Ninety-nine year old Gladys Kotzer grew up immersed in the world of agriculture. Being brought up and married into farming, she has seen the change in technology and protocols. From the early 1900s to today’s generation of farmers, the hard work has not faltered, but the techniques have.
Gladys was a fourth generation farmer. Before her, her father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather had farmed the same land. Growing up, she helped wherever she could; her mother and father worked full-time managing and upkeeping the yard.
In the 1900s, the farms were small; they were commonly isolated and remote with a small amount of land. “I had a horse that I travelled on to get around. I would take it to school and back,” explained Gladys. Farming families lived off the land, in turn, they required a diverse type of livestock and crops. “We had cows, pigs, chickens and a few other animals that we took care of,” Gladys mentioned. Farms raised animals like Gladys’ knowing that these animals were vital to the success of their crops. Now, farms tend to focus on a few things instead of a broad spectrum of all animals.
“I was an only child. If we would have had a boy it would have been different. We didn’t have any crops,” said Gladys. She told how four horses used to pull plows through the fields to put crops in the ground. When it came time for harvest, farmers used threshing machines to bushel their crops. Machine labor was newly on the rise in the 1900s; it had already made an impact on the local farms in the 1920s. In addition, grower’s corn yields were commonly low from 15 to 30 bushels per acre. Now, growers commonly harvest 150 bushels per acre of corn using automated systems to put seed into the ground, and harvest in the fall. In Gladys’ time, farmers often faced drought, crop failure and disease. Today, growers have the technology to produce genetically stronger crops and protect from disease with different crop sprays.
On Gladys’ homestead, she began working in the barn at five years old. “I asked if I could help milk the cows, and I don’t think anybody thought I would be able to get anything out, but I did… first try. The cows were not used to me, and my mother was scared I was going to get kicked, so she was surprised. Not long after I began to help milk the cows.” Gladys told. The farm’s cattle consisted of around 12 cows; the herd was mainly Holstein with a few Hereford cows mixed in. Dairy farms in the area today manage about 70 milking cows and several other pastures of yearlings, heffers, bulls and steers.
“I would go and get the cows on foot. When it got too dry, we had to put the cattle on the road allowance. Some nights I would have to walk four miles to get to the cows,” mentioned Gladys. The cattle travelled to find grass for grazing, and Gladys had to lead them back to their barn by foot twice a day for milking. Gladys was supposed to ride a horse to track down the cattle, but she laughed and said that that was a story for another time. Nowadays, farmers take vehicles to go get their cattle from fields. The dairy cattle also have rigorous diets that are carefully measured and calculated by farmers in today’s time.
At twenty years old, Gladys got engaged to her husband Edward. He was also a farmer, and she helped him with vigorous work around the farm as well. The couple had two sons that helped with the farm. Eventually, Gladus and Edward passed their land, yard and livestock on to their son Elwood. He farmed the land with his children as well. Gladys’ family farm was passed on to a cousin, and the farm stayed in her family until this past year.
Farm life was not easy; with back breaking labour, and long hours, simple tasks today took tremendous amounts of effort. Yet, farming was essential to communities. As the population grew, so did the need for more farms. Because of booming populations, farms needed to supply more food, so along with a new surplus of farms, technology quickly developed to allow farmers to grow and take care of more crops and livestock. Combines, automated milkers, and different vehicles were introduced to farmers making them more efficient and effective than ever before. By 1925, a farmer could tend to up to 34 acres of land; the amount nearly doubled from what they could care for 30 years prior.
As time went on, companies became involved in farming; they designed clever ways to save crops from diseases by using sprays and chemical rich fertilizers. Production and profit increased. In 1971, the landscape of farming changed forever. To make food cheaper to the consumer, the United States encouraged farmers to take over and buy neighbors’ lands and create factory farms; thus, increasing yield and production. Smaller farms with a wide range of animals and plants are not as common due to the policies set in place in 1971.
From small farms with limited technology to larger farms immersed in the world of science, agriculture has severely changed. As we look forward to the next one hundred years, the future of farming is undetermined. What is clear is that farming has changed, and will continue to change for many years to come.