flat farm field next to Bacon's Castle (Surry County)
For the last 3,000 or so years before the English arrived, Native Americans planted seeds and harvested crops on purpose. The grain, beans, and vegetables grown in Virginia were intended for trade and taxes as well as use by the farmers themselves. When the Europeans arrived here, the first Virginians were more than simple subsistence farmers. A subsistence" farmer raises just enough food to feed the family, with none left over for commercial sale. When Jamestown was settled in 1607, Native American villages in Virginia did not have the luxury of consuming all the agricultural products produced by that village. Powhatan demanded a stiff contribution from his subordinate tribes, collecting "surplus" corn and storing it for later redistribution.
The European colonists were engaged from the beginning (almost...) in market-oriented farming. Within the first ecade, the Virginia colonists were raising tobacco for export rather than food for subsistence. For the first 5 or more years, the colonists depended upon the resupply shipments from England plus trade with the local Indians for a substantial portion of their food supply. The Native Americans knew that control over the food supply was important. When the Potomacks at Aquia Creek sold corn to the English, Powhatan lost leverage.
The English sailed to Aquia Creek because that was the edge of Powhatan's control. Transporting the corn in their ships was relatively inexpensive. Modern transport has dramatically altered agricultural operations. during the winter in Virginia, grocery stores sell fresh vegetables that have been grown in Chile (which, after shipping, may not be as tasty as local crops in season). It's possible to pick a green tomato in the Central Valley of California, ship it as a rock-hard item in a crate, artificially ripen it in an ethylene-filled warehouse chamber, and sell it at the local grocery store - but it will never taste as good as a locally-grown tomato in August.
In Virginia, there's still a market for "truck farming" where crops are trucked from the farm to the city to be sold fresh, eliminating the costs and quality reduction associated with shipping and selling through a middleman such as a grocery store. However, truck farming got its name originally from the word for bartering (Middle English "trukken," based on the Old French "troquer"). When you go to a famers market now and purchase vegetable from the bed of the truck, it's the negotiation over price - not the vehicle - that is the basis for the name "truck farming."
| State | # of Farms | Avg.
Farm Size (in acres) |
Total
Land in Farm (in acres) |
Acreage
in Entire State1 |
|||
| Virginia | 49,000 | 178 | 8,700,000 | 26,091,000 | |||
| Maryland | 12,400 | 169 | 2,100,000 | 6,695,000 | |||
| N. Carolina | 57,000 | 161 | 9,200,000 | 33,708,000 | |||
| S. Carolina | 24,000 | 196 | 4,700,000 | 19,912,000 | |||
| W. Virginia | 20,500 | 176 | 3,600,000 | 15,508,000 | |||
| U.S. | 2,172,080 | 434 | 942,990,000 | 1,937,726,000 | |||
