn 1952, despite heavy demands for food for our\nMeat\nmilitary forces and export to friendly countries, consumption\nof important foods is expected to increase. The people of the\nUnited States, it is estimated, are eating this year about 2/2\npounds more meat per person than they did in 1951, when consump -\ntion averaged about 141 pounds.\nDemocracy in Agriculture\nEconomic\nFarmers have made their record of progress through\nDemocracy\ndemocratic means. They have built up a system of freely chosen"
}