we are flying over the central farming region of the United States a vast rich
area in the middle each year produces enormous harvests of food yet
whose agricultural and industrial resources are still being developed and
whose full potential has yet to be realized what makes the central farming region so
important to our nation and to the world why is it foremost among the great
agricultural areas of the world what is life like for the farmers who live and
work here and what are some of their problems
first we must realize that the central farming region is very large it covers
nearly one-third of the total land area of the United States it is almost one
thousand miles from Canada the northern boundary to the Texas Panhandle on the
southern border and it is over a thousand miles from Montana in the West
to Ohio in the east still more important climate generally favourable to
agriculture prevails over the entire region rain adequate for a variety of
crop falls from storms that sweep from west to east over the land and because
the central farming region forms a great natural basin the water runoff follows
the overall slope of the land rivers flow eastward from the Rocky Mountains
and westward from the Appalachians joining and swelling the mighty
Mississippi as it moves toward the Gulf of Mexico draining the whole region but
climate and water are not enough to make the central farming region a great
agricultural area there is something else good soil soil rich in the minerals
that plants need for food soil that's easy to work not rocky or heavy with
clay large fields that are generally flat or gently rolling so that rain
soaks in instead of running off as it falls
there is much land like this in the central farming region but it is used in
different ways to grow a variety of crops
barley for instance is a major crop on the flat rich soil of the Red River
Valley in North Dakota and Minnesota but so is flax from which linseed oil and
fine linen are made and so are sugar beets and spring wheat dairy cattle
producing the fresh milk butter and cheese consumed by city dwellers in the
Great Lakes area graze on much of the land farther east in Minnesota Wisconsin
Illinois and Michigan but the same general area produces great quantities
of fruit such as cherries apples strawberries and blueberries
as well as vegetables such as peas and potatoes to fill the nation's food
basket
from Ohio westward through Indiana Illinois Iowa parts of Kansas and
Nebraska corn is the chief field crop this is the corn and livestock Belt of
the central farming region cattle and logs raised here to be processed in
packing plants in the Midwest provide the whole country with beef and
pork
because corn is excellent feed for livestock most large-scale corn farmers
keep firts which they import from western ranges to fatten and sell
more grown in the American Corn Belt each year than on all the rest of the
world's farmland put together
farther west and south winter wheat is the major crops across broad sections of
Kansas Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle but some land has not been plowed for
crops native grasses which cover these hills and valleys provide excellent
grazing land for beef cattle
in spite of the great variety of crops raised and the different kinds of
farming carried on in the central farming region certain general facts do
stand out the north-central area with its cool summers and short growing
season is mostly given to dairy farming has earned the nickname of America's
Dairyland the central area south and west of the Great Lakes is the greatest
corn growing country in the world summers there are hotter and the growing
season is longer at the same time this area is the source of much of the prime
beef and pork of which Americans eat more than most people around the world
in the higher drier areas west of the Corn Belt and dairy land sweet is the
principal crop and it is because of the enormous harvests of golden wheat that
this region has come to be called the breadbasket of the nation because of
local conditions of the soil or climate certain areas in the central farming
region produce mainly fruit and vegetables which must also be included
in our thinking about the total agricultural production of the region as
we have seen the variety of things grown as well as the quantity makes the
central farming region one of the foremost agricultural areas of the world
however the enormous productivity of modern farmers in the central farming
region cannot be explained solely by the natural resources of rich soil good
climate insufficient water no we must be aware of something else something very
important which man himself has developed to work the land that's
something else is machinery machines make the difference machines that do the
work of a hundred men machines that work tirelessly
efficiently machines for combining wheat and for every other kind of farm work
for harvesting corn and potatoes for milking cows and dusting crops
for making silage Chloe planting cultivating
storing fertilizing spraying bailing
and even farm products farming
has been mechanized and machines are largely responsible for the tremendous
production of the central farming region production which means that Americans
unlike people in many other parts of the world are well fed and well dressed most
of the time but as the growing number of abandoned farm houses in the Midwest
tells us the large-scale use of machinery for farming has created some
problem and brought about some changes in the central farming region for one
thing great numbers of people are leaving their farms to move to the
cities sitting at Omaha Chicago Cleveland and others each of them a
center of industry with over a half million population where factories
provide employment for many people who have left their farms new housing
developments in city suburbs provide some of these people with homes near the
factories where they work
but as one of them will tell you those who want to stay on the land have to
adapt their farming methods to the changing times my name is Charles Grant
farm his way of life of my family but it is another used to be my great
grandfather homesteaded his place in 1817 cultivating the land again became
him title to the Rays 160 acres of this farm
that includes the fields were looking at now plus some pasture that on the other
side of the barn all he can take care of even though he had four boys and hired
hands harvest time nowadays with proper soil management contour cropping and
crop rotation plus hybrid seed fertilizers
and chemicals to control insects weeds and plant diseases a good farmer can get
several times as much from 160 acres as my grandfather could and with machine a
modern para can just as well take care of six four seven hundred acres is 160
this farm for example has grown to 640 acres that's one square mile of land but
many farms today are even larger but our neighbors became discouraged during the
drought years my dad bought them out and as my brother and I came of age he was
able to send us agricultural farm organizations like the ones that publish
these magazines are always coming out with something new and County
Agricultural agents in every part of the country are very important in spreading
information about new and better ways to farm any farmer who is willing to take
the trouble to learn how to be a better farmer and that's what it takes to be
successful today Harvey has become a big business it takes a lot of land a lot of
money a lot of machinery but most important it takes know-how
those that haven't got to know how soon go out of business that's what I keep
telling my son John but someday he'll be running things and I want him to make a
go of it this is a picture of what Charles Grant is described on a section
of land 640 acres where once there were four farms and four different families
there is now only one farm and that one farm if it is well run with the help of
machines produces much more than all four used to with fewer hands to do the
work for families like that of Charles Grant life on the farm today is much
easier and more pleasant than it was for his grandfather and great-grandfather he
lives in a modern home his wife has all the kitchen appliances that city women
has to help accomplish their daily tasks
just transport his children to large consolidated schools which are replacing
the old one-room schools of yesterday where all eight grades studied together
under one teacher regular mail delivery television
telephones and radios keep him and his family in touch with all that goes on in
the world new highway systems throughout the area late farms like that of the
grants to Midwestern cities making it easier than ever for modern farmers to
ship their produce to city markets and markets in the major cities receive
produce grain and livestock by the truckload every day on a map we can see
how highways and railroads tie the central farming region to the economy of
the rest of our country and how the central farming region has been opened
up to trade with the whole world from the Atlantic Ocean ships from all
nations can sail up the st. Lawrence Seaway through the Great Lakes all the
way to Milwaukee and Chicago Freight from the farthest corner of the world is
unloaded daily at these great Inland Sea ports and produce from Midwestern farms
is loaded for shipment abroad thus the central farming region has become a
source of food and supplies for the entire world and at this moment
agricultural scientists are working in laboratories to develop new breeds of
plants new fertilizers chemical weed stoppers and insecticides with which
farmers can continue to increase the productivity of the land to meet the
demands of an ever-growing population demands for grains such as wheat and
corn for vegetables such as peas for potatoes
for fruit such as cherries strawberries and apples
or dairy products made from the rich milk produced by Midwestern dairy herds
for beef and pork as well as for manufactured products
from the mills and factories of mid-america all of which make up the
total yearly output of consumer products from the vast fertile lands of the
region products which will play an important role in the national economy
as well as abroad so long as men have need to eat
for their agricultural wealth for the abundance in which they live for the
plentiful harvest and prosperity Americans have much to thank the central
farming region USA