Our volunteer farmer Paul put our 1952 Johnny through a good workout plowing this year's corn field. During the 1920's you might not have seen a tractor rolling through the fields but instead possibly horses. Farmers were continually looking for ways to increase productivity and tractors we one of the prime means used to achieve this. The hesitation that a farmer of the era might have had was not so much the issue of the change in technology but on economics. With the depression and the dawning of WW2 resources were in short supply to make a big change. After the war things did change and by the 1970's and 80's staple tasks like plowing even seemed to be up for debate. While I do remember riding with my dad and grandfather in the fields plowing I also remember when we switched the operation over to the no-till and reduce-till procedures. By not plowing the land the corn and bean stubble stayed on top of the soil and greatly reduced wind and water erosion. However, it wasn't until 1998 that the number of acres that were no-till passed the number of acres that were conventionally tilled.
Thanks for the help Paul!
