An Economic, Ecological, and Cultural Evaluation of Agriculture in the American South

Abstract

Economic theory predicts a free market will direct the activity of producers by giving the greatest rewards to those who produce goods most economically and efficiently. Producing crops economically means producing them by maximizing energy use efficiency through allocating land for production to the crops that are best adapted to that land. The theory has not held true in the South. Analysis of past and present agriculture shows that maximizing short term yield rather than using land efficiently has been the force guiding management decisions. Reasons include:

• The Colonial Imperative – The original English colonists were acting to maximize profit for British business through short-term exploitation.

• Ignorance – First settlers thought the soil was rich and could be exploited indefinitely.

• Subsistence farming – Many of the later immigrants were fighting for survival, and needed quick results.

• Slavery – This artificial energy subsidy allowed cotton and tobacco farming on land ill-suited to these crops.

• Market access – Access to markets (roads, railroads, canals) limited the exchange of products that could be grown efficiently.

• Costs – Even where access was developed, the cost of transportation and storage often outweighed the benefits of growing more energy efficient crops.

• Ineffective Communication – Lack of market information on the frontier limited ability for good economic decisions.

• Market distortions – Subsidies, tariffs, and embargoes restricted free trade, thereby interfering with the workings of Adam Smith’s “invisible hand of the marketplace”.

The theory that maximizing energy output, not energy efficiency will give the greatest success to producers has been the better predictor of agricultural strategy, at least in the short term.