GEOGRAPHY: USA

copyright Alan A. Lew, 2004, all rights reserved

Chapter 7 - THE MIDWEST HEARTLAND

Virtual Field Trip to the Midwest

Note: Links marked with an asterisk (*) are optional.

The Northwest Territory

The term "Midwest*" is of relatively recent origin. To the early European settlers migrating from the east coast, the Midwest was the "West." It encompassed the Northwest Territory (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota), which was ceded to the US by the British at the end of the Revolutionary War (in 1783). Chicago's Northwestern University gets its name from the region's former designation. As the US expanded even farther westward in the nineteenth century, the term "West" came to include an ever enlarging area. By the 1880s, the far west had become a major settlement destination, and the term "Midwest" was introduced to identify the Great Plains, while "near west" was supposed to identify the states between the Great Plains and the Appalachian Mountains. "Near west" never became a popular idiom, and eventually "Midwest" came to identify a more eastern region from Iowa and Missouri to Ohio.

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The Agricultural Midwest and the Industrial Midwest

In order to distinguish between the manufacturing area and the agricultural portion of the Midwest, this text attaches the terms "Manufacturing" and "Agricultural." Other authors and individuals may use different adjectives, reflecting the complex nature of the Midwest region. General physical characteristics of the Midwest region are discussed first, followed by the Manufacturing Midwest and then the Agricultural Midwest.

The Vernacular Midwest (based on use of Midwest and Middle American in company names listed in the telephone book Yellow Pages)

Physical Geography of the Midwest

Continental Glaciers in the Midwest

Much of the surface physiography of the Midwest has been shaped by a series of continental glaciers, which moved down from Hudson Bay. The last of these glaciers retreated 10,000 to 15,000 years ago. These glaciers blanketed the entire low-lying Midwest, flattening hills and filling in valleys. Melting ice underneath the glaciers carved important river valleys, including the Mohawk River/Hudson River Valley in the east and the Illinois River Valley in the west. Rocks and debris carried by glaciers were deposited in "moraine" features, giving some relief to relatively flat areas. Many of Minnesota's 15,291 (or so) lakes formed in hollows of glacier-scraped plains. The Great Lakes were gouged out of old streambeds that encircled a bulging anticline centered on the highlands of central Michigan.

Post-Glacial Rebound

As the glaciers retreated, the northern portion of the interior lowlands of North America gradually rose, rebounding from the weight of ice that was several miles thick. Rivers that once flowed north changed their course and the entire lowland area drained into the Mississippi River system. The Ohio and Missouri Rivers, tributaries of the Mississippi River, today roughly demarcate the southern edge of the great ice sheets.

Climate

Because of the low relief throughout the Interior Lowlands of the US, of which the Midwest is a part, climatic differences reflect gradual changes in latitude (between north and south) and longitude (between east and west). The Interior Lowlands of North America gradually increase in elevation as one moves from the Gulf Coast to the Canadian Shield. Along with this increase in elevation, there is a gradual decrease in temperature and shortening of the growing season. Climatically, there exists three distinct north-south temperature zones: (1) the humid, subtropical South; (2) the temperate Midwest; and (3) the cold, Arctic northlands. The precise boundary between these three latitudinal zones is not well defined.

US Annual Mean Temperature 1998 map

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Northern Cold

Some of the coldest temperatures in the US (outside of Alaska) are recorded in the northern Midwest. The average January temperatures in northern Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota are below 10 degrees F, and winters last a good six months out of the year. The Great Lakes serve as major source of moisture for cold polar air, bringing the heaviest snows (again, outside of Alaska) to areas just east of them.

Urban Adjustments to Winter Cold

Cities, such as Minneapolis, have adapted to the cold by building covered underground sidewalks and second-story bridges between major downtown buildings. Some of the largest shopping malls in North America are also found in this region. The largest shopping mall in the US is located in Bloomington, Minnesota. Built by a Canadian firm, the Mall of America* opened in 1992 with over 4.2 million square feet of retail space, more than 400 stores, close to 12 thousand employees, and 35 to 40 million visitors each year. (The largest mall in the world is the West Edmonton Mall* farther to the north in Alberta, Canada, with 800 shops and 5.3 million square feet.) The Mall of America has been described as "seven acres of California sunshine under glass."

Longitudinal Transitions

Longitudinal differences (between east and west) are primarily based on rainfall. High precipitation in the east fosters the growth of forested areas. Warmer temperatures to the south allow mixed forests with deciduous hardwoods, while the northern parts are primarily coniferous evergreens. It is in these formerly forested areas that the more intensively settled and cultivated areas of the Midwest are located.

