The change agriculture has been experiencing through technological development in the last century are presented. The first wave started with the mechanization and the introduction of internal combustion engine and wheel tractor between 1890 and 1945. These changes allowed producers to operate more acres and consolidation occurred. The second wave, from 1945 to 1980 came with the petro-chemical revolution and the introduction of chemical fertilizers and the development of equipment of larger capacity contributing to the increasing dependency of agriculture upon fossil fuels and purchased inputs. The emergence of the third wave just started with the bio-genetic revolution. The fourth revolution will rely on information and upon computers and telecommunication technologies. As a result of those technological changes, important changes in the structure of agriculture and rural culture happened also. The decline of the farm number, the increasing farm size through consolidation and the concentration of the production are examples of those changes. Rural communities have changed and abandoned farmsteads, boarded up schools, churches and small business are in some cases the new reality. Many farm dependent communities did not have the choice than to rely on other bases for their economies and in some cases tourism, recreation, or manufacturing have been develop to compensate for the outmigration and diminishing opportunities in farming. As a result, agriculture illiteracy increases and consumers forget or don’t get the chance to understand farming and food systems and farmers have on their side to understand more the consumers. Some rural communities have become bedroom communities because of their proximity from urban areas. These trends (new communities economical activities and bedroom communities) contribute to increasing rural diversity and result in great variation within the communities. New values are introduced to the communities including beliefs about rural life and quality of life importance and also different aspects about land use, zoning, environmental protection, rural services, priorities about community development and taxes. Cultural changes also occur even in farming communities where less time is devoted to volunteer activities, participation in community life and activities and interaction with neighbors for visits and help. As a result and it has been observed in research, neighbors that don’t know each other, won’t trust each other and eventually work together. Encouraging more interactions among residents of rural communities seems to be one element of the solution for the controversy emerging from livestock expansion.
This article is very interesting and effective in presenting the changes in the rural communities as a result of the important changes in the agriculture