How farming has changed over the yrs

[Gadgetman]

Perhaps this isn't the right forum for these types of project threads.

Grew up farming and we were always building or modifying something. Guess these days there's not enough time on the biggers farms. Enough money to buy whats needed,and the smaller farms have plenty of used equipment to choose from. Much of our equipment is unique. Easier or cheaper to build it the way we want.

Times have changed. Farm kids I meet these days have no idea how to do this stuff. It's either bought or hired done.

[alanstr]

Not only has farming changed,the new equipment is getting too complicated to work on.In my opinoin computers and electronics don't mix well with dir,water,fertilizer and chemicals !! Like the old saying KISS (keep it simple stupid).

[Orchard Ex]

I think that it has a lot to do with the cost of labor. When I was a kid labor was thought of as free if you owned the farm. It was nothing to spend days building or rebuilding some piece of equipment. That was a lot of time that could have been spent getting a crop in the ground or out of the field etc. I think it's a lot harder to get farm labor and the realization that "Time is Money" has set in.

[td25c]

I agree Gadgetman,times have changed.There is still some modifying & fabricating that goes on.Allot of the newer equipment is not built as strong as the older stuff.I have several farmers that call me to repair spray rig's,planters,discs,ect this time of year.The new equipment has some impressive computers,& gps units,But the structural steel is thinner than the older equipment and that keeps my welding rig busy.I have a small collection of "successful farming" and "indiana prairie farmer" magazines from the late 1950's to the erly 1970's.They had alot of articals and stories about farmers modifying a new piece of equipment to suit there needs or improve it's performance.One of my favorites is the"M&W" turbo kits for the tractors in the 1960's.Here is a magazine website you will like .www.farmshow.com .They show farmers building and modifying equipment.

[Feed Bunk]

I grew up on a farm and I stayed. Im 20 now and passed up college for it. Were always building stuff for the farm or seedhouse and have older equipment that requires a lot more up keep than newer stuff. Most of big operators here have new iron and if it breaks they take it to deere and get something else.

[Gadgetman]

Feed Bunk, thats refreshing to see a son staying on,but not the norm anymore (at least in our area).

It's not glamorous anymore to be a farmer,and the kids these days are more interested in "easy money". I know as I have 2 boys,one entering college next yr,and one finishing his 1st yr. I see farm kids going into the medical field,getting teaching degrees,becoming coaches,etc...As my boys grew up their "farm kid" friends were playing nitendo,swiming at the pool,at summer camps, as their dads where busy in the fields. Their kids drive the nicest cars and pickups,are best dressed,and go to the best colleges. In a sense they are the most "preppie" kids in school. Somewhere here is where I think part of the problem lies.

In our area the small farms are almost gone. The big farms just keep getting bigger. Maybe as some of these older generation farmers where so busy building their empires,they didn't take the time to "pass it on". And the sons of the small farms seen their fathers struggle to stay afloat,and wanted no part of it. Two of the biggest farmers in our area did have their college boys come back to run the empires. It was handed to them on a silver platter. Although they do have the good business skills to manage,the hands on skills have been lost. Dealers have to go out and setup equipment for them,shoot our salesman have to setup their planters all the time. These kids drive around in $50K pickups with cellphones attatched to their ears,as their hired hands are doing the work. Not saying this is wrong,just the norm now. They don't need the "hands on" skills anymore. They just need to know who to call or hire that does.

So, in a sense that does make the labor too expensive to mod things in the shop,as it takes skilled labor to do so. It isn't free labor anymore doing it yourself during the winter months or rainy spells. This will make the service side of farming more and more expensive,as there are fewer and fewer of us with the skills. Eventually if you want that type of work done,it'll cost ya.

Now don't get me wrong young farmers out there. I know it's not all like this,just a trend I see as farming is turning into big business. Times have changed....

[Deere9670]

Feed Bunk, thats refreshing to see a son staying on,but not the norm anymore (at least in our area).

It's not glamorous anymore to be a farmer,and the kids these days are more interested in "easy money". I know as I have 2 boys,one entering college next yr,and one finishing his 1st yr. I see farm kids going into the medical field,getting teaching degrees,becoming coaches,etc...As my boys grew up their "farm kid" friends were playing nitendo,swiming at the pool,at summer camps, as their dads where busy in the fields. Their kids drive the nicest cars and pickups,are best dressed,and go to the best colleges. In a sense they are the most "preppie" kids in school. Somewhere here is where I think part of the problem lies.

In our area the small farms are almost gone. The big farms just keep getting bigger. Maybe as some of these older generation farmers where so busy building their empires,they didn't take the time to "pass it on". And the sons of the small farms seen their fathers struggle to stay afloat,and wanted no part of it. Two of the biggest farmers in our area did have their college boys come back to run the empires. It was handed to them on a silver platter. Although they do have the good business skills to manage,the hands on skills have been lost. Dealers have to go out and setup equipment for them,shoot our salesman have to setup their planters all the time. These kids drive around in $50K pickups with cellphones attatched to their ears,as their hired hands are doing the work. Not saying this is wrong,just the norm now. They don't need the "hands on" skills anymore. They just need to know who to call or hire that does.

