Rural World offers visitors to our web site information about our Rural World, in North America as well as in other places. We hope you find this information interesting. Rural America - the past: In 1801, 95 percent of Americans were employed in full-time farming. By 1900, that percent had dropped to 45%. Currently, less than 2% of Americans are employed in full-time farming. So few Americans now live on farms, the U.S. Census has stopped counting them. (Institute for Rural America. Spring/Summer 2004. www.instituteruralamerica.org). Farm subsidies are a major issue in World Trade Organization negotiations. In most places in the world, farm subsidies have been on the decline. However, they remain an important subsidy for farmers and a critical pivot point in international trade discussions. The July 3, 2004 issue of The Economist provided comparisons of farm subsidies across nations. The measures used always seem a bit dense but here goes. In the Economist's data, farm subsidies are measured as a percentage of the value of gross farm output (sales). Examples follow. New Zealand provides the least subsidy, less than 5% of gross farm output. The subsidy "king" goes to Switzerland where subsidies equal about 70% of gross farm output. The U.S. falls at the low end on a percentage basis, with about 20% of the value of gross farm output. However, in dollars the U.S. subsidy program runs about $39 billion dollars whereas the dollar value of farm subsidy in Switzerland is about $5.5 billion. Japan, South Korea, Iceland and Norway all provide significant subsidies. Canada's farm subsidies equal about 18% of gross farm output, somewhat less than the U.S. Rural communities in the U.S. really do not get their fair share of public spending. Per capita spending on rural public services is about one half of what is spent in urban areas. (Habitat World, June 2005, p. 17) In MAINE, the amount of Maine land used for farmining feel by almost 300,000 acres between 1982 and 1997. We continue to lose farmland in Maine due to development pressure. (Maine Farmland Trust. July 2004)