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journal article Some Social Implications of the Mechanization of Southern AgricultureThe Southwestern Social Science Quarterly Vol. 31, No. 2 (SEPTEMBER, 1950) , pp. 121-129 (9 pages) Published By: Wiley https://www.jstor.org/stable/42865372 Read and download Log in through your school or library Alternate access options For independent researchers Subscribe to JPASS Unlimited reading + 10 downloads Purchase article $46.00 - Download now and later Publisher Information Wiley is a global provider of content and content-enabled workflow solutions in areas of scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly research; professional development; and education. Our core businesses produce scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly journals, reference works, books, database services, and advertising; professional books, subscription products, certification and training services and online applications; and education content and services including integrated online teaching and learning resources for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners. Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has been a valued source of information and understanding for more than 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. Wiley has published the works of more than 450 Nobel laureates in all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, and Peace. Wiley has partnerships with many of the world’s leading societies and publishes over 1,500 peer-reviewed journals and 1,500+ new books annually in print and online, as well as databases, major reference works and laboratory protocols in STMS subjects. With a growing open access offering, Wiley is committed to the widest possible dissemination of and access to the content we publish and supports all sustainable models of access. Our online platform, Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) is one of the world’s most extensive multidisciplinary collections of online resources, covering life, health, social and physical sciences, and humanities. Rights & Usage This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. Fewer employeesThe greatest impact of mechanisation has been an enormous increase in productivity per farm worker – overall production and production per hectare has grown considerably, but the total number of hours worked has fallen. There has been a large drop in the number of farmers and farm workers, and less work is now done by farmers’ families. The long-term pattern has been to replace expenditure on labour with investment in machinery. Man versus machineOne of the effects of mechanisation was to reduce the number of farm jobs available. When this coincided with an economic downturn, such as when haymaking machinery was introduced during the economic depression of the 1880s, the impact on workers was particularly severe. Bigger farmsThere has also been a growth in farm size, as labour-saving machines have allowed ‘one-man’ farms to expand. In 1928 most dairy farms were either 55 acres (22 hectares) carrying 20–25 cows, or 100 acres (40 hectares) carrying 39–45 cows. By 2006 the average dairy herd size in New Zealand was 322. In Canterbury it was 648 – the result of large arable farms being converted to dairying. Machines tend to operate more efficiently on larger farms, and bigger farms are better able to bear the cost of buying and running them. Increased productionMechanisation has increased farm production significantly. For example, machines made large-scale land clearance and drainage projects possible, aerial topdressing made steep country productive for the first time, and electric fences allowed farmers to use pasture more efficiently. Locally manufactured machineryFarm machinery manufacturing has been a significant industry in New Zealand from the mid-19th century. Early firms – such as P. & D. Duncan, Reid & Gray, and Andrews & Beaven – produced ploughs, harrows, threshing machines, chaff cutters, and seed cleaners. Some New Zealand-made machines, notably Andrews & Beaven’s chaff cutters, were exported to Australia and further afield. The long-serving Fletcher topdressing aircraft were often assembled locally, and in the early 2000s Cresco aircraft were made at Pacific Aerospace Corporation at Rukuhia, near Hamilton. Reliance on importsDespite some local manufacturing, mechanisation has tended to increase New Zealand farming’s dependence on imports. Farm machinery, particularly from the United States, featured strongly in import statistics from the mid-19th century, and local manufacturers generally used metal and parts from overseas. Feed for bullocks and horses was produced locally, as was coal for steam engines, but most oil-based fuel was imported. What were the effects of mechanization?The level of mechanization has a significant positive impact on the cost, output value, income and return rate of all types of crops. For every 1% increase in the level of mechanization, the yields of all crops, grain crops and cash crops increase by 1.2151, 1.5941 and 0.4351%, respectively.
What was the result of the mechanization of American farms during the industrial era?Mechanization in agriculture greatly reduced the need for human and animal labor. From 1950 to 2000, production on U.S. farms more than doubled with less than a third of the labor costs.
How did mechanization affect the industrial revolution?The consequent reduction in production time and the ability to replace craftsmen with lower-paid, unskilled workers resulted in lower production costs and less expensive final product.
What effect was the mechanization of industry having on the worker?The increased levels of mechanization produced neutral effects on employment and raised the value of the marginal productivity (VMP) of labor, implying that technology adoption by wholesale nurseries and greenhouses did not displace any worker but instead improved total workers' earnings.
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