FARM 250
The history of the United States is written in every row of crops, pasture and dairy barn from sea to sea. The American Farm Bureau Federation is marking the nation’s 250th anniversary through FARM 250, a celebration of the contributions of America’s farmers in helping to grow America into the nation it is today.
- Feeding Families
- Advancing Innovation
- Rural resilience
- Mindful Stewardship
From the original colonists, who traveled to the new world and discovered fertile lands, to the modern farmer who uses satellite technology and automated tools to feed families nationwide, America’s success starts at the farm gate.
Feeding Families
The United States is an agricultural powerhouse. Farms across the country produce the equivalent of more than 5 million pounds of crops and animal products every minute! That’s more than 54 million semi truckloads. Put another way, if the food, fiber and fuel U.S. farmers produce each year were liquefied to roughly the density of water, it would fill nearly 500,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
You might be surprised to learn that almost all of the food grown in the U.S. comes from family-owned farms. In fact, of the 1.9 million farms stretching across the country, 97% of them are family owned.
The tradition of farming dates back to our nation’s founding. In the late 1700’s, approximately 90% of the population worked as farmers. The United States as it is shaped today is due in large part to farming. The desire for more farmland drove the nation’s expansion as families searched for the fertile fields that would help create their American dream.
Growing the food, fiber and fuel America’s families rely on is a monumental responsibility. Today, less than two percent of Americans work on the farm, yet they are able to grow an abundant food supply that the remaining 98% of America’s families rely on. We’re fortunate – we spend a smaller percentage of our disposable income on food than anywhere else on earth.
On average, one U.S. farm feeds 169 people annually. The challenge of supplying enough food for everyone continues to grow. The global population is expected to increase by 1.8 billion by 2050, which means the world’s farmers will have to increase total annual grain production by almost 1 billion tons and total meat production by more than 200 million tons to ensure we have enough food for everyone.
Advancing Innovation
From GPS guided planting to robotic milking machines, and from sprayers that can target a single weed in a field of crops to vertical greenhouses, farmers are using cutting edge technology to grow food for America’s families.
America has a rich history of innovation, dating back to the beginning of our nation. The 1831 invention of the McCormick Reaper in Virginia sped up the ability to cut grain. The first working combine was patented in 1836, an invention of Hiram Moore and John Hascall of Michigan. In 1892, John Froelich of Iowa invented the first successful gasoline-powered tractor. Gone were the days when farmers had to plant or harvest many crops by hand. This meant one person could do in minutes what previously took a team all day to accomplish.
To help entrepreneurs grow their ideas into products, Farm Bureau developed a first of its kind competition more than a decade ago called Ag Innovation Challenge to serve as an accelerator exclusively for rural inventors delivering solutions for farmers. The 2026 winner, FarmMind, offers an AI assistant to automate a farm’s back-office paperwork and optimize finances.
It’s not just tools that separate today’s farmers from their predecessors. Advancements in sustainability are helping farmers grow more food while using less water, fertilizer and land. Cover crops and no-till farming preserve important nutrients in the soil and help trap carbon underground. Rotational grazing keeps livestock from depleting vegetation. Conservation buffers reduce runoff, keeping fertilizer and pesticides on farm fields and away from waterways.
Continuing to make advancements in agriculture is critical to the future success of America’s farmers. Unfortunately, investment in publicly funded agriculture research – the engine of innovation – is on the decline. In fact, China and the European Union now outspend the United States in publicly funded agricultural research. Farm programs, which include research, typically cost each American just pennies per meal and account for less than one-half of 1% of the total U.S. budget – a worthy and relatively small investment for an abundant food supply. The private sector continues to find ways to invest in innovation, but more resources are needed to keep American agriculture on the cutting edge.
Rural Resilience
Farming is hard work. It requires long hours, physical strength, and the resilience to face constant uncertainty. Whether it’s nursing a newborn calf through a snowy, winter night, or planting a crop in hopes drought will finally break, success is often determined by factors outside of farmers’ control. But, for hundreds of thousands of families, farming is also a calling. Many farms go back generations, some of them date back before the founding of our nation. There’s a great deal of pride in continuing to build a generational legacy, but there is also pressure.
Farmers are facing an economic storm, with a combination of historically low crop prices and ever-increasing production expenses. Farming may be the only profession where someone pays retail for supplies and sells the final product at wholesale. Add to that the uncertainty of weather disasters, market disruptions and labor shortages, all testing the resilience of farmers.
It’s taken a toll. America lost approximately 175,000 farms since 2017 with a dramatic increase in farm bankruptcies. Almost two-thirds of America’s farmers are over the age of 55. Their children are increasingly looking for jobs off the farm and fewer young farmers are filling the roles of retirees. All that can put an incredible mental strain on those living in rural America.
The American Farm Bureau’s Farm State of Mind campaign is bringing awareness to farmers and ranchers who often live in isolated settings. We’re also leading a historic alliance that facilitates peer support and offers free counseling to farmers in need. It’s helping to save lives. To build a sustainable future for agriculture in our nation, we must promote the wellbeing of farmers and ranchers.
Important policy updates can also help farmers make it through the tough times. The first farm bill was enacted in 1933 to boost struggling farms and to stabilize agricultural economic volatility. The legislation has traditionally been revised and renewed every five years. Today, farmers and ranchers are waiting for the certainty that a new, modernized farm bill can provide. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been a farm bill passed since 2018, but there are encouraging signs that Congress may move forward with the legislation this year.
Mindful Stewardship
Farmers take seriously the responsibility to care for the resources they’ve been entrusted with. Advancements in conservation practices have enabled farmers to do more with less while working to achieve sustainability goals. In fact, it would have taken 100 million more acres just 30 years ago to match the production of farms today.
Progress is often driven by challenges. One of the most well-known challenges happened almost a hundred years ago when America suffered through the dust bowl of the 1930’s. The natural disaster reshaped agriculture to focus on the protection of natural resources, in addition to production. It led to the creation of the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Agricultural Adjustment Act, now known as the farm bill.
Farmers today are dedicated to practices that protectthe soil, preserve water, and reduce reliance on fertilizers and pesticides. Regenerative agriculture is a popular term for practices farmers have been employing for decades. Just in the past 40 years, careful stewardship by farmers and ranchers has spurred a 34% decline in erosion of cropland by wind and water.
More than 150,000 farms use renewable energy producing systems, which more than doubled in a decade. U.S. agriculture contributes just 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions in America, lower than many other sectors in the American economy.
More than half of America’s farmers intentionally provide habitat for wildlife. These efforts have contributed to population increases in native wildlife such as deer, moose and certain species of birds.
Farmers are committed to continued improvements into the next generation, which can be furthered by voluntary, market-based programs that advance both environmental sustainability and the economic sustainability of farmers.
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