Original Vegetation

When the first Europeans settlers moved into the Midwest, most of Ohio, Indiana, and southern Michigan was covered with deciduous forests. These trees indicated good soil and provided material for buildings and fuel. The further westward one moves across the Midwest, the drier and warmer the climate becomes. Forests give way to increasingly larger pastures and glades in Illinois and southern Wisconsin. The western portion of the Midwest is primarily composed of tall grasses, with forests being confined to riverbanks. The carrying capacity of the land also decreases in the west, as farms become larger and settlements more dispersed. Still farther westward, is the transition into the Great Plains, where the tall grasses change to short grasses and sagebrush. (Additional information on soils and climate will be discussed as they relate to agriculture in the Agricultural Midwest section.)

The Manufacturing Midwest

The Great Lakes and Ohio River Manufacturing Core

Although manufacturing is found throughout North America, one region has experienced particularly intensive development of heavy industry. The Midwest Manufacturing Region is bounded by the Ohio River to the south, the Appalachian Mountains to the east, and the Great Lakes to the north. To the west, it overlaps with the Midwest Agricultural Region for the US and Canada. Industry predominates throughout the region, which produces 80% of the steel and motor vehicles in the US.

More on the Great Lakes*

The North American Population Agglomeration

The Manufacturing Midwest is the westward extension of the population agglomeration, which starts in the eastern seaboard cities of Megalopolis. These two regions together contain 40% of the population of the US in only 17% of the country's land base. (This difference is even greater for Canada, with 50% of its population in the Great Lakes area.)

 

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Three Reasons for Industrial Development in the Midwest

There are three basic reasons for the development of a heavy industry in this region:

• 1. The region's access to mineral resources necessary for heavy industry
  
• 2. Accessibility and transportation within the region
  
• 3. The region's relative location to Megalopolis (see chapter four)

Heavy manufacturing requires access to metallic ores and sufficient fuel resources. The Great Lakes provide access to one of the richest iron ore regions in North America and the most important coal area of the Appalachian Mountains.

Canadian Shield/Mesabi Range Iron Ore

The Canadian Shield extends through most of the northern lowlands of Canada. It is comprised of ancient rock that has been repeatedly scraped clean of topsoil by continental glaciers. The numerous metallic ores near the surface of the Canadian Shield include copper, zinc, and iron ore. The Canadian Shield extends into northern Minnesota and Michigan. It is in these locations, close to the western Great Lakes, where the major iron ore-producing areas of the US are located. The Mesabi Range, located in northern Minnesota, has been the leading source of iron ore for the Midwest Manufacturing Region (although production today is much lower than in the past).

Coal and Other Energy Resources

The west side of the northern Appalachian Mountains is comprised of the Allegheny Plateau (Pennsylvania) and Cumberland Plateau (Kentucky and Tennessee). These plateaus have large deposits of bituminous coal, natural gas, and some oil deposits. (Bituminous coal is used to make "coke," or pure coal, which burns hotter than anthracite coal. Hot burning coke is required to turn soft iron into hard steel.) In addition to the Appalachian Mountains, nearby coal deposits are also found in central Michigan and throughout much of Illinois and the area from southern Iowa to Oklahoma. Oil and natural gas found in Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma is easily brought up the Mississippi River Valley by barge and pipeline to the Manufacturing Midwest region.

Comparison with Western US

Rich fuel and mineral resources are also found in the western US, which might indicate a potential for industrial development. The West, however, lacks the second major geographic characteristic that has contributed to the growth of manufacturing in the Midwest region: accessibility.

Accessibility to, from, and within the Midwest

The major access features of the Midwest are

• The five Great Lakes: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. The lakes have two major drops in elevation: between Superior and Huron (22 ft) and at Niagara Falls between Erie and Ontario (170 ft). The Great Lakes provide access to the mineral resources on the Canadian Shield.

• The Erie Canal*, built in 1825, connects Lake Erie with the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers, entering the Atlantic Ocean at New York City. This route bypasses Niagara Falls and the St. Lawrence River, which often freezes over in winter. The Erie Canal became the most important link taking industrial and agricultural products from the interior lowlands to the large population centers of the North Atlantic Coastal Plain. (It still carries some commercial and leisure boats today.)

• The Ohio River flows westward out of the Appalachian Mountains. Its two most important tributaries, which meet at Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), are the Allegheny (from the north) and the Monongahela (from the south). The Ohio River gave the Manufacturing Midwest access to the rich coal resources of the Appalachians.

• The Mississippi River provides access to the southern and western US. The Ohio River is a tributary of the Mississippi.

Other important tributaries include the Missouri and Platte Rivers, flowing from Denver and Montana, and the Arkansas and Red Rivers, flowing out of Texas and southern Colorado. These rivers provide access between the Manufacturing Midwest and the Agricultural Midwest region of the country.

