With the snow gone for some time now, there has to be an itch to hitch on to some machinery and "get the show on the road." Well, yes there has been some movement but not the full-throttle kind. Actually, some of the garden enthusiasts have taken advantage of the early spring weather. But, they have less to lose if the weather turns cold and typically spring like.

Rumors say there is corn already growing in rows in the Mankato area, but the experienced farmer has patience and it usually pays off. If you're farming a few thousand acres, the temptation (and the risk of frost) is even higher. 

Just think of the size of those mighty monsters carting across the field, planting 24 rows at a time. Remember the little earthy farmer who sometimes even planted one hill at a time, stepped and used his wooden hand planter? It would be hard for youngsters today to realize the ordeal their forefathers went through to plant corn and get it in the crib in the fall.

My mother is not that old (but she really is) and remembers when hybrid seen corn came into being. It caused a round table discussion if one should buy or not buy. My granddad had saved corn ears from the previous year’s harvest and picked the biggest and best from the corn that seemed to do the best and gave the best yield. 

Yes, intuition teamed with a little experience was a plus to farming back then too. Those ears were put on steel racks and hung in the rafters of the granary to dry and used to supply the next year’s crop of seed corn.

Doesn't seem possible does it? My grandmother would cover trays with wet towels in an attempt to coax life out of those dry kernels. And of course, the best was what was used to plant in the field. 

If you're old enough, you remember how each row was checked on by a wire system with prongs that dropped in the kernels at a particular space. At the end of the row, the wire contraption was moved over for the next row. It was a slow and tedious process.

When it was time to cultivate the weeds, a two-row cultivator was hooked up behind a team of horses. As it made its way down the rows, it broke up the weeds. Even so, the farmer had to be careful driving that team of horses, as the cultivator could pull up corn as well as weeds. It was a long and weary process just sitting or getting off the seat; farmers would resort to walking, holding the reins to give the backside and legs a break.

Once summer was over, that same trek was made again. They walked and husked the corn, and threw it into a wagon with a bang board to stop it from flowing over. Then, the farmer had to scoop the corn ears into a crib where it could be taken later and shelled in a hand-turned sheller or fed on the cob. It was not unusual to harvest corn by the later part of November, often times in snow.

There were some perks in cultivating alone in the field. You could sing to the dog and think about things. It wasn't good to daydream though. Now and then you had to leave the perch to pick small rocks out of the way.

Now the farmer climbs into an air-conditioned cab tractor with high fidelity music, phone and GPS-controlled computer. He can prepare the ground and plant the whole farm in less time than the farmers of old spent preparing one field.

Most farmers no longer have to spread fertilizer in a manure spreader and they make short work of spraying the fields with the needed chemicals and fertilizer. Come harvest time those monster machines pick and shell the corn that may be transported by semi to market or storage.

Time and money spent and profit from more acres have changed the farm into big business. The farmer follows the markets using new technology. Farming is more than a little different than it used to be!

Before the advent of farm tractors, most farms were small, only about 80 acres. To use a business term of today, they were “vertically integrated.” Farmers grew crops that were fed to pigs, chickens, dairy and beef cattle or sheep. If there was any grain left over, it could be sold. 

Why such small farms? Part of it had to do with our short growing season here in the north, and part had to do with the use of grains to feed animals.

The original “homestead” lands of the 1800s were 160 acres. That wasn’t enough for farmers on the Great Plains, and maybe too much for farmers here in the north. If you split that in two, you would have 80 acres. On that 80 acres, you would have about 10 acres used by the house, barn, granary, corn crib and animal pens. About 10 acres would be untillable, roads, drives, creeks, and woodlots for heating and cooking. There would be about 20 acres of pasture for farm animals and the horses used to till the land, leaving about 40 acres.

A team of horses could plow about five acres a day, depending on hills and soil. Horses had to be rested and watered. They could disk about seven acres a day, drag 10 acres a day and plant seven acres a day. That’s 24 days to prepare and plant 40 acres. 

That would take about a month of work, assuming no breakdowns and allowing for weather delays. If you got started about the 1st of May, you would be finished by Memorial Day. That’s lots of hard work (for the farmer AND the animals). Don’t forget the farmer also had to harness, unharness, and feed and water not only the horses, but all the farm animals. Then there was the rest of the chores: cleaning out barns, spreading manure, milking, shelling corn, threshing, putting up hay, grinding feed, and fixing the inevitable breakdowns. It was hard to farm more than 40 or 50 acres of cropland, depending on the soil, terrain, and crop mix, hence 80-acre farms. Is it any wonder that farming was a family affair? Farmers needed all of the help they could get!

