The role of the farmer has always been an important one. Two hundred
years ago, 95% of American workers were farmers. Agriculture is 【S1】______.
America's biggest industry. Today, less than 3% of American workers are
farmers. Yet agriculture still is America's biggest industry, it employs more
workers than any other industry, and it produces more food than Americans
can consume enough to make the United States the world's largest importer 【S2】______.
of agricultural goods. American farmers used to grow only enough food to
feed their families and animals. Now each farmer grows enough to feed 78
other people. American farmers produce more today because they have to
use modern farm and business methods. This means they have to know more 【S3】______.
than ever before. They still learn about soil, the weather, harmless insects, 【S4】______.
and plant and animal diseases, but they also must learn about economics,
international trade, and even computers. It has said that farming in America 【S5】______.
today is three fourths paper work and one fourth physical labor. Because of
this, American farmers now are able to work for more years. In the past,
most were old and tired of by the time they were about 40. Today , 【S6】______.
however, the average age of the American farmer is 48 -five years older
than the averag6 age of other American workers. Almost all new farmers in
the United states have completed at most 12 years of schooling, and many 【S7】______.
young Americans study agriculture at a state university. The federal
government provided with the establishment of these schools in a law signed 【S8】______.
by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862. Today there is a so-called land-grant
university in each state. The land-grant law also created the cooperative
extension service. This is a series of local .offices around the country that
informs farmers about the latest developments in agriculture. American 【S9】______.
farmers also get information from the many agricultural publications in the
United States, Farmers also join organizations which they and their families 【S10】______.
can exchange information.