Types of Access in the Midwest

Accessibility has contributed to the growth of the Manufacturing Midwest in three ways:

• 1. Access to resources
• 2. Access among industrial centers (intra-regional)
• 3. Access to markets (inter-regional)

Comparison of Types of Transportation

There are four ways that materials and goods can be transported across space: by water, by rail, by road, and by air. Air is the most expensive and is best suited to small, light objects of high value that must be moved quickly over great distances. Using an automobile or a truck is the second most expensive means of transportation and is best suited to moving large objects over moderate distances. Railroads are cheaper than air or roads for moving bulky objects over long distances. Water, however, is even cheaper for large, bulky products. This is because of the lower fuel consumption required to move a large floating barge or tanker. Furthermore, navigable waterways are cheaper to build and maintain than surface or air systems.

Iron Ore Barges and the Great Lakes Industrial Cities

The heavy metallic ores on the north shore of the Great Lakes could easily be loaded onto large barges and floated to any destination accessible by water. The large industrial cities on the southern edge of the Great Lakes (including Detroit, Cleveland, and Buffalo) received the iron ores for their factories in this manner. They served as "Break-in-Bulk" cities (like those on the Atlantic Coast Fall Line) and convenient places for secondary manufacturing activities.

Coal Barges on the Ohio River

The Great Lakes do not reach all the way to the Appalachian plateaus, but large rivers do. The most important of these rivers is the Ohio River. Barges carrying coal down the Ohio contributed to the industrial development of cities such as Cincinnati (Ohio) and Louisville (Kentucky).

Railroad Lines and the Growth of Chicago

Rail lines were built to further bring iron ore to the Ohio River and coal to the Great Lakes. Later, canals were built to connect the Great Lakes and Ohio/Mississippi water systems. The Greater Miami Canal connected Cincinnati to Lake Erie (1845), while the Michigan and Illinois Canal (1848) connected Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River (through the Illinois River) at Chicago. In 1852, the first rail line from New York reached Chicago. These developments led to the founding and rapid development of the city of Chicago. Chicago became the "hub" of all rail lines operating in the interior lowland region of the US, and the main city through which agricultural products moved eastward and manufactured goods went west.

EXTRA: The US Standard Railroad Gauge

 

Cleveland

Cleveland was another of the Great Lakes industrial boomtowns. Founded in 1786, it grew rapidly after the Erie Canal was completed in 1825. Large steel mills were built using coal from the Appalachian Mountains and iron ore from Michigan and Minnesota. John D. Rockefeller founded Standard Oil Company in Cleveland in 1862, which resulted in the development of a large petrochemicals industry. By the turn of the century, large numbers of Blacks from the South and immigrants from eastern and southern Europe were making their way to the city. After World War II, industry and the middle class both began to move out of the central city to the suburbs. Between 1970 and 1977, Cleveland's population declined by 114,000 and the downtown core area was virtually a ghost town. The 1980s and 1990s, however, witnessed a revival in downtown Cleveland, as the old industrial riverfront was turned into a popular shopping and entertainment district.

Crossing the Appalachian Mountains

The Erie Canal connects Lake Erie with the Mohawk River. Hudson-Mohawk Valley is the only lowland connection across the Appalachian Mountain system. It had already become an important access route between the two regions before the canal was built, leading to the growth of New York as the nation's largest city by the nineteenth century. Farther south, canals and rail lines were built over the Appalachians to provide access between the resource rich interior and the financial centers of Megalopolis. The B&O (Baltimore and Ohio) Railroad and the Philadelphia Railroad are examples of these early rail connections. Megalopolis, along with its international trade connections, provided the economic support for the exploitation of resources in the Midwest.

Midwest Industrial Development Summary

In summary, the three most important geographic reasons for the development of heavy manufacturing in the Great Lakes region are

• 1. Nearness and accessibility of high-quality mineral resource (especially iron ore and bituminous coal)
• 2. Inexpensive and convenient intra-regional transportation
• 3. Inter-regional connections to the international markets and financial centers of Megalopolis

Settlement of the Midwest

The Industrial Revolution in Europe

The exploitation of resources in the Midwest was closely associated with the industrial revolution occurring in Europe. Beginning in the late 1700s in England and spreading through the rest of Europe in the nineteenth century, the industrial revolution reached the US in the mid-1800s.

Settlement Frontier in the Midwest

Settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains expanded from the Mohawk and Ohio Rivers in the early 1800s to the entire area east of the Mississippi River by 1850. Much of this early settlement was agricultural, comprised of immigrants forced out of Europe because of the population explosion that accompanied the industrial revolution. (Agricultural settlement is discussed in more detail in the Agricultural Midwest section.)

