How Has Farming Changed Over The Last 100 Years

Farming has changed dramatically in the past 100 years. There are many ways farming has changed, but in these few pages we will focus on these four main points: life on the farm, equipment, crops and distribution of products. Farming still involves a great deal of hard work, but it is certainly not as labor intensive as it once was. The life of a farming family is also quite different. Back then the work involved back breaking manual labor because tractors and other elaborate equipment were just becoming available. Now days, there are many types of tractors and other high tech farm equipment to help with the heavy labor. The number of types of crops a farmer grows has decreased, while the average number of acres per farm has increased over

the years. The way produce and meat travel from farm to market has also been completely revolutionized by technological advances.
Farming at the beginning of the 20th century was a huge part of life in America. Families planted and harvested their crops, then sold them to buy lumber, tools and livestock. Families lived and worked on their farms. Their whole life revolved around farming and the whole family worked on the farm. The men and the boys worked out in the field, while the women and girls cooked, cleaned, milked the cows, sewed, canned food and took care of the little ones. Everyone was inquired to work hard all day. The older boys and girls would chop wood and get water, and tend to the animals. The younger children did the simpler chores, like separating the milk from the cream, churning cream into butter and gathering eggs. Farm chores came first, often leaving no time for entertainment. Sometimes the children would not even go to school because there was so much work to be done. It was also very common for farmers to hunt and fish to provide food for their families. Most farmers grew crops that would feed their families and their livestock, while others also grew crops to sell. Farmers often traded with other farmers. For instance, if one farmer grew corn and another grew wheat or potatoes or something, they would make an exchange. Eventually, people from foreign countries started coming to the United States, bringing seeds from the crops grown in their countries. This provided new crops to grow such as plums and pears. Horses and oxen were a big part of planting and harvesting. The oxen could plow for long periods of time, but were quite slow. Horses were much quicker, but tired easily. In time the Americans acquired bigger, stronger horses with greater endurance. Percherons, Belgians and Clydesdales were some of the more popular work horses. In the early 1900s, the average farmer had about 147 acres, which he and his family would take care of by hand. The farm owner, his family, and the hired hands would get up before the sun, eat a hearty breakfast, feed the animals and go out to the fields. Here they would till the ground, cut the hay, rake it up and bale it. Their days lasted about 12 hours, but sometimes they would work for up to 18 hours. When the work for the day was finished, they would eat a big dinner, go to bed and then get up the next day and do it all over again. The following is an interesting story written by a boy who lived on a farm in the 1900s.
The Summer Months
By Wesley Davis
The year is 1905. It's mid-summer right now, and I am helping the family in the hay fields. I am 13 years old and papa said it's time I did a real man's work. Because we don't have one of those new fangled steam tractors, we have to cut, rake, and bale the hay by hand.
The day started early. We got up at 5:00 am. We were going to start with the south field. You could see the golden hay everywhere in the morning sun. The birds were chirping, and the air smelled of rain coming soon. But, not for long.
We got the horses hooked up to the bale carrier, and then we started work. One person led the horse (usually the youngest person). Ten people cut the hay. Twenty people rake it. I was at the back of the line, because I was just learning how to do it. The dust clouded my eyes and choked me. It was hard to breathe. At 9:00 pm we got it done. I was beat. I ate a big dinner and hit the sack. Tomorrow we do the north field.
As you can see from the narrative, life on the farm was all about lengthy days and difficult work.
Farming these days is quite a bit different than it used to be.

