A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer might own the farmland or might work as a laborer on land owned by others. In most developed economies, a "farmer" is usually a farm owner (landowner), while employees of the farm are known as farm workers. However, in other older definitions a farmer was a person who promotes or improves the growth of plants, land, or crops or raises animals by labor and attention.
The National Grange, a.k.a. The Grange, officially named The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, is a social organization in the United States that encourages families to band together to promote the economic and political well-being of the community and agriculture. The Grange, founded after the Civil War in 1867, is the oldest American agricultural advocacy group with a national scope. The Grange actively lobbied state legislatures and Congress for political goals, such as the Granger Laws to lower rates charged by railroads, and rural free mail delivery by the Post Office.
4-H is a U.S.-based network of youth organizations whose mission is "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development". Its name is a reference to the occurrence of the initial letter H four times in the organization's original motto head, heart, hands, and health, which was later incorporated into the fuller pledge officially adopted in 1927. In the United States, the organization is administered by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). 4-H Canada is an independent non-profit organization overseeing the operation of branches throughout Canada. There are 4-H organizations in over 50 countries; the organization and administration varies from country to country.
Agricultural extension is the application of scientific research and new knowledge to agricultural practices through farmer education. The field of 'extension' now encompasses a wider range of communication and learning activities organized for rural people by educators from different disciplines, including agriculture, agricultural marketing, health, and business studies.
The history of agriculture in the United States covers the period from the first English settlers to the present day. In Colonial America, agriculture was the primary livelihood for 90% of the population, and most towns were shipping points for the export of agricultural products. Most farms were geared toward subsistence production for family use. The rapid growth of population and the expansion of the frontier opened up large numbers of new farms, and clearing the land was a major preoccupation of farmers. After 1800, cotton became the chief crop in southern plantations, and the chief American export. After 1840, industrialization and urbanization opened up lucrative domestic markets. The number of farms grew from 1.4 million in 1850, to 4.0 million in 1880, and 6.4 million in 1910; then started to fall, dropping to 5.6 million in 1950 and 2.2 million in 2008.
The history of agricultural science is a sub-field of the history of agriculture which looks at the scientific advancement of techniques and understanding of agriculture. Early study of organic production in botanical gardens was continued in with agricultural experiment stations in several countries.
Agricultural education is the systematic and organized teaching, instruction and training available to students, farmers or individuals interested in the science, business and technology of agriculture as well as the management of land, environment and natural resources.
The General Education Board was a private organization which was used primarily to support higher education and medical schools in the United States, and to help rural white and black schools in the South, as well as modernize farming practices in the South. It helped eradicate hookworm and created the county agent system in American agriculture, linking research as state agricultural experiment stations with actual practices in the field.
National Farmers Union is a national federation of state Farmers Union organizations in the United States. The organization was founded in 1902 in Point, Texas, and is headquartered in Washington, D.C.. The organization was created to protect and enhance the economic well-being and quality of life for family farmers, ranchers, and their rural communities by promoting legislation and education beneficial to farmers, and developing cooperative buying and selling methods and businesses. NFU advocates for the sustainable production of food, fiber, feed, and fuel. The current president is Rob Larew, and the vice president is Jeff Kippley. Former NFU Presidents have included Roger Johnson, Tom Buis, and David Frederickson.
Luther Noble Duncan was a 20th-century American educator and administrator. He was a pioneer of 4-H youth development, a director of the Alabama Extension Service and president of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute.
The agricultural policy of the United States is composed primarily of the periodically renewed federal U.S. farm bills. The Farm Bills have a rich history which initially sought to provide income and price support to US farmers and prevent them from adverse global as well as local supply and demand shocks. This implied an elaborate subsidy program which supports domestic production by either direct payments or through price support measures. The former incentivizes farmers to grow certain crops which are eligible for such payments through environmentally conscientious practices of farming. The latter protects farmers from vagaries of price fluctuations by ensuring a minimum price and fulfilling their shortfalls in revenue upon a fall in price. Lately, there are other measures through which the government encourages crop insurance and pays part of the premium for such insurance against various unanticipated outcomes in agriculture.
The New Jersey Department of Agriculture is a state governmental agency that is responsible for the promotion and protection of agriculture and agribusiness in the state of New Jersey. The department oversees school meal programs, distributes surplus food from federal programs, oversees soil and water resources, maintains farmland for agricultural uses, assists in development of overseas markets for New Jersey products from its farms and fisheries, and administers agricultural education programs.
The University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources is the agricultural and environmental sciences college of the University of Maryland and operates the Maryland Sea Grant College in cooperation with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation (LFB) is a state chapter of the United States's largest general farm organization representing farmers, ranchers, and rural residents. The organization provides assistance toward the development and prosperity of Louisiana agriculture. It is a private, non-profit, non-governmental agency established in 1922 to bring a voice to Louisiana farmers and their families. It is based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
International Institute of Rural Reconstruction, also known as IIRR is a non-profit organization that helps empower rural communities by making them self-sufficient. By offering programs across health, education, environment, and livelihood, its goal is to have rural communities take charge of their own success. The organization has delivered programs to more than 40 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America and directly impacted the lives of over 19 million people as of 2019.
Henry C. Groseclose was born on May 17, 1892. He lived in Ceres, Virginia for most of his life. Groseclose completed his junior college degree from Washington and Lee University in 1917. In his later years, he also received his bachelor's degree, as well as his master's degree, in agricultural education from Virginia Tech. While Groseclose was an agriculture teacher at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, he, along with three other agriculture teachers, Walter Newman, Edmund Magill and Harry Sanders, decided to establish a club for the farm boys in the school. The organization was formed in 1925. Groseclose named the organization the Future Farmers of Virginia, or FFV for short.
Collective farming and communal farming are various types of "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member-owners jointly engage in farming activities as a collective; and state farms, which are owned and directly run by a centralized government. The process by which farmland is aggregated is called collectivization. In some countries, there have been both state-run and cooperative-run variants. For example, the Soviet Union had both kolkhozy and sovkhozy.
The National FFA Organization, often referred to simply as FFA, is an American non-profit career and technical student organization, which offers middle and high school classes that promote and support agricultural education. FFA was founded in 1925 at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, by agriculture teachers Henry C. Groseclose, Walter Newman, Edmund Magill, and Harry Sanders as Future Farmers of Virginia. In 1928, it became a nationwide organization known as Future Farmers of America.
Women have always been active in agriculture in Japan. Women farmers have, throughout Japan's history, outnumbered male farmers. Traditionally, women farmers in Japan did farm work and cared for other members of the family. Some held part-time jobs and then came home to do farm work. Most farmland in Japan is used by small family farms, though other types of agricultural collectives are appearing in the country. The Japanese government has been active in encouraging women to go into agriculture in the early 21st century.
The Kentucky FFA Association is a student-led organization centered around agricultural education and career development. Serving as Kentucky's Chapter of the National FFA Organization, the primary goal is to follow the wider organizations stated mission.
