Agriculture

The phenomenal transformation of American agriculture in the quarter century following World War II was unparalleled in any previous period of equal length. Two closely connected events were the most dramatic of all: the massive reduction in the farm population by 1 million between 1950 and 1973, and the incredible rise in farm output per man-hour of 6% per year.

Farmers were unable to adjust their production to market demands as quickly as manufacturers. Indeed, when prices fell, they tended to work harder to produce more in order to maintain total income, and this response only added to the oversupply and drop in their income. Therefore, farmers could only survive on government subsidies and other crops advocated by the federal government. From here on, temptation to sell the land grew more and more frequently, according to Scheiber, H. N., Vatter, H. G., & Faulkner, H. U. (1976:453).

Developers are in a constant battle with each other to execute their strategies of land acquisition by lobbying to change zoning laws and deregulate lands reserved for agricultural use only. This battle has in turn created conflict with pressure groups, which promoted the government to buy the land under the responsibility and budget of the Delaware Department of Transportation, with some $80 million in state, local, and federal money to preserve about 80.000 acres under the purchase of a development rights program launched in 1996. (www.newzap.com/dover)
Another article reports that the loss of land promoted state farmland preservation officer and land planner Mike McGrath to say: “It’s a real serious problem. Farmers become a minority in their own neighborhood.” (The News Journal 16 June 2004).

Reflecting on the early difficulties within the American agriculture industry, which continue until the present, Greenleaf, W., ed, (1968:323-324) observed that the persistence of agriculture surplus, combined with the further collapse of farm prices in the early years of the Great Depression, posed a need for fresh policies to stabilize and raise price levels. One of the first important measures of the New Deal was a crop restriction program, which offset losses to participating farmers by compensating them for taking acres out of production. As the following selection indicates, the first twenty years of federal crop controls and price supports reveal policy inconsistencies, but the central objective of protecting farm income against the vagaries of changing demand and economic instability remains the same. Since the innovative legislation of the New Deal, the federal government has been committed to a policy of intervention in the farm economy in order to provide minimal guarantees for commercial agriculture, on the premise that a prosperous agriculture is essential to a strong economy.

The previous elaboration explains the dilemma and plight of American farmers all over the country, including Delaware and Dover. Other policies followed, such as the introduction of soybeans and lima beans in addition to continued cultivation of the existing produce such as corn, wheat, barley, fruits, and vegetables, according to season. New orientation is geared towards using plants (soya beans) as motor and engine environmentally-friendly fuel. Research is advanced, but the marketing is still not widely used.

Farmers are losing in the long run even though they are offered high value for their lands to be sold to eager developers and absorbed by urban development. Among the farmers affected are the Amish Communities, who are receiving top dollar for the land they are selling to local developers. However, in selling their land they are reducing their community in Dover as many of the Amish settle in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana, and parts of Canada.

Indeed, these families are moving to get away from growth and traffic and to preserve their lifestyle, but they are also bombarded on a daily basis to sell their property because they sit on primetime farmland, observed J. Patrick Callahan of ERA Harrington Realty Inc, speaking about the Amish land in west Dover. Many of them are tempted by $30.000 to $40.000 an acre and sometimes even $50.000 depending on location, noted the Dover Post on 13 July 2005. No wonder so many of them are leaving and relocating.
On Tuesday, October 4, 2005, Governor Minner Announced the Preservation of 145 Acres Adjacent to White Clay.
The newly-protected lands will be added to the 3,384 acres of the adjacent White Clay Creek State Park and will be managed by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), through its Division of Parks and Recreation.
The official web site of the State of Delaware boasted about the value of Delaware’s rural land by declaring: “With our rural landscape now threatened by rapid suburban residential development, there is the possibility that Delaware's agricultural lands and natural resources will become so fragmented that our largest industry and quality of life could be lost forever.”
Delaware state law has long recognized that there is a legitimate state interest and public purpose in managing the “development, utilization and control of land, water, underwater and air resources of the State to ensure that there are adequate supplies of these resources for domestic, industrial, power, agricultural and other beneficial uses.” The Delaware Code obligates the state government to manage and balance the use of these resources for the public good. www.state.de.us/planning/livedel/equity/equity.shtml

Delaware lost 10% of its farms, while farm acreage dropped by 8% between 1997-2002, as opposed to national averages of 2-4%, a fact that has made conservation plans and efforts more urgent than any time before. Some of these prime rate farms are located in Dover, particularly those owned by the Amish community. The state governor Ruth Ann Minner has allocated $8,9 million for the programme in her annual budget for 2005, and the House Republicans are considering a steady $10 million a year stream of funding from the lottery or cigarette taxes. www.newzap.com/dover/

Wheat fields in Kent County, Delaware