From Farm to Table to Board Room: The Impact of Industrial Agriculture on U.S. Corn Production

Abstract

Over the last sixty years, farms in the U.S. have become more productive than ever, still the overall number of farms has steadily declined year over year. As the U.S. population continues to grow the demand for good quality safe food grows in tandem, yet this catalyst for expansion has overtly put the focus on increasing yield and productivity sometimes at the cost of other environmental and public health concerns. The evolution of the industrial agriculture complex has changed the way many crops are grown and how livestock is raised both domestically and globally. In this thesis I analyze the factors that led to a decrease in the number of farms and an increase in U.S. corn farm size by assessing the changes in variable and fixed costs over the last four decades to specifically consider whether the change in farm size may be attributable to a shift in the cost curve and accompanying equilibrium production quantity. In doing so I hope to show the impact economies of scale and highlight some of the potential downfalls of larger and less diverse farms in the process.