FARMING THROUGH THE YEARS

This past Monday, October 12, 2015, was National Farmers' Day.  As many of you may already be aware, my husband is a farmer.  October is always a busy month and as I write this, we are deep into harvest season.  I am not much help when it comes to running the big machinery or hauling grain, but I try to help where I can whether that is making sure my guy has regular meals, being the go-fer when moving machinery between fields or running to get a part when there is a breakdown. 

My husband comes from a long line of farmers on both sides of his family.  He is at least a fifth generation farmer—that is as far back as we have traced.  I was not raised on a farm but I can also trace my family back to farming roots—just a generation or two removed.

Grandma Rose Rammer and her chickens

Quite often as I sit waiting in a field, my thoughts turn to what it must have been like for the generations who went before us--from the pioneers who came here and broke the prairie sod for the first time to those who persevered through drought, grasshopper plagues and financial depressions to pass a legacy down to grandchildren they would never know. 

The Early Days of Agriculture in Kossuth County

The call of the west attracted Asa and Ambrose Call and led them to Kossuth County where they founded the town of Algona.  They were the first to begin breaking the sod and planting corn in 1855. Christian Hackman and August Zahlten were hired by the Calls to farm their land that first season.  They soon registered their own claims as did many who came after them.  Settlers came steadily until the early 1860s when the Indian scares following the massacres at Spirit Lake and Mankato drove many to leave and return to “civilization.”

New settlers were few and the population remained fairly stagnant until the end of the Civil War.  The homestead program then changed the future of our county.  Veterans were entitled to claim a homestead of 80 acres in exchange for their service.  After having traveled around the country while serving, seeing places they would never have seen under normal circumstances, many men could not bring themselves to go back to the crowded cities where they had lived before the war.  They jumped at the opportunity to own their own land.

Marvin and Vernon Kramer

Those who settled here found life on their homestead hard, back breaking work.  Handling a one bottom plow walking for miles behind a team of horses or perhaps a yoke of oxen, cutting and pitching hay, picking ear corn by hand -- the manual labor involved is almost unimaginable in this day and age.  Everything was constructed by hand—houses, barns, wells—and everyone except the smallest of children were expected to pull their own weight. 

Those who managed to survive and thrive despite erosion, disastrous crop prices and livestock disease, found their wealth in the rich black soil of Kossuth County—the same as we do today.  Each subsequent generation developed new equipment to aid them in their tasks and techniques to preserve the precious soil.  Threshing machines, tractors, hybrid seed—improvements that changed the face of agriculture.

Our Family Memories

While doing genealogy research on my family, I was delighted to find the probate file of one of my great grandfathers.  It contained the inventory of the property he owned at the time of his death.  In addition to a corn planter, seeder and breaking plow, it also listed one Sorrel mare called Nellie who was five years old and one brown horse called Sam who was six years old.  I found it fascinating that the horses would be listed by name in the inventory of his estate.  Obviously they were one of the most important assets of the farm. 

Grandpa John Rammer

A photo that I cherish is of another of my grandfathers pictured with his team of horses stopping for a drink of cool water on a hot day--such a contrast with the tractors and implements used today. 

That thought sent me to other photos we have collected as part of our family history.  We are blessed that someone was thoughtful enough to take the time to preserve some of the everyday moments that made up their lives.  Seeing these strong men and women at work through the years reminds me of the chain of life that binds us all together.

Changing Times

Earlier this summer my husband needed a tractor driver to bale hay that he had cut down a few days earlier.  No one else was around so I was drafted.  We also had three of our grandsons with us that day and they were excited to help Grandpa bale hay.  As we made our circles with the baler scooping up the dried grass and forming it into neat, square bales ready for feeding to our cattle, I watched Allen expertly stacking the bales on the rack.  This

Kramer family with booster buck

brought to mind another photo of members of the Kramer family putting up hay with the use of booster buck in the 1940s.  By this time they were using a tractor—it made the job of hoisting the hay high in the air for placement on the stack so much easier.

Kramer family baling hay 1969

Kramer Family unloading corn

Harvest has changed, too.  Gone are the days of picking corn by hand, pull behind corn pickers and combines, and open cabs.  Today’s combines can harvest that 80 acre homestead in a matter of hours versus weeks of hard manual labor. 

Marvin Kramer combining

Don’t get me wrong—agriculture still requires a lot of muscle and sweat and probably always will.  It is an occupation not for the faint of heart.  I am so proud of my husband and the strength and endurance he shows not only in the physical aspects of his job, but in the day to day struggles farmers have always faced. 

The Tradition Continues

When I look in his eyes, I can see that determination that was passed down to him by generations of the family farmers who have gone before him.  I see that same look in the eyes of our son and daughters.  Soil runs deep in their blood—a genetic trait that they can’t ignore. 

My husband, Allen, our son, Greg,
and three of our grandsons in 2013

There is a tie to the land that is difficult to describe in words.  You couldn’t do this every day unless you love what you do, but it goes beyond that.  Perhaps it is because farming is not just an occupation but a way of life.  It is putting down your own roots and building a family along with a farm.  It is knowing that your true harvest is not measured in bushels of corn and soybeans.

It is a privilege to be able to farm a very small portion of Kossuth County land and to call it our home.  Our family farming tradition carries on.  

Until next time,

Jean (a/k/a Kossuth County History Buff)

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