THE TRANSFORMATION OF AGRICULTURE ON THE PLAINS

More importantly, success on the plains became increasingly dependent on the use of technology and the introduction of business approaches to agriculture. The United States Department of Agriculture was established in 1862 and by late 1863 was distributing information to plains farmers on new farm techniques and developments. New plows and threshers (included some powered by steam) were introduced in the late 1860s and early 1870s.

Slowly, control of agricultural production on the plains was taken from individual farmers as large bonanza farms developed. While individual settlers were interested in producing enough for their families to survive, bonanza farms usually produced only one or two crops on them. Produce from these farms was sold to the Eastern United States or abroad. While individual settlers were being driven off of the land because of the hardships of farming on the plains, bonanza farms were run as large businesses and had the technology and professional backing to be successful.

Bonanza farms were plentiful by the late 1870s and demonstrated the transformation that had taken plate in agriculture. These farms were truly capitalistic; their success was dependent on the machinery that existed on the farms and on the railroad that would take their crops away for export Farm production increased dramatically with the advent of bonanza farms. At the same time, the numbers of Americans involved in agriculture decreased (from nearly 60 percent in 1860 to 37 percent in 1900).

The new business techniques practiced by bonanza farms were successful in the short run but created problems for both bonanza farms and individual farmers in the future. Several times in the 1880s and early 1890s there was simply too much grain being produced on these farms, dropping the prices drastically. To remain economically successful, farmers proceeded to do the only logical thing: produce even more, which drove prices down even more. Many plains farmers in this period were unable to pay their mortgages, and farms were foreclosed. Bonanza farms usually had the technology for the production of only one or two crops and could not diversify; they too faced financial distress. Many farmers felt that federal policies had to do more to protect them, and thus started to organize to protect themselves.