American Agriculture History Minute: Learning the Laws of Supply and Demand

I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute.

Farmers and ranchers in early American agriculture quickly learned about the laws of supply and demand.

The cotton gin made it possible to increase cotton production in the South, for example, and cotton became a major export crop. But eventually, the increased supply would put severe downward pressure on cotton prices.

First from 1820 to 1823, and again 1840 to 1843, sugarcane began being grown in Louisiana and was refined into granular sugar and became another area of revenue generation for farmers in the South.

That’s today’s American Agriculture History Minute. I’m Mark Oppold. Thanks for reading. I’ll see you next time.