An Economic Survey of the Appalachian Region, With Special Reference to Agriculture

Excerpts from the report Highlights: In 1960, Appalachia's population was over 50 percent rural but only 9 percent farm. The only State areas in the Region where more than 50 percent of the population lived in urban areas were in Pennsylvania and Alabama. Agricultural development has not occurred on a wide scale in Appalachia, mainly because of the critical lack of land adapted to mechanized farming. Only 31 percent of the non-Federal and urban land in Appalachia is suitable for normal cultivation of crops, and an additional 14 percent is suitable for only occasional cultivation. Corresponding U. S. figures are 44 and 12 percent. The lack of adequate agricultural land severely limits the production of crops requiring extensive cultivation. Much of the cultivatable land is in small isolated tracts or on rough terrain which cannot be farmed efficiently with modem machinery