The Law of the Land Two Hundred Years of American Farmland Policy

In The Law of the Land John Opie argues that American agriculture has been and still is controlled by erroneous and harmful historical myths. Contrary to public opinion and textbook gospel, public land policy has often worked against the independent family farmer. The public land survey and sales system, going back to 1785 and covering the western two-thirds of the United States, was supposed to be the most equitable means of making land available to small farmers. Instead, this system encouraged the transfer of land into the hands of those involved primarily in speculation and the amassing of huge profits. The small, cash-poor farmer was the loser, but was still touted as the bulwark of private enterprise.

The small farmer's position was further weakened by other systems of public land distribution that favored the railroads, speculators, and state and territorial claims, to cite some examples. The Law of the Land reveals the extent ot which government actions undermined or competed with the old survey and sale system. Ironically, only major federal interventions, including the Reclamation Act in 1902 and the formation of the Soil Conservation Service in 1935, could help the independent farmer. Opie turns his attention to new programs for the protection of farmland, which are often directed toward correction or even removal of the two-hundred-year-old land survey system and its basis in private property rights. He discusses new priorities and new planning that includes farmland preserves and controlled used and development through zoning and tax plans. The Law of the Land ends on a note of urgency. The survival of the independent family farm is at stake and a good deal more.