History of Agriculture By Ari22 1952 Farms started to grow in size to meet the demand for more food 1953 Chemical fertilizers became more commonly used 1953 Center pivot irrigation systems started going on the market 1954 The Agricultural Act 1954 Food Peace Act 1954 Tractors became more popular than horse power 1956 The Soil Bank program Period: 1958 to 1960 Droughts impacted the Eastern United States 1959 Foods and Agriculture Act 1965 Foods and Agriculture Act 1969 Girls are allowed to join FFA 1970 Farm bill came when looking at subsidies for farmers 1970 Farmers made up only 4.9 percent of the American workforce 1971 Earl Butz became the secretary of Agriculture 1972 the Soviet Union suffering disastrous harvests purchased 30 million tons of American grain Period: 1972 to 1976 were prosperous years in rural America and first time since record of per capita farm income 1973 The Agricultural and consumer protection Act 1976 finished combining corn tonight the new bin is full and helping the bills getting paid for the farmers 1976 signed into law helping farmers and supporting farmer-owned reserve for grain 1977 food and Agriculture Act