So, in a sense that does make the labor too expensive to mod things in the shop,as it takes skilled labor to do so. It isn't free labor anymore doing it yourself during the winter months or rainy spells. This will make the service side of farming more and more expensive,as there are fewer and fewer of us with the skills. Eventually if you want that type of work done,it'll cost ya.

Now don't get me wrong young farmers out there. I know it's not all like this,just a trend I see as farming is turning into big business. Times have changed....

Nice post Gadgetman.......I completely agree with you, Im 20 years old, and work on a farm. I enjoy what I do, even though its not the highest paying job that I could get, or the easiest. I look around me and see the same thing in my area.....kids dont want to work anymore, but I dont blame them at all....I blame there parents for spoiling them, and not forcing them to be "on there own."

[Gadgetman]

Im 20 years old, and work on a farm. I enjoy what I do, even though its not the highest paying job that I could get, or the easiest. I look around me and see the same thing in my area.....kids dont want to work anymore, but I dont blame them at all....I blame there parents for spoiling them, and not forcing them to be "on there own."

Sheeww, I was worried that came out wrong. Glad a 20 yr old said that,so I didn't have too.:tong

My hats off to you two,your a dying breed. :usa I love working with you guys,we have a few ourselves. Soak up knowledge like a sponge. In turn, you can keep us ole-timers up to speed on the tech side. I'm still all for the tech stuff,it just takes the "hands on" to make it all work.

[Nothinbetter]

In our area the small farms are almost gone. The big farms just keep getting bigger. Maybe as some of these older generation farmers where so busy building their empires,they didn't take the time to "pass it on". And the sons of the small farms seen their fathers struggle to stay afloat,and wanted no part of it. Two of the biggest farmers in our area did have their college boys come back to run the empires. It was handed to them on a silver platter. Although they do have the good business skills to manage,the hands on skills have been lost. Dealers have to go out and setup equipment for them,shoot our salesman have to setup their planters all the time. These kids drive around in $50K pickups with cellphones attatched to their ears,as their hired hands are doing the work. Not saying this is wrong,just the norm now. They don't need the "hands on" skills anymore. They just need to know who to call or hire that does.

So, in a sense that does make the labor too expensive to mod things in the shop,as it takes skilled labor to do so. It isn't free labor anymore doing it yourself during the winter months or rainy spells. This will make the service side of farming more and more expensive,as there are fewer and fewer of us with the skills. Eventually if you want that type of work done,it'll cost ya.

Now don't get me wrong young farmers out there. I know it's not all like this,just a trend I see as farming is turning into big business. Times have changed....


It may be that it's not that they don't know, but more they may not have time. So many people think that as your size gets bigger your problems or issues you deal with stay they same. In most if not all cases, your labor per cow goes down with larger farms, but your problems go through the roof.
Large farms have more land owners, vendors, employee's to deal with. One manager I know spends most of his time handling problems, either land owners or employee's. You can’t spread manure without upsetting someone. Most areas now if you are a large farm you have to have a “manure management plan”.

Employee’s it seems like a larger number of them today don’t want to think. They want to come to work and vegetate till payday. It also seems like they complain more and more about things a few years ago, you wouldn’t think of complaining about. Home owners are also a pain in the neck, they buy a home next door to a farm, then complain about the smell and other things that go with farming.

These are just a few examples, seems like every problem gets bigger with size.

Now I also worked on some farms that the fathers did try to teach their sons. These boys you couldn't tell them anything, they knew all.

As far as it changing, I can't believe the size of some of this equipment today. Back 20 years ago 300Hp on any machine was huge, now some are in the 800 hp range. Mowers that can cover near 50' in 1 pass. Planters that can plant 48 rows, back a bit 12 rows was huge.

[Feed Bunk]

Thanks Gadgetman you hit the nail on the head as far as Im concerned.

[Gadgetman]

Nothinbetter,you brought up some good points.

Today's employee problem is really a widespread one. The skills of the covitted farmboy are becoming a thing of the past. The remainder of the common workforce is in direct competition with higher paying employers. What's left,well we've all had to deal with some of that. You might get 1 good one out of 3.

[stumpjumper83]

I grew up on a farm as well, joined the military, tried selling parts for a equipment dealer, ran equipment for a developer, and decided what I liked doing was fixing and running equipment.

I'm also not afraid to do a little modifing or custom make a piece of machinery, but times have changed. The modern farmer or contractor isn't forced to use one particular brand of equipment or make his own, there are lots of different choices out there.

Especially with the web, you don't need to make your own and spend tons of time and money doing your own trial and error when someone else already makes a perfectly good unit.

You can't afford too many screw ups before your equal to or greater than buying a pre made unit.

With that being siad being handy with a welder sometime saves you big when its time to do repairs.

