valuable of our natural resources but also the soil itself is one of the greatest bounties that nature has bestowed upon more than half of the land in america is farmland over a billion acres our more than five million farms are providing us with a greater supply of food and a wider choice of food to eat then is the fortune of any other nation when one farmer asks another house rob it is a question of the greatest importance to all of  so it is worthwhile to study the broad picture of american agriculture and learn how the bounty of our good song and its product can be a permanent blessing corn is our largest single crop today the annual harvest of corn measured in acres or bushels or dollars exceeds that of any other crop our three b willian bushels of corn a year is three fifths of the world's production weight violate oats and rice together occupy the largest proportion of the cultivated farmlands of america we have dozens of vegetables all the way from the common potato to the artichoke and vegetables are very essential to our modern balanced diet orchards in many parts of the country furnish a great variety of roads and nuts which also add to the wide selection of our daily food not only provides fibers for industry but also food for humans and animals from its seed jug are produced from the canes of our southern states and hawaii and from our sugar beet is our energy  a big part of farming is our great their industry or butter and milk and ice cream and portrayed by the million bad still more variety to our long list of advertising  modern packaging refrigeration and transportation has changed all that mass production of canned foods has extended their use throughout the year today our largest crops of fresh vegetables like this levels for instance are harvested at the peak of their value and kept fresh for a much longer time rushed immediately from the field while washing and cooling plant and sent by fast refrigerated trains and trucks to all parts of the nation fresh meat also travel and by refrigeration all the way from the packing plants to ice called warehouse then to be sent to the stars and home refrigerators in the remotest parts of our land the foods travel long distances from where they were grown the farmer's market has widened and we have good food to eat all through the year in earlier times the farmer's production was small and the work was hard the time was when a farmer with his own two hands aided by a few farm animals could barely grow enough food for his own family but today the average farmer in the united states with the aid of machinery produce enough food for his own family and many others who now work at other occupations our present production of food would have been far from adequate today that it not been for the mechanical progress of recent years our population is growing fast the census be there are estimates that by nine hundred seventy five we will have nearly two hundred million people in the united states so it becomes increasingly important to assure the future output of our farmland before we realize how vital it is to protect the soil a lot of good farmland was ruined by water and wind erosion we still have lots of good soil and properly managed it is practically inexhaust give a good layer of topsoil and keep it productive is achieve objectives farmers today are scientists and they use many methods to protect the soil for its present and future that similar way farmers retain water in ponds which stayed in flood control such ponds also supply water to livestock and make pleasant places for recreation farmers plant and cultivate sloping seals encountered rows to get the best use of water with the least washing away of good topsoil in some places they plant crops in autumn that spreads across the slo farmers keep woods in good condition to help store water and to provide future supplies of wood trees are often planted as windbreaks to prevent soil from blowing away are enriched by plowing crops of clovers into the ground or by turning in the stubble from hay crop and by adding fertilizers and mar in many livestock producing areas poor range lands are being improved and additional land made usable by effective programs of range management ranchers and soil conservation and forestry groups of the states and the federal government are cooperating in the project results of such programs have been that where formally fifty acres would barely support one steers now the same fifty acres is providing better for edge and enough for seven or eight  developing water resources has been worthwhile in many arid regions where new land is being put into production in order to bring water to the soil most effectively many large areas of formerly unused land are being levelled an operation like this makes it possible to spread irrigation water uniformly over the fields and to control it flow without waste we can look forward to assuring the future food supply for our people we can expect rather advances in agricultural science and contain the heritage of our good land as one of the greatest contributions