Larger Farms, Fewer Farmers.

During the 1960s the post-World War II agricultural trends of larger farms and fewer farmers accelerated. Over the course of the decade nine hundred thousand farms disappeared, largely because of consolidation. This meant that the average size of farms increased from 297 acres in 1960 to 374 acres by 1970. Although it was true that corporations and conglomerates were moving into agriculture, the family farm remained a fixture in rural America. In 1970, 66 percent of all corporate farms were family owned, 14 percent were individually owned, and the remaining 20 percent were owned by a group larger than a family.

Increasing Production and Specialization.

As farm size increased, farmers took advantage of new technology that made economies of scale possible. New machines, fertilizers, and pesticides pushed the value of farm output from $29 billion in 1946 to $54 billion in 1970. Over the same period labor productivity tripled. By...