The Sail-Wagon Epoch

Transportation systems, including the major waterways, were developed initially to move excess agricultural products from the interior to Megalopolis. Thus, Buffalo (New York) became the largest flour-milling center in the US, using raw grains shipped on barges via the Great Lakes. After the Revolutionary War, transportation in the US was based on sail ships, horse-drawn wagons, and horse-drawn barges (on rivers and canals). This period has been identified by John Borchert as the "Sail-Wagon Epoch" (1790-1830). Urban and industrial growth occurred in established Atlantic coastal cities, and the first cities along the Ohio River and Great Lakes were being founded at this time.

Horse-drawn boat on the Miami River-Lake Erie Canal (aka Miami-Erie Canal and Miami Canal)*

The Iron Horse Epoch

The Sail-Wagon Epoch was followed by the "Iron Horse Epoch" (1830-1870). The early iron rail lines were laid across the Appalachian Mountains at this time. Major growth occurred in the water transportation cities along the Ohio River (Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Louisville), on Lake Erie (Buffalo, Cleveland, and Detroit), and along the Mississippi River (St. Louis*, Memphis, and New Orleans). Development slowed during the end of this period due to the Civil War (1861-1865).

Decline of the Miami-Erie Canal*

Post-Civil War Industrial Growth

Prior to nuclear warfare and terrorism, wars were primarily based on the productive capacity of competing factions. The victor was the side that was able to outproduce its opponent. The already industrialized North's victory over the agricultural South resulted from a high degree of economic integration among northern industries. This integration resulted in a period of rapid industrial expansion after the war.

The Steel Rail Epoch

Borchert refers to the next period as the "Steel Rail Epoch" (1870-1920). Steel was invented in the 1870s to replace iron railroad lines. Steel lines allowed heavier trains to travel at faster speeds over longer distances, thereby decreasing transportation costs. In addition, rail gauges were standardized to allow the interconnecting of different rail companies.

Steel and Bituminous Coal

Steel became the material of choice for heavy industry. The rapid growth in demand for steel led to the expansion of the bituminous coal fields of the Appalachian plateaus. It was at this time that the coal town of Pittsburgh became a major industrial coal city. Numerous smaller coal towns also grew at this time.

Coal-Powered Electric Generators

Coal-powered electric generators were introduced in the 1880s. Prior to this time, falling water and steam (water heated by coal) were the main source of power and electricity. With the invention of electric generators, power sources were available in locations away from rivers and lakes for the first time.

Expansion of Manufacturing to New Locations

With the expansion of more efficient steel rail lines and new sources of power, water transportation access became less important, and accessibility to urban markets became more important. (See separate "Industrial Location" reading.) The river and lake cities west of the Appalachian plateaus experienced a period of decline as new cities grew up along the steel rail lines. Akron (Ohio), Columbus (Ohio), and Indianapolis (Indiana), are representative of the new rail oriented cities. Manufacturing increased also on the outskirts of Megalopolis, as some industries shifted from a resource-based location to sites closer to their markets. City growth was also spurred on by new European immigrants, who were forced to seek urban jobs due to the declining availability of agricultural land.

The Auto-Air-Amenity Epoch

Beginning after World War I, the transportation picture of America changed once more. Although the first automobile manufacturing plant opened in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1896, it was not until after World War I that the automobile came into common use in the US. Borchert refers to this period as the "Auto-Air-Amenity Epoch" (1920 to present). The automobile, and later the airplane, provided increasing personal mobility and led to the suburbanization of America. The 1920s witnessed the first period of suburban expansion, which was abruptly halted by the 1929 stock market crash and subsequent depression. Suburban amenities were again sought in the prosperity of the post-World War II period (after 1945).

Urban Impacts of the Automobile

Throughout this time, the manufacturing core cities maintained overall stable and steady growth. The automobile's main impact was an increasing economic segregation among urban residential areas, with the inner city losing its wealthier social classes to the suburbs. The commercial strip, extending out to the suburbs, was also introduced at this time.

Change and Decline in the Midwest

The Search for Amenities

The search for amenities changed in the 1960s, however, with devastating effects on the Manufacturing Midwest region. The automobile, the interstate highway system, and the growing airline industry resulted in a shrinking United States. More and more Americans were gaining easier access to, and greater awareness of other parts of their country. The search for amenities gradually shifted from the suburbs to the Sunbelt.

Sunbelt Attractions for Industry

In addition, the new industrial technologies developed in the 1970s and 1980s made the old inner-city factory buildings of the Manufacturing Midwest obsolete. Rather than build a new factory to accommodate computer-integrated manufacturing (or "robotics"), some companies decided to move to cities such as Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. This decision was often based on the personal desires of senior executives to leave the "Snowbelt" for the Sunbelt. The less populated Sunbelt is a particularly good location for new high-tech industries that require less capital investment in large, bulky machinery and whose products are not dependent on bulk transport.

