APRIL 18th was a perfect Sunday on the Dull family farm in Thorntown, Indiana. Children played near a lilac tree. Teenagers, wearing their “Future Farmers of America” jackets, ate potato salad at picnic tables. The star of the afternoon, however, was a gleaming barn, painted red with white trim. Over the past few days volunteers had worked hard to restore it, and were celebrating.
Nothing typifies America's pastoral ideal like a big old barn. More than 200 years after Thomas Jefferson exalted the yeoman farmer, barns remain symbols of hard work, community and reverence for the land. These days food packaging is adorned with barns. The cover of “The Real America”, by Glenn Beck of Fox News, shows that unique patriot beside an old barn. This does not mean that barns themselves are faring particularly well. Thorntown's bucolic bliss was thanks to a corporate sponsor, Campbell Soup. But such efforts are not enough.
America's old barns suited an old model of farming. Animals lived on the ground floor; the upper level stored hay and grain. But in the 20th century farms grew in size and fell in number, from 6.5m in 1920 to 2.2m in 2007. Grain farmers replaced working animals with combines and planters, which demanded different homes, usually wide metal sheds. Livestock farmers preferred long buildings, where animals could be easily packed in and fattened up.
Preservationists in Iowa reckon they are losing 1,000 barns each year. The 2007 agriculture census was the first to track old barns; the next one is not until 2012. But farm country is filled with bleak evidence. Barns lean wildly or collapse inwards, slouchy silhouettes beside neat rows of corn.
A few people are trying to save these relics. After the 1980s farm crisis, the National Trust for Historic Preservation formed “Barn Again!” to offer awards and advice on everything from tilting barns to preservation tax credits. A few states, such as Washington and Vermont, give out small grants; Iowa offers a 25% tax credit. But money is scarce. In 2002 Congress authorised grants for old barns, then never provided the cash.
The main task is to put old barns to new use. The Dulls' barn is part of a Christmas-tree farm. Most promising are sustainable farms, which can use barns for their small, diversified operations. For many farms, however, barns may go the way of the horse. The county with by far the most barns is Lancaster, Pennsylvania: Amish country.