How does agriculture become a political weapon and what does it mean to farmers?

Trade war with China. Controversy over the Mexican border wall. Relations with South Korea are tense. This may sound like a problem to politicians and CEOs of multinational companies, but among Americans with vested interests in foreign affairs, this is an unlikely group: family farmers in rural Nebraska.

Rick and Heidi? Heidi Hammond and their daughter Megan are such a Nebraska family. As the fifth and sixth generations of the micro-farming dynasty, they have to deal with the uncertainty of weather, agricultural machinery and national and international politics while raising corn, soybeans and cattle. In his new book, journalist Ted Genoways tells about the challenges they have faced since they first came to Cohesion in 1960s from 19 "Holy Land: A Year of Family Farm Life in America".

"I saw a first-hand conversation about what to do at a certain moment at a soybean farm in rural Nebraska, which was directly affected by China's trade at that time," Geneway said. In the past, it was enough for us to grow crops with the highest yield and the lowest price. But now, Genevieve said, farmers have followed everything, from trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership to the North American Free Trade Agreement and the debate on Mexican immigrants. Mexico has suggested that they may stop importing American corn.

"There are many factors that affect who decides to trade with us, which is of course correct. Now many people are worried about what Trump's unstable relationship overseas means to food sales, especially our meat sales and all agricultural products sales, "Geneway said.

This Happy Earth: A Year of American Family Farm Life is not only a concise exploration of the history of American small farms, but also a vivid portrayal of a family's efforts to protect its heritage and the life they love.

The purchase of this system is in place today, which means that medium-sized family farms like the Hammond family are almost as dependent on the decisions of politicians in Washington, DC as the weather in Nebraska. How do we make agriculture so closely related to American geopolitics and global events? Abraham lincoln, eager to protect the west from slavery, signed the Homestead Law in 1862. It gave cheap land to any citizen who had never confronted the federal government, and injected the funds for purchasing the land into the School of Agricultural and Mechanical Arts (A&). Lincoln also signed the Pacific Railway Act to provide land subsidies for railway armor. Among the young people attracted to the west by the hope of agriculture and free life, Thomas Barber, Heidi Hammond's great-great grandfather, was also the first person in his family to establish a life in the frontier.

However, the output of farmers in the second half of the19th century is unpredictable, although the amount of land covered by crops has increased. 1874, nearly three-quarters of the country's crops were eaten by swarms of grasshoppers, 1893, bank panic, followed by drought for years. If farmers want more reliable production and the country needs ready-made food sources, measures must be taken.

There are two people who will change the way and content of our planting forever. The first one is Henry A. Wallace, who is an innovator in maize hybridization experiment. He cultivated drought-resistant varieties when sandstorms struck, and was appointed Minister of Agriculture by franklin roosevelt for his work (1933). In the past ten years, the share of American corn from hybrid seeds has increased from 1% to more than 75%. From then on, Wallace went to worship Vice President Roosevelt and persuaded him to establish a federal grain reserve. In high-yield years, the Ministry of Agriculture will store grain and release grain in low-yield years to keep prices low.

There was a famous automobile manufacturer, Henry Ford. In the early 1930s, Ford lost $6,543.8+0.2 billion due to the decline in truck and tractor sales. Since then, Ford has turned to soybeans to "save" heavily indebted farmers and engage in a new industry. He promoted soybean mainly because of its chemical application, but also reserved soybean milk ice cream and bean powder baked goods for his company. In the drought period, the yield of soybean is better than that of corn. After the Pearl Harbor explosion, * * * promoted greater output, because soybeans provided a source of edible fat and oil. From 1943 to 1945, American soybean production increased from 78 million bushels to1930,000 bushels. After the war, these beans can feed the cows that the American people crave after years of rationing, just like before the war.

Wallace's hybrids suffered setbacks, but they grew so fast that they quickly exhausted the nitrogen in the soil. Enter Monsanto and other weapons manufacturers, such as DuPont, whose business flourished during World War II. When peace comes, they are eager for customers. Soon, these cornfields began to produce fertilizers and pesticides for farmers to use, while farmers used more and more accurate hybrid varieties of corn and soybeans to grow surplus grain year after year. This stage is for an agricultural system, which may be further manipulated by a federation eager to weaken the grain circulation of industrialized countries during the Cold War and buy allies with cheap agricultural products.

"We have set up a system, and we are exporting a lot of food to have some by controlling the food supply, which affects not only our friends, but also our enemies," Genevieve said. "This means that they depend not only on our supply, but also on their demand."

This dependence means the survival or failure of family farms, which still account for 99% of the 2,654,380+million farms in the United States. Genevieve said that with the decline of food prices in the past five years, more and more farmers felt the pressure, which could not even explain that the export of agricultural products in the United States was at the lowest level in five years in 20 15. No wonder farmers pay close attention to foreign markets and the development of relations between the United States and its trading partners such as China and Mexico.

For the hot Na Wei, it is time for people to realize the complexity of agriculture in the global system. The choices made by * * * will directly affect farmers and the food we eat. He hopes that readers will leave his book with this new taste. "What they do is very valuable, and the heritage they represent is also very valuable. We are trying to protect this lifestyle and make it sustainable, "Genevieve said.