Thursday, May 22, 2008

What Farming Used To Be

50 years ago, most farming operations were more laid back than they are today. That's not to say things were easy by any means, only that there were certain things that were done in certain ways and farmers didn't "bust butt" so that they could get into the next 600 acre field. Life was generally peaceful on the farm in the 40's and 50's.

The antique tractors and implements of yesteryear was adequate for the typical farmer from this time period. Could you start up a new farming operation today with this type of equipment? Only if your beginning farming operation was on a scale with the size of the farms in those years (almost always less than 200 acres).

I have been reading the posts from a blog that I ran across the other day that has a literal ton of good wholesome reading about a family that has started up a new farming operation of the old time scale and way of doing it. If you never personally lived on or near a farm during that time frame you might want to visit this blog called "The Beginning Farmer". The blog has posts about everything from what types of equipment and tractors that was used to how things were planted, what problems arose and how they were addressed, etc.

I found myself captivated by this family's experiences and was surprised at some of the memories in my own life that were revived. Reading about his farming family and their experiences really has reminded me of what farming used to be like.

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