ABSTRACT
Adjustment to change is certainly not a new experience for Great Plains farmers or indeed farmers most anywhere in the modern commercial world. The Great Plains of the United States have been seen as marginal for human settlement since the first European pioneers pulled their covered wagons across the area in the mid-19th century. Great Plains people are basically conservative when it comes to politics, religion, social attitudes, fiscal policy, and life-style. While economic restructuring is impacting a number of Great Plains activities, its effects are currently most evident in three key sectors: agriculture, meat processing, and general retailing. The Great Plains are characterized by low population density throughout much of their expanse, but on the periphery are a number of metropolitan centers which straddle the zone of transition between the more humid lands to the east and the Rocky Mountains to the west.