The Decline of Heavy Industry

Other companies remained in the Manufacturing Midwest, building new factories in the suburbs but reducing their number of employees by robotizing their plants. While the total number of manufacturing jobs declined, industrial productivity and output actually increased. The 1979 gasoline shortage marked the start of a rapid decline in heavy industrial production in the Midwest. Steel manufacturers, hurt by lower-priced imported steel, laid off thousands of workers. The region is sometimes referred to as the "rust belt" because of the decline in older heavy industries. Despite these changes, the area north of the Ohio River still dominates heavy industrial production in North America.

Japanese Investment

Since the early 1980s, states throughout the country have increasingly looked overseas for new investments. This has been particularly true of the Manufacturing Midwest states. Japanese industries have been attracted to the Midwest with its existing support base for heavy industry. They have also found that it is cheaper to build Japanese cars in the US than to build and ship them from Japan. In Indiana alone there are 13 wholly Japanese-owned companies and 10 Japanese and American joint ventures (1987 figures). A single Japanese automobile plant in Lafayette (Indiana) employs 1,700 local workers.

Population Decline in the Midwest

The decline in manufacturing jobs in the cities surrounding the Great Lakes has resulted in a total decline in the region's population. Table 7.1 shows the population change for the Buffalo (New York) Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area. Niagara County experienced a slower decline, due to the amenities of the popular resort area. The 1990 census resulted in the loss of one to three US congressional seats in most of the Midwest states due to population declines in the 1980s (Table 7.2).

Note: All other states remained the same.
Source: Northeast Midwest Institute*

Postindustrial Service Employment

Most new employment, both in the Manufacturing Midwest and the Sunbelt, is not in secondary manufacturing jobs but in tertiary service industries. No other developed country in the world has as high a proportion of its labor pool in the service sector as does the US. Some researchers speculate that this indicates that the US has entered a "Postindustrial Era." Normally, such a change would be considered a move forward. However, some argue that the post-industrial service era is more like a step backward because of the low wages and instability of service sector employment.

As an example of this, the US today has more millionaires than ever before, due not to success in producing and selling a product but, rather, to speculation on the stock market. At the same time, there are more poor and homeless than at any period since the Great Depression.

Industry and Location

Industries are often divided into four (or more) categories: primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary.

Primary industries are activities that obtain their material directly from the earth. They are sometimes called "extractive" industries and include mining, agriculture, timber, animal husbandry, hunting, and fishing.

Secondary industries use the outputs from primary industries to produce new products. A Detroit factory using steel to make automobiles is a secondary industry. The reprocessing of manufactured goods, as in the assembly of computer products, is considered a secondary industrial activity. Secondary industries are the type most sought by communities seeking to develop their economies.

Tertiary industries comprise most service activities. Hotels, banks, amusements, and groceries are examples of the long list of service activities found in most communities. Tertiary services are the fastest growing sector of the US economy. Service jobs, however, do not pay as well as secondary manufacturing jobs.

"Quaternary industries" is a new designation used to categorize information-processing and management activities. Think tanks, research centers, and educational institutions are examples of this type of activity.

Raw Material and Market Locations

Industries generally must decide whether to locate (1) near the source of the raw material they use, (2) near the marketplace where their customers are, or (3) somewhere between. The objective is to find a place where raw material and finished product transportation costs are minimized. For tertiary and quaternary industries, this is almost always near the marketplace. Primary and secondary industries are more complex. Two factors affect their location: the perishability of raw materials and finished products and the change in weight of raw materials as they are processed.

Perishable Goods

Perishable goods require protection and, therefore, result in high transportation costs. When the raw material itself is highly perishable, a raw material location is necessary. Canned fruit and vegetables are an example of a raw material location industry. Because fruits and vegetables spoil easily, they must be packaged close to the place where they are harvested. When the finished product is perishable, as in furniture manufacturing or baked goods production, a market location is preferred. Furniture producers also benefit from the accessibility to glass, metal, and other manufacturers, which an urban market location provides.

Weight Gain and Weight Loss

As a raw material (e.g., iron ore or lumber) passes from the primary extractive industry to the secondary manufacturers and on to the marketplace, it can either gain or lose weight. Weight loss industries locate near the raw material in order to reduce the transportation costs of the raw material. Copper smelters are always located next to the copper mine because of the large amount of waste (known as "tailings") that is discarded to obtain the pure copper ore.

Soft drinks are one of the best examples of a weight gain industry. Manufacturers of soft drinks only produce the syrup portion of the drink. In bottling plants scattered throughout the US, water and bubbles are added to produce the final product, which weighs many times more than the original syrup. Automobiles are another example of a weight gain industry. Detroit today only produces parts for automobiles, which are actually assembled at regional plants throughout the US.