The physical labor, although still hard is definitely not as labor intensive. For instance, now a farmer could just hop in his tractor to plow a field and could plow a large chunk of the field in one day, whereas in the beginning of the 1900s the farmer, if he couldn’t afford a tractor, would spend several days to plow the same amount of land each time hooking his horses or oxen to a plow. Also the farmer’s animals are a lot less tired and ready to do other things, like if the farmer wants to go for a trail ride. Over the past century 5 million tractors have taken the work place of horses and oxen. Because of increased technology, each farmer is able to take care of a lot more land. Another big change has to do with the number of Americans who farm for a living. From the 1900s to the early 2000s farm economy has gone from 41% to 1.9% of all work forces in farming and agriculture. The farmer of today has most likely gone to college and earned a degree. They need to possess technical knowledge, business and computer skills and also need to have a great understanding about economics of farming. Unlike one hundred years ago, the farmer’s children’s education takes priority over farm work. These children most likely go to public schools in bigger towns and cities and go on to college. Many farmers and their wives have jobs that are unrelated to the farm. Some farmers live on the farm, but others live in towns and

cities. Many farm owners don’t even work full time on the farm and the workers are mostly employees. All farmers rely on their machinery to do the work. Because of the machinery, farmers have fewer animals. During the off season, farmers find jobs to keep making money. With the rapid changes in technology over the past 100 years, life is not centered completely on the farm.
Since the beginning of the 1900s, farm equipment has come a long way when animals were the main work power.

In fact, at the beginning of the 1900s there were 21.6 million work animals in the United States. Now there are about 3 million animals used in the farming industry for labor. The first gas powered tractor was invented in 1890, but tractors weren’t commonly used until 1945. Horses were the main work animal. Two horses could pull a 12 inch plow with the farmer walking beside it and guiding it while another rode and steered it. If the driver was skilled he could plow about ten inches of ground. To plow a whole field would take days, depending on how big the field was. Horses would also pull other equipment such as the hay rake, mower or seed drill. The farmers harvested by hand. By late 1960, hand harvesting was replaced with mechanical harvesting and by 1970 tractors had practically replaced all animals. Now farmers are using sensors to measure water, weeds and nutrients in the soil and G.P.S.s (Global Positioning Systems) to guide tractors, map and level fields and sow seeds and fertilize with great precision. The use of these specialized tools makes farm production significantly more efficient. By the end of the 1900s, farmers were all using gas powered tractors, mowers, balers, combines, and other high-tech equipment, changing the overall effectiveness of farming

efforts.
Another way in which farming has changed is the types of crops farmers grow and the way they grow them. There used to be a lot more farmers, each one with a smaller farm, but growing quite a few different products like corn, wheat, hay, barley, oats, etc. Today there are a lot less farmers, but about the same amount of land is being farmed. Each farmer has a much bigger acreage to cultivate. Now each farmer specializes in one product. This way each farmer is more efficient in what they grow. The most produced commodities are grains, oil seeds, dried beans and peas at 42%, other crops and hay account for another 31%. Now, most products are enhanced of fertilizers and pesticides, although there is an increasing demand for organic products which are overall more expansive.
The distribution and marketing of crops are another area of change. The selling of products used to be a fun and exciting day known as market day. The farmer and his family would load up the wagon with the products they harvested and go into town. They would visit with friends and sell or trade their crops. Also, they would buy supplies. Distribution and marketing now is done mostly through agribusinesses and commodities exchanges. Agribusinesses are large companies that purchase crops and animals from farmers. They package and market the products which then end up on grocery store shelves. Some farmers sell through a commodity exchange, which is a controlled market where contracts for future delivery of a certain product are bought and sold. For example, a company that markets coffee could buy a contract from a coffee farmer for a promise to provide a predetermined amount of coffee at a set price at a set time. Other farmers sell at farmers markets and even to local restaurants or food stores. The internet and other technological developments have revolutionized the way our food travels from farms to grocery stores and also have substantially increased the variety of products available to us.
As you can see during the course of the last of the last century farming in America has been transformed due to the technological revolution. From a simple, but hard life to a more complex, yet not as physically demanding life; from relying on animals to relying on motorized machinery; from growing several different crops to specializing in one; from selling one’s own products to hiring large companies to distribute commodities, the American farm has come a long way. It’s hard to imagine what a farm will look like in another 100 years.