I'd say your Farm Bureau friends took great liberty with Webster's words. He actually said this:
"When tillage begins, other arts follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of human civilization."
So Daniel Webster was speaking of farmers as the pioneers of the nation, rather than a bellwether of society or the economy. Taken the context of the time, this makes sense: The nation was starting a huge westward expansion. As soon as farms were established, towns, roads, schools, government, etc. followed.
Now, to answer your question, which really has nothing to do with Webster, agriculture is certainly not the economic force it once was. We have become an urban society, and our economy has shifted. First to manufacturing, then to the financial sector. Now, with the collapse of both the manufacturing and finance sectors of the economy, agriculture may very well rise again to revitalize the US economy. Certainly agriculture accounts for a large portion of our exports, even though (I think) we are no longer a net exporter of agricultural products.
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Today's Featured Article - Torque Wrenches - by Curtis Von Fange. When working with fasteners a torque wrench can play an important role in the correct assembly of critical equipment components. Lets examine in detail some of the reasons for using a torque wrench along with how to correctly use the variety of wrenches available. Applying the proper torque to a fastener accomplishes a number of tasks. First of all correct torque will hold the parts together. This may seem like a trite statement but � think about it for a second. Engineers have designed
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