Other Factors Influencing Industrial Location

Other factors that influence industrial location include

• Availability of skilled employees: The level of education and availability of continuing education can be important factors, depending on the industry.
• Tax laws: Declining or troubled industries tend to be particularly sensitive to the level of taxes they must pay.
• Transport lines: New and changing transportation systems can affect the attractiveness of a place for industrial location. Many small towns have experienced continuing economic problems since being bypassed by the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s and 1960s.
• Amenities: Climate, recreational activities, quality schools, and safe neighborhoods are a few of the amenities some industries seek to attract employees who may be more concerned about quality of life than bottom-line salaries.

Basic and Non-Basic Industries

The establishment of an industry in a place does not, in and of itself, ensure that success and growth will take place. For community growth to take place, money needs to flow into the community. Industries that bring money into a community are called "Basic Industries". Basic Industries can be primary, secondary, tertiary or quaternary. A Basic Industry is one for which people who live outside of the community spend money that goes to support employment in the community where the industry is located. Most heavy industries are Basic, because the appliances and machinery they make are sold regionally or nationwide. Those sales bring money directly into the community that makes the appliances and machinery -- which can then be used by locals to support their lifestyles. If, however, the machinery made was consumed more by local residents than by outsiders, then that same industry would be a "Non-Basic Industry" in that community. Communities will die and become ghost-towns if they have no Basic Industry to bring new money in.

The Agricultural Midwest

Transition Between the Manufacturing Midwest and Agricultural Midwest

As one moves westward through the flat plains and rolling hills of America's northern Interior Lowlands, the industrial cities of the Manufacturing Midwest gradually give way to the farming centers of the Agricultural Midwest. The transition zone between these two regions is broad. The Agricultural Midwest overlaps most of the western portion of the Manufacturing Midwest.

Agricultural Trading Centers

Many of the Great Lakes and Ohio River industrial cities were initially founded as agricultural trade centers. Cincinnati was originally known as "Porkopolis" when southern Ohio was a major pork-producing area. For a long time, Buffalo (New York) was the leading flour-milling city in the US. The problems of the infamous beef slaughter houses of Chicago were exposed in Upton Sinclair's novel, The Jungle. The core area of the Agricultural Midwest, located in a belt from Iowa to Illinois, is clearly to the west of the Manufacturing Midwest.

Flat Land Advantages for Agriculture

The relative flatness of almost the entire Midwest is ideal for agricultural development. It enables the development of large farms that can take advantage of economies of scale to produce more at less cost. ("Economies of Scale" means that, the more items one produces, the lower is the production cost per item.) In addition, flat land enables the use of large-scale farm equipment, thereby increasing labor productivity. The rolling hills and rivers valleys that do exist ensure proper drainage and provide areas for woodlots and pastures.

Agricultural Soils in the Midwest

Two types of soils predominate in the Midwest. Each of these is influenced by east-west differences in climate and, in turn, influence agricultural practices and human settlement. The eastern portion of the Midwest is composed of "alfisols," while the west is primarily "mollisols."

Alfisols in the East

Alfisols form in areas of moderate moisture with coniferous (needleleaf pine trees) or mixed (evergreen and deciduous) forest cover. These areas generally do not have a major problem with leaching (loss of nutrients due to water percolation), as in the South, but do require careful management. Plowing must be done in a manner to avoid erosion on hill slopes, crops must be rotated to balance soil nutrients, and agricultural lime must be added to balance the slight acidity caused by pine needle cover.

Mollisols in the West

The mollisols in the drier west are formed under grass cover, not forests. They have a higher organic (and nutrient) content due to the dense root network of the tall grass cover. Mollisols are one of the most fertile of all soils and are especially well suited for high protein grains, such as wheat.

Alluvial Soils

River valleys and old lake beds are primarily composed of alluvial soils. Alluvium is material suspended in water and later deposited. These soils can be good for agriculture but often have high water tables, requiring drainage.

Climate: Precipitation

Except for the northernmost margins, the entire Agricultural Midwest has an excellent climate for agriculture. The region receives a minimum of 30 inches of rainfall a year (compared with 40 inches for most of the South and 50 inches for the Gulf Coast). Most of its precipitation falls between the months of April and November, during the growing season.

Summer and Winter

The summer rains originate in moisture moving up from the Gulf of Mexico, as Arctic air masses retreat northward. This wind pattern is usually very dependable, with droughts (such as the one in 1988) being very rare. In the winter, however, Arctic polar air again moves south, bringing drier and much colder weather. Snow is produced when low pressure systems coming across the Rockies from the west encounter this cold Arctic air mass.

