In order for things to grow, it takes the right environment. This requires the correct resources in the proper proportions and in a specified sequence. That is what is wrong with our gardens and fields this year. We have been short on water, and freezing temperatures came at the wrong time. When the sequence and balance is right, the harvest is bountiful. The same can be said for a nation as well as a field. As we celebrate the 4th of July, we celebrate the environment that produced the most bountiful and efficient food and fiber industry in the world.

According to former Purdue Dean of Agriculture Bob Thompson, the rich fertile soil that covers much of the Midwest is only found two other places in the world: Argentina, and the Ukraine. While many places in the world have favorable climates, only these three have the proper combinations of soil fertility and climate to produce the level of productivity needed to create a super agricultural industry. Yet, as history has shown us, it takes more than just good soil and good weather.

It also takes the correct economic structure. The Ukraine has been controlled alternately by a feudal system, a monarchy, and a communist dictatorship. Argentina has been ruled by military dictatorships or social revolutionaries. The US has been a capitalist democracy. Which system has produced economic growth, innovation, trade, and increased productivity?

Then there are the people. Descendents of serfs in the Ukraine and descendents of conquered tribes in Argentina, while very good farmers, were a much different kind of people from the descendents of pioneer settlers who carved out fields from the forests and swamps of the Midwest. The rugged individualism and self-reliance of these people became one of the primary reasons for the success of the American farmer. Though generations removed from the early settlers, these traits can still be found today in the people who work the land.

Then there is timing; remember the elements of a growing environment must be available in the proper sequence. While advances in agricultural production have been made throughout recorded history, beginning in the mid 19th century innovations were made that were perfectly suited for the growing farm fields of the Midwest and West. Over the next 100 years, a series of mechanical and technological revolutions would occur that would move agriculture from subsistence farming to a modern industry.

Both the land and the people were perfectly suited to make the most of these advances. The advances are continuing today as biotechnology is changing what and how we produce food, as well as opening the doors to the new role for agriculture, that of energy producer.

Yet, this environment is a delicate thing. Depletion of natural resources, restrictive economic policies, and the failure to pass on the heritage and technology of farming to the next generation, will bring the American agricultural system to an end. As we celebrate our nation’s birthday and sing about those “amber waves of grain,” remember the marvel that is American agriculture. Let us vow to protect the land, the economy and the people that have made it possible, thus insuring a prosperous future.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Gary Truitt may write to him in care of this publication.