I first became aware of the loss of agricultural land in the early ’90s. I was involved in photographing rural landscapes in the Central Valley of California. Over the course of the next decade, it became clear that many of the pristine views, the subject of earlier photos, were no longer there. What had once been farms were now the sites of housing developments. What had once been orchards were now Wal-Marts. Faced with that realization, I needed to know more.

What evolved was quite unexpected, considering that I was a hard-line landscape photographer who had spent years avoiding “people photographs” at any cost. However, attached to the loss of ag land was the human story of how the land was first cultivated, shaped and formed, sometimes passing through generations of one family. What also evolved was an understanding of the constant pressure on family farmers faced with falling crop prices, rising costs and eager developers with ready cash but no real sentiment for the land or its history.

Those elements formed the basis for the Silent Harvest, a photo-documentary about the disappearance of the family farm. Through the images and accompanying stories, a mosaic of family farming emerges, from the changes in the land to the changes in farm family structure, and finally, in the loss of rural tradition, one I refer to as the “culture of agriculture.”

Although the project focuses on a specific geographical location, it is really the story of what is happening throughout the United States, be it Iowa, Minnesota, or North Carolina. Thomas Jefferson once said that our bond with the soil was essential to our nation’s spiritual well-being. It would be advice well-taken if we would consider the consequences of breaking that bond.

Photographer Gerry Tsuruda resides in Yuba City, Calif. Thirty-five images from The Silent Harvest recently completed a successful run at the California Museum of Photography in Riverside. For project information, please go to <www.agtraditions.com> or call 530-674-8216.