Midwest Continental Climate

The Midwest experiences what is known as a "continental climate." Earth surfaces both lose and gain heat much more rapidly than water surfaces. Continents, having the largest earth surfaces, lose and gain heat more rapidly than their surrounding oceans. The interior of large continents, in particular, have the greatest extremes between high temperature in the summer months and low temperature in the winter months.

Seasonal Temperature Extremes

The greatest differences between summer and winter are in Siberia, in the heart of the Eurasian landmass. Peoria (Illinois), however, has a 51-degree F difference between its January and July temperature averages (25 degrees F average in January, 76 in July). This compares with Monterey (California), which has only a 12-degree F variation (50 F in January, 62 F in September). The average annual temperature variation in the Midwest increases from 40 degrees F on the southern border of the region to over 60 degrees F near the Canadian border. Though not as bad as Siberia, the cold winter months can be long and dreary.

Growing Season

The growing season is usually about four months in the northern Midwest and five months in the southern portions. This provides plenty of time to plant and harvest one good crop a year.

Migration Routes to the Midwest

Early settlers migrating to the Agricultural Midwest generally followed one of five routes, each of which was used by distinct groups of people:

1- Through the Cumberland Gap (located at the western corner of Virginia) and into Kentucky and Tennessee -- where they would take the Cumberland River, Kentucky River, or Ohio River farther westward.

2- Along the National Pike (the nation's first highway) from Cumberland (Maryland) across the Appalachian Mountains, and through OH, Indiana, and Illinois to St. Louis (Missouri) -- Many German settlers from Pennsylvania (the "Pennsylvania Dutch") arrived in the Midwest through the Cumberland Gap and on the National Pike. Most of them settled south of the Great Lakes in the major corn-growing areas. Later, large numbers of Scandinavians took these same routes as they migrated to the less settled areas of upper Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

3- Up the Hudson River, then through the Mohawk River Valley, and across the Great Lakes -- Many of these settlers were "Yankee" English from the New York City and Boston areas. They settled primarily along the southern shores of the Great Lakes.

4- A fourth route in Canada brought French settlers down the St. Lawrence River and across the northernmost portion of the Great Lakes -- where they founded small timber industry settlements.

5- The lowlands of the Mississippi River provided a route for settlers migrating up from the South -- These were people of English and Scots-Irish descent, who often brought African slaves with them.

Early and Later Settlement to the Midwest

The Agricultural Midwest, therefore, came to be settled predominantly by white immigrants from northwestern Europe. This ethnic pattern predominates today. Later immigrants from eastern and southern Europe were absorbed into the growing industrial cities of the Manufacturing Midwest, as were Blacks and poor whites who migrated northward, starting after the Civil War.

Wheat

Wheat, the most popular grain in the US, was always at the forefront of Midwest agricultural settlement. The first settlers into Ohio grew it in large quantities for shipment to the cities of Megalopolis. The alfisol soils, however, were not properly rotated with other crops and soon lost nutrients, along with their ability to support wheat. As settlers moved farther west to the mollisol soils, so did the wheat-growing region.

USDA Crop Maps* - most recent US government data

Cattle, Hogs, and Feed Grains

Cattle and hogs replaced wheat on the alfisol soils of the east. Southern Ohio became a major hog-raising area and Cincinnati (aka Porkopolis) became the center for pork slaughter and transport. Feed grains, mostly corn, were grown to fatten the livestock. Corn yields more useable feed than any other plant. Every part of the corn plant, except for the roots, can be fed to animals.

Corn

Corn is also well suited to alfisol soils and Midwest climatic conditions. It thrives in humid summer conditions and does not draw as many nutrients out of the soil as does wheat. Corn is grown in a three-year rotation of corn-wheat or oats-corn-clover alfalfa (a hay crop), and corn again. Occasionally, the land is allowed to lie fallow for a year. In the northern margins, where the summers are shorter, the corn is fed to animals while still green (this is known as "silage" corn).

Mixed Farming

Growing crops and raising livestock together is known as "mixed farming." Mixed farming is now practiced throughout the Agricultural Midwest, because it provides a more stable means of livelihood than is usually found in an agricultural setting, where so much depends on unpredictable weather conditions. However, it is also very demanding, requiring hard work throughout the year.

Dairy in the North

Wisconsin and Minnesota are an exception to the mixed farming rule, because the growing season is too short for most grains. Dairy production predominates in these states, where silage (green) corn, oats, and hay crops provide excellent feed for dairy cows. The Scandinavian and German settlers also originate in areas of Europe where dairy production and dairy products are common. Thus, today over one-half of all the cheese produced in the US comes from Wisconsin.

