Transportation, livestock conformation, landscape, equipment - all have changed dramatically in 100 years.
Plowing with a steam plow, 1909
First potato planter on the Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project, May 17, 1913
What a difference water makes to a crop. Just across the road from the stand of wheat shown below, less than 500 feet away, is a non-irrigated field of wheat. July 5, 1910.
William Hastay's irrigated wheat crop, July 5, 1910
We all know farmers and ranchers continue to implement new technology and that they have the desire to try new methods and ideas which enables them to become more and more efficient in what they do. New technology helps farmers grow better crops with less inputs, and new equipment makes the farming process faster and more efficient.
Stop and consider the enormous strides agriculture has taken in just the last one hundred years. We’ve gone from horse and oxen power to tractors and equipment that can seed an enormous number of acres in the course of a day. We’ve moved from poor seed to reliable, certified seed that not only rewards farmers with an abundant harvest but that also have disease resistance or other desirable traits genetically engineered into the seed.
Knowledge of genetics has enabled livestock owners to develop breeds through improved genetics. Better breeding practices make these animals more productive, more efficient, and provide consumers with a quality end product.
The following pictures illustrate many of the changes that have occurred in the last century, and they also remind us of our roots and how hard our grandparents worked to provide a living for themselves and their families.
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