Soil Makes It Possible

Over the years many changes came to farmers in Iowa. Tractors replaced horses and electricity came to rural areas. But the rich soil is what makes farming possible--a reason for conserving the land.

There was a lot of people that just loved their horses to death. Like I liked that old team that I got for 100 dollars. I always like to use them because they liked to work for me. They seemed like they liked me and I liked them. And love means a whole lot in work whether it’s a tractor or it’s a horse; it makes a difference.

Throughout the 30s and 40s machines gradually replaced horse and manpower on the farm. By mid-century the tractor tilled the field and electricity tended the chores. Other scientific advancements in hybrid seeds, chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides allowed fewer and fewer farmers to feed more and more people. Still it is the rich Iowa soil which makes it all possible. A resource that must be preserved. And despite all technological wonders that have modernized the farm, we will always depend on the very miracle of life that springs from the land: planting to harvest, birth to death, generation to generation.