What was life like for farmers in the 1930s?
Farmers Grow Angry and Desperate. During World War I, farmers worked hard to produce record crops and livestock. When prices fell they tried to produce even more to pay their debts, taxes and living expenses. In the early 1930s prices dropped so low that many farmers went bankrupt and lost their farms.
Why was being a Great Plains farmer in the 30s considered the most difficult occupation in the world?
Farming in the 1930s on the Great Plains was perhaps the most difficult occupation in the world. People around the world had no money to buy the crops and animals that farmers produced, and the drought made it almost impossible to plant and harvest the crops in the first place.
What did farmers grow in the 1930s?
Along with oats, sorghum and alfalfa, corn was used to feed cattle and pigs. Livestock was the main source of cash for farmers. If farmers harvested a big crop, they sold some of the corn and grain to other farmers who needed feed.
What did farmers do during the Great Depression?
Farmers who had borrowed money to expand during the boom couldn’t pay their debts. As farms became less valuable, land prices fell, too, and farms were often worth less than their owners owed to the bank. Farmers across the country lost their farms as banks foreclosed on mortgages. Farming communities suffered, too.
What did farmers eat during the Great Depression?
Chili, macaroni and cheese, soups, and creamed chicken on biscuits were popular meals. In the 70 or more years since the Great Depression, a lot has changed on the farms of rural America. All of these changes have resulted in farms that usually specialize in only one main crop.
Did farmers buy on credit during the Great Depression?
Farmers were knee-deep in debt, with about two-fifths of all farmers holding a mortgage and nearly three-fourths requiring credit to produce a crop from year to year.
How was life like during the Great Depression?
The average American family lived by the Depression-era motto: “Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without.” Many tried to keep up appearances and carry on with life as close to normal as possible while they adapted to new economic circumstances. Households embraced a new level of frugality in daily life.
What did a lot of farmers do when they moved west?
Farmers who rented the land and farmhouse couldn’t pay rent, and farmers who owned their land couldn’t make payments. Parents packed up their children and belongings and moved West. Many once-proud farmers packed up their families and moved to California hoping to find work as day laborers on huge farms.
How many farms were lost during the Great Depression?
During 1933, at the height of the Great Depression, more than 200,000 farms underwent foreclosure. Foreclosure rates were higher in the Great Plains states and some southern states than elsewhere.
How many farmers were affected by the Great Depression?
Nevertheless, some 750,000 farms were lost between 1930 and 1935 through bankruptcy and foreclosure.
How many farmers lost their farms during the Great Depression?
During 1933, at the height of the Great Depression, more than 200,000 farms underwent foreclosure.
Is the Wessels living history farm open for the season?
Open only by appointment. Thursday-Friday: Closed for the season. Open only by appointment. Saturday: Closed for the season. Open only by appointment. Sunday: Closed for the season. Open only by appointment.
What was farming like during World War 2?
Wessels Living History Farm – Farming in the 1940s This section of Wessels Living History Farm Web site examines the 1940s, World War II, the post-war boom in farming technology and history of agriculture. WWII Causes a Revolution in Farming
What kind of crops did they grow in 1900?
Near the town, visitors will find a country schoolhouse, as well as an upperclass Victorian home and adjoining barn. In fields at the 1900 Horse-Powered Farm, Percheron draft horses pull a variety of machinery to plant, cultivate, and harvest the farm’s three main crops of corn, oats, and hay.
How big is living history farms in Urbandale Iowa?
300 YEARS OF HISTORY. Living History Farms in Urbandale, Iowa, tells the amazing story of how Iowans transformed the fertile prairies of the Midwest into the most productive farmland in the world. While at the 500-acre open-air museum, visitors travel at their own pace through historical time periods spanning 300 years.
