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Cost of Living: If you lived like a different time, could you farm like a different time?
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OntarioCanuck
Posted 1/16/2019 13:10 (#7249198 - in reply to #7248828)
Subject: RE: Cost of Living: If you lived like a different time, could you farm like a different time?


North of London		Good replies already but will add my thoughts since I am old enough to have lived through all those time periods.
I do not think you can truly compare the different times as all things in society were much different 60 years ago than they are today.

1950ies farms here were 100 acres with a very few having a little more area which was often used as pasture land as most farm activities were very labour intensive and larger areas would require hired help and it seemed cash flow/profit did not allow paying for labour. That left a farm dependent on family labour and if not enough kids almost all the farms inner neighbour hood worked with a brother or 2 on other farms or cousins and in a couple cases unrelated neighbours who co-operated on high labour jobs and some equipment
Profit was good on farms in early 50ies and poor by the late 50ies.
Farms were all very diversified with at least cattle that were used both for milk and beef ie Dual purpose shorthorns, pigs and chickens as well as several places also having a few sheep. there were a few ducks and geese too on a few farms

1960ies farms were suffering financially in the early 60ies and many farmers were taking on outside jobs and specializing with dairy cattle only or some went to beef only with young replacements coming from the Prairies. Few chickens left and those who still had them were getting bigger. More were moving into cash crops and renting land from those who chose to go out to work and quit farming. By the late 60ies corn hybrids in this area finally started to yield enough at low enough moisture to b grown to be sold as grain. small grains like oats and barley were disappearing and edible beans were becoming a larger crop are.

1970ies saw a continuation of expansion of farm area and a lot of land ownership changes in the early 70ies with larger machinery on those still farming so many fewer people actually working at farming. It also saw the last of the little country general stores where eggs were gathered for pickup and supplies from small hardware items to food staples used to be purchased as more people were travelling further to buy more regular food items and fewer gardens were being used for home food source. the 70ies also saw crop prices move to a higher plateau of pricing like we just saw 10 years ago.

The 1980ies brought a reckoning to many of the aggressive and highly leveraged farmers that could do no wrong in the 70ies as prices stayed low and interest costs skyrocketed. Land quit changing hands, some that had been rented went without being planted or were given free to someone who could still afford to plant them just to keep the weeds down. More specialization continued for those who were able to hang in through the early 80ies. I should also mention that most wives had off farm jobs by the 80ies as the % kept increasing through the 70ies also lots of farmers had some kind of off farm income except for those who had specialized out enough in some of the livestock markets and some of us were baby sitting while doing our farm work. The advantage of a cab on a tractor.

1990ies was a continuation of the 80ies without the extreme interest rates so almost no farms left with out a single specialized livestock product or a large crop enterprise often with some other income stream from trucking or another self employed enterprise. Some were able to continue without expansion on smaller scales with older machinery and paid for land but many livestock enterprises were getting bigger and making loops with others especially in swine and hiring people to help do the increased work. Contract barns were becoming common in swine. Not many poultry left in this area and few dairy and beef feedlots were also almost non existent locally but large ones were still going in a larger area from my home. So bigger and fewer continued.

2000- independent swine operations were almost non existent, poultry barns were being built for both layers and broilers. Dairy farms were making a comeback with off shore immigrants coming in and buying land from retiring farmers especially those who accumulated several properties close together. The start of the dairies milking several hundred cows with several employees. Some cash crop operations were running thousands of acres but pries for crops as well as some livestock were very low in the early period setting up for the big jump and profits later in the decade. In Ontario both dairy and feathers work under quota systems which gave them a steady predictable income without the highs and lows of other types of farm.

Now I did not get into income each period as so much of that is dependant on the individual but since the 1970ies virtually all farms have had a spouse who worked off the farm and helped to cover down periods of income from poor price or weather. In the 1950ies and 60ies there were few if any working off farm but they spent many hours providing living needs from home gardens and produce and meat grown on the farm. Also crop insurance became available for the first in the last few years of the 60ies which helped tide a farm over a bad weather event.

I agree it would be very difficult to make a living on 100 acres today unless you were very specialized in some venture which would probably mean also becoming an entertainment centre to draw customers to your door so you would not be a full time farmer. Even burning wood has a cost in machinery and time which makes purchasing heat quite feasible if you consider your time worth much at all. In 1955 it was starting to come to and end.
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