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East of Broken Bow | I would say modern machinery. Look back just a generation ago, when 2 bangers took over for horses. My dad comments that he can just remember the tractors taking over, but horses still doing some work. Suddenly, you could farm a half section with less labor than a quarter section. Fast forward a few years, and the guy with a 1066 could farm a section as easily as the guy with an H or 2 banger could farm a half.
fast forward a bit farther, and not only do you have larger tractors, but you have MFD so you can go in harsher conditions, auto steer and better lights so you can put in more hours without fatigue, semis instead of single axle straight trucks, etc, etc, etc. Basically, if there was profit in buying bigger machines and farming more acres, it made sense to do it. Another thing to consider, when I was young, the majority of farms still had chickens, hogs, and cattle. Today, the 'big' guys are just row crop, with maybe a side hustle of trucking, selling seed, custom spraying or whatever that helps pay for even bigger equipment.
The guy that used to live next to us said when he was young, the idea of adding acres wasn't appealing as many remembered the Great Depression and if you had land you couldn't take care of yourself, it became a burden, rent wouldn't cover taxes, if the rent got paid at all. Instead people diversified or added new enterprises. That neighbor said his parents raised 3 kids on a half section with cows, hogs, chickens, and rabbits, and fed them with what grew on their own land. Today, pretty much the only one left standing is the cattle industry, and that is heading towards fewer and bigger as well. | |
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So what caused this?