Despite the wistful thinking of would-be farmers (like the TV show “Green Acres”), I don’t think most of us would want to go back to that life. And in fact, the country can’t. In the days of farming with horses, much of the production of the farm was used up by the family themselves; only a bit of the production was sold for consumption by non-farmers in the cities. 

Think about this: Without mechanized farming, there would be no large cities; they couldn’t exist. In 1900, each farmer fed 2.5 people, besides his family. By 1940, using mechanization, he fed 19. By 1960, despite larger farms and equipment, each farmer had improved that ratio to only 25 people. 

Today, with specialization, chemicals, and all of the technology that goes into farming, each farmer feeds between 129 and 155 people (depending on whose numbers you use). Large cities simply could not exist without the output of today’s farmers. Think about that the next time you go for a drive and see the vast fields and huge equipment. In our rural area, we have an appreciation for farmers. Let your “city” relatives know that without these farmers, they would be working just raising food to survive.

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Birthdays and anniversaries:

• Thursday, April 19th: Elizabeth Rose Wallace, her 5th; Cody James Reistad, his 6th; Aaron Utpadel, James Bremmer, Jaxon Branstad, his 11th; Kaden Shaw Tonlinson, his 8th.

• Friday, April 20th: Jacob Dau, his 5th Sara Elizabeth Hemingway, her 10th; Steve Mumm, Brenda Sorenson, Kathy Haberman, Jennie Korsbon, Paul & Jennifer Wayne, Don & Delores Glynn.

• Saturday, April 21st: Helen Pierce, Michael Foster, Veronica Graif, Adrian Kilian, Marilyn Reistad, Elmer Vanden Heuvel.

• Sunday, April 22nd: Noah Lowell Swearingen, his 8th; Rollie Johnson, David Purdy, Gregory Swearingen, Stacy Thostenson Harold, James Van Riper, Marilyne Dodge, Mike & Sarah Collins, Rodger & Sue Hill.

• Monday, April 23rd: Jayne Miller, Buffy Bergland, Alan Edwardson, Jackie Johnson Miller.

• Tuesday, April 24th: Keralyn & Bill Powers, Madison Kae Wagner, Marnie Ray Wagner, Dak Sorenson, Gladys Burr, Marilyn Cuden, Audrey Paulson, Lowell Wichmann, Scott Brandt, Kara Vangen.

• Wednesday, April 25th: Ed Deml, Nicole Langlie La Tourneau, Nicole Nielson, Evie Toft, Christine Davidson, Jeff Kunkel, Janice Morreim, Stan Reichl.

• Thursday, April 26th: Jim Arends, Lester Casterton, Teresa Deml Sisler, Beverly Harpel, Jean Larson, Pat Motl, Ashley Bangert, Mary Peterson, Pat Pichner, Steve & Judy Christensen, Bob & Gerry Flim, Allan & Darline Jensen.

• Friday, April 27th: Brian Schember, Norma Robertson, Heidi & Christopher Olson.

• Saturday, April 28th: Martin Rossing, Rodney Peterson, Mildred Flugum, Jamie Cameron, Jean & Chuck Groth.

• Sunday, April 29th: Derek Anthony Kubicek, his 5th; Jane Brocker, Roberta Dettman, Angie Hall, Mitchell Jensen, Pat & Linda Goodnature, Jennifer & Steve Schultz.

• Monday, April 30th: Nancy Williams, Jeff Misgen, Paul Moen, Dawn Cooper, Kevin Cooper, Jonathon Lein, Karey Dufresne, Judah Ashton, Jonathon Lein, Rick & Melonie Miller.

• Tuesday, May 1st: Carter Levi Titus, Jim Hanson, Shirley Pichner Helgeson, Christopher "Critter" Johnson, his 10th; Luke Dobberstein, Gene Budach, Sandi Otto Glenn, Richard Helmers, Sue Kasper Anderson, Tim Kasper, Norma Long, Cari Jensen, Thomas Van Riper, Veronica & Jim Graif, Heidi & Ryan Baldwin.

• Wednesday, May 2nd: Shayna Kress and Tyler Kress, their 2nd; Jack Benjamin Owen, his 3rd; Diane Smith, Ted Radke, Jill Goodnature Kubicek, Bonnie Shaunce, Stephanie Corey, DeWayne Farr, Nolin Joe Simmons, his 7th; Joshua Nicholas Paulsen, his 9th; Roger Anderson, Gerald & Mildred Flugum, Dean & Carolyn Wangen.

May the year ahead bring you a world of pleasures.