Chapter 2

Question 1

The size of the average American farm is ______ acres or ______ hectares.

Answer 1

444 acres or 180 hectares

Question 2

A farm in Montana would tend to be smaller than one in Vermont

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Most farms do not rely on off-farm income

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Corn, soybean, wheat, and hay are grown on over 50 percent of cropland in the United States.

Answer 4

True

Question 5

Having a reliable and healthy food source is essential to our nation’s security.

Answer 5

True

Question 6

About 63 percent of U.S. agricultural products are exported to other countries

Answer 6

False

Question 7

The USDA was created in the 1900s

Answer 7

False

Question 8

There is more land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program than in the Wetland Reserve Program.

Answer 8

True

Question 9

A large dairy farm may have 1,000 cows or more

Answer 9

True

Question 10

Americans pay about 30 percent of their disposable income on food

Answer 10

True

Question 11

A hobby farm is self-supporting, with sales of at least $100,000.

Answer 11

False

Question 12

Large farms have higher profit margins than small farms.

Answer 12

True

Question 13

Most farm in the United States are family farms.

Answer 13

True

Question 14

More people in the United States are now employed directly in agriculture than at any time in history.

Answer 14

False

Question 15

Grazed forestland and rangeland are used more intensively than cropland.

Answer 15

False

Question 16

Fruit and vegetable are common agricultural products that the United State exports to Mexico.

Answer 16

False

Question 17

Most of the cost of food that consumers pay goes to other parts of agribusiness besides farming.

Answer 17

True

Question 18

A farm can be defined as:
A. a plot of land devoted to agriculture and to the raising of crops and livestock
B. a place where people live and practice stewardship of the land
C. a place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products are sold
D. all answers are correct

Answer 18

D. all answers are correct

Question 19

There are approximately how many farms in the United States?

Answer 19

2 million

Question 20

The USDA has established how many classes of farms?

Answer 20

five

Question 21

The term “acre” was brought to the United States from which country?

Answer 21

England

Question 22

Which of the following is a correct designation for a township?

Answer 22

T7NR2W

Question 23

What percentage of the United States land resource is devoted directly or indirectly to agriculture?

Answer 23

50

Question 24

What is typically planted on Conservation Reserve Program land?

Answer 24

native grasses

Question 25

Each American farmer provides food and fiber for approximately how many people?

Answer 25

150

Question 26

A large farm as characterized by the USDA would best be described as having

Answer 26

2,500 acres and $500,000 in sales

Question 27

Which two crops lead in exports from the United States?

Answer 27

soybean and corn

Question 28

Which are the leading livestock exports from the United States?

Answer 28

beef and pork

Question 29

The budget of the USDA in 2011 was approximately how much?

Answer 29

$146 billion

Question 30

The 2008 Farm Bill will govern federal agricultural programs until

Answer 30

2013

Question 31

____ percent of the population of the United States is directly involved in farming.

Answer 31

One

Question 32

The three types of financial support given to farmers by the USDA are ____________, _____________, and ________________________.

Answer 32

commodity, conservation, and disaster payments

Question 33

The measure of the value of a nation’s total production is their

Answer 33

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Question 34

A typical Conservation Reserve Program contract with a landowner is usually ____ years in length.

Answer 34

10

Question 35

______________ includes all firms engaged in producing, processing, transporting, marketing and distribution of products in the food and fiber sector.

Answer 35

Agribusiness

Question 36

When one firm owns several stages of the production of food or fiber, it is called

Answer 36

Vertical integration

Question 37

A ________ is an area the size of one square mile.

Answer 37

section

Question 38

________ and _________ are the top coutnries from which the United States imports agricultural products.

Answer 38

Canada and Mexico

Question 39

The _________________________________________ is the primary scientific research agency of the USDA.

Answer 39

Agricultural Research Service (ARS).

Question 40

payment to reduce production of crops on environmentally sensitive land

Answer 40

conservation payment

Question 41

direct payment or price support

Answer 41

commodity payment

Question 42

emergency payment when yields are low or nonexistent due to poor conditions

Answer 42

disaster payment