Fruit Orchards on the Eastern Shores of the Great Lakes

The moderating climatic influence of the waters of the Great Lakes delays the first killing frost of winter. This has allowed major fruit-growing areas to develop along the Great Lakes shorelines, particularly those on the eastern sides (due to the west-to-east predominant wind pattern). Cherries, apples, and grapes are grown in these areas.

Growth in Soybean Production

Although wheat and corn are often viewed as the most important crops grown in the Midwest, this is no longer true. In 1925 there were less than 500 acres of soybeans grown in the entire US. By 1998, that number had reached 74 million acres and soybeans were the leading crop grown in the Midwest. There is more soybean acreage today in the "corn belt" than corn acreage.

US Crop Acreage Maps*

Soybeans enrich the soil with nitrogen (as do all legumes); they can be grown almost anywhere; they are well suited to large-scale mechanized farming; they have a high demand on the international market; they are high in protein; and they are as versatile as corn. They can be eaten directly, or they can be milled into oil and low-fat, high-protein soybean meal. They also make an excellent livestock feed. Most Midwest farmers today use a two-year crop rotation, alternating soybeans with corn or another grain crop.

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Idealization of Farming and the 1970s Rural Renaissance

Ever since the Jeffersonian Ethic was formalized in the US Public Land Survey system, Americans have idealized rural life. The family living off the land or in small, crime-free towns exemplified hard work and high moral principles. However, the 1970s was the only time period in the past 100 years in which a large number of people (4.5 million) left the city to go "back to the land." At the time, agriculture was a very profitable business to be in, primarily because of federal farm subsidies.

Federal Government Farm Subsidies

Between 1980 and 1988, the federal government spent $112 billion in farm subsidies. The more acres that a farmer had devoted to a particular crop, the more subsidies he or she received. This encouraged farmers to enlarge their farms as much as possible. This approach also resulted in massive food surpluses, which normally cause the market price for crops to drop. The federal government subsidy programs, however, kept prices high by buying surplus crops. In many cases, farmers were paid subsidies to not plant crops to keep prices up.

Increasing Farm Size and Farm Bankruptcies

Increasing mechanization and ever larger farm sizes has resulted in more farm ownership by agribusiness and fewer family farms. The trend toward largeness resulted in an overpricing of Midwest farm land in the 1970s, when large numbers of people were buying. When price levels returned to their true market value in the 1980s, many farms found that they could not afford to pay the mortgage on their overpriced land. At the same time, commodity (agricultural) prices dropped, and the Midwest experienced two major droughts. The result in recent years has been increased bankruptcy, a massive number of farm foreclosures, and the closing of hundreds of the banks and loan institutions that could no more afford to hold the overpriced land than could the farmers they bankrolled.

Decline in Small-Town and Rural Midwest Populations

It is estimated that, between 1980 and 1988, 250,000 farmers quit farming. Between 1986 and 1987 alone, a total of 1 million Americans migrated from small towns (under 2,500 population) and rural areas to big cities (Table 7.3). This has created enormous public service problems for smaller communities. Fewer people means less money for police, fire, schools, and retail stores. In some communities, former rival schools have been forced to combine their sports teams so that they have enough athletes to play interscholastic games such as football.

Modern Homesteading

Koochiching County, Minnesota, has even brought back homesteading as a way to stem its population decline. Over 50,000 acres of wood and farmland have been abandoned to the county for failure to pay taxes. The homesteading program will grant 40 acres to anyone who lives and maintains a sufficient income, on the land for ten years. (Alaska has the only other existing homesteading program in the US. The Federal Homesteading Act of 1862 was officially repealed by Congress in 1976.)

The Future of Midwest Agriculture

Farmers today are more cautious than those of the past. They generally have lower incomes, are more likely to lease land than own it, often have second incomes from a city job, and are more likely to practice "sustainable agriculture" to limit the amount of money they have to spend on fertilizer and pesticides. As with the Manufacturing Midwest, a decline in jobs in the nation's midsection has had a devastating impact on people's lives. The Midwest still has more farmers than any other part of the country (see Table 7.4), and agriculture is still a major sector of the region's economy. The 1990s have seen some recovery from the worst impacts of agricultural and industrial cutbacks in the 1980s, but continuing economic restructuring and population outmigration plague the region. The new Midwest is more diversified and, like the rest of the country, less dependent solely on heavy industry and agriculture. The Midwest is still the second most populated region in the US, after Megalopolis, but has yet to comfortably find its role in the Auto-Air-Amenity Epoch of the late 20th century.

The Meatrix* - an editorial

Table 7.4
Number of Farmers, 1985
Midwest and northern Great Plains	2,520,000
South and southern Great Plains	1,430,000
West	725,000
Northeast	302,000

Total US Population = 248,790,925 (1990)

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