Rural Well-being and Agricultural Change in Two Farming Regions.

Most studies of the social implications of agricultural organization have been cross-sectional and confined to a single region. This paper examines the relationship between the socioeconomic well-being of agricultural counties in 1970 and changes in the size and organization of agricultural production from 1949 to 1969. Two regions, the Corn Belt and the central Great Plains, are studied. Results indicate that the relationship between variables depends upon the region studied and that increases in numbers of hired farm laborers are more likely to have negative consequences for agricultural communities than are increases in the scale of production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]