[Hendrik]

Basically I think it is a case of why bother getting your hands dirty if you don't have too.
To a certain extend American farmers have been getting pretty good subsidies and incentives for a long time. This has made buying new, instead of fixing or building your own, more attractive. Nothing wrong with that as the people making equipment have to eat as well.
Also todays farmer has to be more multi skilled than ever and in order to still have a life outside of working the farm, some things have to be cut back.
I guess these days they are more people managers and decision makers than hands on in the dirt type.
However you will find than in the more marginal farming areas (like Australia) there is still a lot of hands on Farmers.

[KMB83]

interesting string of posts. in general i agree. i think the young people that come to farm, do tend to be less self reliant than older generations, although older generations are older which would tend to give them more experience. here are some other factors i think of:

1. barriers of entry. gadgetman you mentioned the kids coming back are handed everything. true. but how in the world could you start a competitive commercial farm without some windfall. granted it doesnt have to be an empire but at the very least you have to have some old timer with no offspring be interested in working with the next gen. and share the profit. pretty tough to plunk down cash for land, equipment starting out.

2. technology. look at the equipment available today. speed/size/cost of the iron, let alone all the other innovations (seed, fertilizer, pesticides, etc) that have come about allowing one farmer to do so much more. they really are more of a business man, rather than an equipment operator.

3. margin. dad talks about when he started, everybody had hogs. they paid the mortgage. they were hard work. took lots of labor, but paid well. today the margin on most farming activities is narrow enough you have to have some wearwithal as with farming ups and downs WILL happen.

4. time. in past times farmers that could innovate or rennovate equip where well compensated. yes a mechanic is expensive today, but if he has couple 100k of grain to market, he'll make more money being a good marketer than he will fixing stuff.

5. rural decline. i graduated 10yrs ago in a class of 40. graduating class today is 30, and they are bringing in 18 in the kindergarden. as it takes fewer farms to work the landscape the general population of rural america goes down. less "in town" jobs also contribute. that and with a college education being the norm, it is a hard decision to go to the big town, offering big wages and come back. shoot the bible had stories about "the big city" doing this years ago.

6. lay of the land. when you get to flat black ground, cut up in square 160's. that allows for mega farmers to exist. big pieces, one management style, low year to year risks. so some of the transformation of the farm is directly related to the land. i live in the river bottom surrounded by hill ground. takes more time to manage, not convenient for large equipment, cash rent less common. some of the change is geographical.


at the end of day i still believe true farm kids still have an appreciation for working the dirt, and continue to come back home. these kids do have a different skill set than past generations, i will grant that.

i believe in comparison to some/most town kids they have more drive, and more opportunity for responsibility earlier in life.

i believe in the future, america will become aware of the fact that farming is a major national strength (could be one of the last basic manufacturing industries we have) and there will be a period of more prosperity for those who work the land.

things have changed a long way. i would say they will continue to change.

[amunderdog]

With industrialization, few people are given the opportunity to think – to be creative and innovative.
http://web.missouri.edu/~ikerdj/papers/CoporateAgandFamilyFarms.htm

[Nothinbetter]

Other areas that have changed are all the legal stuff, some good, some bad that farmers have to deal with.
Today it’s actually cheaper in some cases to sub out things that 20 years ago you wouldn’t think of. One is crop spraying. With the liability and licensing involved about ½ the farms I know sub it out now. Another is manure. Due to the liability and expense more and more farms are going to liquid storage and having a sub manage that for them.
Others focus on just the dairy and sub out all of the crop management. Then they can focus on the cows and not worry about the weather, seed, equipment, etc.
Liability, seems like years ago people weren’t as sue happy as they are today. Now it seems like everyone is looking for the least little thing to sue someone for money. That to some degree is why I think a larger farmer would think twice about modifying a machine. Where I currently work we won’t unless we get written approval from the OEM 1st. It’s one thing if it’s a family farm and only family works on it. If you have employee’s and one gets hurt with a machine you have modified watch out. Even if the modification had nothing to do with the injury, some lawyer will sway a jury that it’s your fault. Even if the employee does exactly what common sense would tell them not to and if you trained them not to do something. It doesn’t matter, you’re the evil business man and your employee is a victim of your greed.
Property rights, posted and no trespass use to mean something. Now people will think nothing of going out with an ATV across your land, damage your crops and if they get hurt on your land at least try to sue. Depending on the local cops, some will help you out, others “have better things to do than chase trespassers”.

Some good changes.
GPS who would have thought 25 years ago that you could apply fertilizer, plant crops etc. with GPS. Diskmowers, rotary rakes, rotary milking parlors. All things that speed up and or reduce labor.

[stovepipe699]

I grew up on a large farm, went to University(while farming), served in the Army reserves(while farming) and now I just farm. Standards on the farms you speak of must be low, b/c if I didn't do the seeding, spraying, combining, fixing, etc myself, it would be a gongshow. They can truck grain, run simple stuff(harrows, deep tiller etc) with supervision, basically an extra hand. I have a neighbour with the silver platter scenario, and his farm is cruddy. I just don't know very many farmers who got it on a platter around here.