250 Years of American Agriculture: A Legacy Worth Protecting
For 250 years, American agriculture has helped define who we are as a country.
Long before today’s supply chains, grocery stores, or global markets, farming was how families survived, communities grew, and our nation began to build its future. A century ago, roughly 30% of Americans worked in agriculture. Today, fewer than 2% do, yet farmers are responsible for feeding a much larger country and helping meet growing demand around the world. From the first fields planted to the farms feeding families today, agriculture has always been part of our independence.
A lot has changed since 1776. Farmers have moved from horses and hand tools, to GPS-guided equipment, genetically optimized seeds, enhanced conservation practices, and modern crop protection chemistries. Safe and effective crop protection tools have been central to that progress. They help farmers control weeds, insects and disease before they threaten a crop, making it possible to protect yields, reduce unnecessary field passes, conserve soil, improve efficiency, and grow more food on the same land.
But the mission has stayed the same: produce the food, fuel, foliage, and fiber America depends on.
That mission is not getting easier.
The Modern Ag Alliance’s 2026 State of the American Farmer report makes clear that today’s farmers are under real pressure. Only about half of farmers expected to be profitable in the past year. Farmer bankruptcies have risen sharply, commodity prices for some key crops have fallen significantly since 2022, and more than half of farmers report rising costs for labor, inputs, and other essentials.
Those pressures matter far beyond our fields. When farmers lose access to the tools that help them protect yields and manage costs, the entire country feels it at their kitchen tables.
That is why protecting American agriculture is about more than one crop, one tool, or one policy debate. It is about keeping the next generation of farmers on the land. It is about maintaining a strong domestic food supply. And it is about making sure farmers can continue using the modern tools that helped make American agriculture the most productive in the world.
As we celebrate America’s 250th birthday, we should also celebrate the farmers who helped build this country and continue to sustain it. George Washington recognized agriculture as central to the country’s success, telling Congress that “agriculture is of primary importance” to both individual and national welfare. From the first fields planted to the farms feeding families today, agriculture has always been part of our independence.
Their tools have changed. Their challenges have grown. But their importance to America has never been clearer.
This Independence Day, the Modern Ag Alliance is proud to stand with American farmers and the future they are working to protect.