The history
When industrialization had not grabbed the world and civilization was in its initial stages, agriculture was the occupation of most people. There are even today a number of countries that depend on agriculture giving them the name of agrarian state. Unlike many eastern countries like China, India, and Japan, wheat was the favored crop in United States. It spread from the Eastern part of the country to the western part. Later on dairy farming, cotton, beef cattle, tobacco etc were added to agriculture in USA. Cotton was the common item among them which the cultivators favored in the United States. Tobacco and cotton cultivation continued and mastered agricultural scene till the Civil Wars and slavery which was earlier in vogue was prohibited with the coming into force of the Freedom Ordinance of 1787. A new turn in American agriculture was the introduction of soyabean in the 1950s that started replacing oats and wheat gradually.
Farmland turned to forest
A great amount of agriculture farmland was converted into forest during and after the Great Depression. However, the trend started to change rejuvenating agriculture after the 1970s with coming up some federal legislation to support the farmers. Unlike many other countries including some advanced countries, use of satellite system for improvement of agriculture and in its research, is a prominent feature in the United States of America.
The top crops
Research on agriculture reveals that Corn, Cattle meat, Cow milk, chicken meat, soybeans, pig meat, wheat, cotton, eggs, turkey meat, tomatoes, potatoes, grapes, oranges, rice and paddy, apples, sorghum, lettuce, cottonseed, and sugar beets are the top twenty crops in the United States favored by the cultivators. The notable omissions are tobacco, barley, and oats that figured prominently in the list of top agriculture products about 30-40 years ago. Corn, soybean, wheat, alfalfa, and cotton account for about 63% of the total agriculture production in USA. Compared to other countries the yield of agriculture in United States is quite high.
Live stocks
One part of agriculture is the live stocks. The major live stocks in United States are dairy cattle, beef cattle, swine, poultry and sheep. Goats, horses, turkeys and bees are also raised in somewhat lesser quantities.
Workforce
In United States, agriculture is governed both by federal and local laws. Constant research is made to improve and open up new vistas of products relating to agriculture. A major part of the workforce in United States agriculture front is made up of migrant and seasonal workers. Among them the number of Latin American people is the maximum. Child labor is however restricted by both Federal and local laws. In the 19th century, 50% of the population was engaged in Agriculture whereas today even less than 1% is engaged in direct agriculture. On the other hand the labor force has taken a leap to around 180 million by 2006.