From the Family Farm to Agribusiness

From the Family Farm to Agribusiness: The Irrigation Crusade in California and the West, 1850-1931 explores the transformative journey of California’s agricultural economy, examining the shifts from mining and livestock to wheat farming, and eventually to horticulture. The book traces how California's economy underwent rapid changes through booms and busts, from the mining gold rushes to speculative real estate and the wheat industry. Despite its rich natural resources, the state's growth was hampered by unpredictable climate, limited land availability, and competition from other regions. The development of large-scale wheat farming in the 1860s brought mechanization and significant production, but it also resulted in soil exhaustion and competition from foreign markets. This ultimately led to the decline of wheat farming and a shift towards more diversified agriculture.

Central to the book is the story of California's struggle with land monopolies and political fragmentation. As vast swathes of land were controlled by speculators, large agricultural estates stifled the development of small family farms that many saw as the backbone of American society. The state’s political environment, rife with corruption and sectional rivalries, slowed efforts to enact meaningful agricultural reforms, especially regarding water management and irrigation. Despite these challenges, the book illustrates how private interests and early irrigation projects laid the foundation for California’s future agribusiness empire, making it a model of commercialized farming. This compelling historical narrative delves into the complex social, economic, and political forces that shaped the agricultural landscape of the American West.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1984.