VOA慢速英语20060110a

AGRICULTURE REPORT - American Agriculture: Shrinking but More ProductiveBy Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Tuesday, January 10, 2006

I'm Faith Lapidus with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

A listener in Burkina Faso named Irisso wants to know the place that agriculture occupies in the United States economy. The answer might be surprising.




The United States has the largest economy in the world. The size of an economy is usually described in terms of the Gross Domestic Product. The Gross Domestic Product, or G.D.P., is the value of all goods and services produced in a country in a year.

In two thousand four, the United States had a G.D.P. estimated at close to twelve million million dollars. What percentage of that was agriculture? The government says just nine-tenths of one percent.

Farm workers make up an even smaller percentage of American labor¹: seven-tenths of one percent.

So what is the Gross Domestic Product mainly a product of these days? In two thousand four, almost twenty percent came from industry -- and almost eighty percent came from services.

The number of farms continues to decrease in America. The Census² Bureau counted a little more than two million farms in two thousand four. About half of those farms had less than forty hectares.

Still, farm earnings³ have risen to record levels in recent years. Agricultural productivity continues to increase because of new technology and methods. But the Agriculture Department estimates that nine percent of farm income last year came from government payments. That number is expected to decrease in the future.

Exports have provided American farmers with an average of about twenty-five percent of their money for the last fifteen years. What is the top export by value? Soybeans.

Canada and Mexico are two of the three biggest markets for American farmers. In fact, in two thousand two, Canada replaced Japan for the first time as the top buyer of American agricultural exports.

The Department of Agriculture says exports to the European Union are slowing. But exports to other countries within the Americas and to Asia are growing.

The United States has traditionally enjoyed an agricultural trade surplus. But that surplus has been eaten away as the United States imports more and more food.

This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario Ritter. If you have a question, send it to [email protected]. We cannot answer mail personally, but we might be able to answer your question on our program. I'm Faith Lapidus.

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

3 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。