Manual cradle to harvest grain
Iowa Corn Grower's exhibit
Settler farmyard
Pioneer Women
Farming on the Frontier
A Good Horse Made All the Difference
Winter on the Farm
Soil and Hogs
Early Corn Picking
A Bison Jump
Scapula HoeEarly Agriculture
After the United States government allowed settlers into Iowa in 1833, stories
about the new land spread rapidly. Thousands of farmers streamed westward.
Moving to Iowa
By the 1850s the migration to Iowa had become a great wave. Families camped at the Mississippi, waiting their turn for ferryboats to the other side. In only a few years these settlers would turn the forests and prairies into plowed fields.
Iowa's First Farmers
Long before American settlers pushed westward, Native Americans raised crops along the rivers of Iowa. Using tools made from buffalo shoulder blades tied to wooden handles, they planted maize, beans and squash. For them the open prairies were places to hunt, not to farm. Herds of buffalo, deer and elk ranged over the land. Thick as clouds, the flocks of prairie chickens rose from the grass, where wild fruits and strawberries ripened.
Forest and Prairie Meet
Iowa is located where the great eastern forests and the prairies of the western United States meet. There is not a straight line where trees stop and grass takes over. But it is in Iowa where the trees finally give way to the endless Great Prairie.
Settlers on the prairie faced a different set of problems than pioneers of the forested lands. Breaking up the matted root system of the prairie sod required large, strong plows pulled by many oxen. As settlers moved farther out on the prairie, there was no wood for homes, fences and fuel. Much of the prairie was swampy. A way was needed to drain away the water before the land could be farmed.
Variety
of Crops
These earliest farmers planted crops
that supplied their families and livestock
with food. They kept a few chickens and hogs, a cow and some sheep. Orchards
were often planted.
Farmers cleared more land and grew a bigger crop each year. Extra wheat, corn,
oats or hogs were traded or sold. Farmers would trade these items for things that could not be made on the farm, such
as sugar, coffee, thread or cotton cloth. If these goods were sold, the money would be used to buy more land or to pay taxes.
Farmers arriving from the many different regions of the United States brought
their special agriculture with them. Those from New England and New York carried
the seeds for plum, apple and pear trees. Kentuckians brought their knowledge
of improved seed and livestock breeding. From Pennsylvania and Ohio fine flocks
of sheep came to graze in the dry pastures of southern Iowa.
New Farm Machinery
People farming prairie soil faced
a serious plowing problem. The soil stuck to the wood or iron blade making
work slow because the plowman was forced to stop often and remove the gluey
coat of dirt. In Illinois John Deere's success in creating a steel plow solved
this problem. The plowshare
cut through the earth without sticking.
At the same time Cyrus McCormick manufactured his reaper.
New farm machinery worked quickly and saved time. Farmers found that they
could grow and harvest more acres of grain.
Women Take Over the Farm
In the 1860s, when Iowa's men marched
off to the Civil War, many farms were left to the care of women, children and older
farmers. The new machinery made it possible for them to produce food to support
the armies. Women kept up their usual washing, cooking and sewing and child
care as well as tending to the livestock and the crops.
Steam engines already provided power for riverboats. Now these engines pulled
trains westward. People and goods were getting around faster than ever before.
This meant that settlers could travel to Iowa more easily, and farmers could
ship their products quickly over long distances.
Before the Civil War trains had already reached the Mississippi River from
the East; and rails had been laid to Iowa City, Cedar Falls and Ottumwa. With
the post-war railroad boom, Iowa farm products could reach the growing markets
of the East, South and West.
Wheat Wears Out the Soil
During the Civil War wheat prices went up, and Iowans planted more. With the end of the war the "bottom dropped out" of wheat prices. In older fields, wheat yields grew poor. Also, pests like grasshoppers and chinch bugs attacked the wheat, destroying the whole crop in some years. For many Iowa farmers, that was the signal to put their energy into corn and livestock. Iowans realized they could make more money on corn, particularly when faced with competition from wheat from newly-opened farms on the Great Plains. Corn was worth more per acre and Iowa could grow it better than Nebraska and Kansas. There was a good market for animals at packing plants in Sioux City or Chicago. Corn-fed hogs and cattle soon led Iowa agriculture. Another reason farmers stopped planting wheat year after year was because it wore out the soil.
Regions Produce Different Products
Over the years farmers learned that soils differed around the state. Certain crops did better in certain areas. Agricultural regions took shape in Iowa even though most of the soils were excellent for corn and other grains. The northeast was good for pasture. Dairy cattle thrived there. In the southern, western, and eastern areas livestock became common. Farmers in northcentral Iowa learned that one of the most productive uses for Iowa land was to grow corn, feed it to hogs and market the hogs. Later, after the development of refrigerated railcars, farmers started using this process for beef too.
Farmers Become More Careful
Farmers had tended to be careless
in their use of the land. This was not just Iowa's problem. Americans were
used to thinking there would always be more land for new farms. By the 1880s
they saw this would not be true much longer. Farmers began to take an interest
in keeping their soil fertile. They rotated corn with oats and hay to prevent crop
diseases and insects. Crop rotation
also helped to keep the soil supplied with different plant foods, instead
of wearing it out by growing the same crop year after year. In the low, swampy
areas of prairie, farmers learned to tile the fields to drain off the water.
Farmers also learned that certain breeds of hogs and cattle produced better
meat than others. They began to raise animals that sold best at the packinghouses.
Special attention was also given to the feeding of animals to produce the
best possible meat.
The Golden Age of Agriculture
By the start of the 20th century,
farming in Iowa was very much a business. The golden age of agriculture had
arrived. But farmers were moving away from the simple country life. Good business
planning and labor-saving machinery became more and more important. Farms
grew larger and required fewer hands. As time went on, fewer and fewer Iowans
worked closely with the soil.
All across the nation people moved to cities, where there were jobs in factories
and shops. America was on its way to becoming an industrial nation. Although
Iowa developed large and important industries, agriculture would remain an
important part of life throughout the 20th century.
Animals Provide Power on the Farm
Both horses and oxen provided the power on American farms up until the middle of the 1800s. But oxen were too slow to pull the new machinery Iowans began using in the 1850s and 1860s. Most of the horses were fast enough, but tired quickly. Powerful animals like the draft horses used in Europe were needed. Iowans imported Percherons, Belgians and Clydesdales. Along with the other agricultural states of Ohio, Michigan and Illinois, Iowa became a leader in breeding draft horses.
Change Over Time
European settlers began farming
early in the 1800s in Iowa. They were eager to move into the area. They learned
much about farming in the mid- to late 1800s. Many changes occurred on Iowa
farms during those early years. Equipment and crops changed. Scientific advances
affected farming. A war and hard economic times forced changes on the farm.
All the changes led up to a time that was known as the Golden Age of Agriculture.
But the good times didn't last. Amidst all the changes that occurred in the
early days of farming in Iowa, one thing never changed. Agriculture remained
a core of Iowa life.
