Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Andrew Johnson's threshing rig was just one of the many machines that helped North Dakota farmers modernize their operations.
This horse powered threshing rig was used at the Starke Farm in Superior Township.
Small scale threshing allowed farm families to secure more land and assets at the start of the 20th century. This photo was donated by Kathy Bolin after it was found among her late uncle Floyd Bolin's belongings.
If there is anything the Eddy County Museum has an abundance of it would be agricultural artifacts. Of course! This area was founded and developed upon agriculture.
The Homestead Act attracted settlers and immigrants alike. Part of the requirement to claim homestead lands was to work the land, making it suitable for crops. As a result, by the end of the 19th century, there were 27,611 farms in North Dakota, and on average they were 277 acres in size.
Homesteaders found that wheat grew impressively well. In fact by 1915, North Dakota farmers had gotten so good at growing it that they yielded 150 million bushels of the crop. Their success did not come overnight, nor did it come from expansive growth alone.
While wheat had a great demand worldwide, it also came with an extra cost for farmers. Threshing is required to loosen the edible part of grain from the straw, and mechanized threshing opened a whole new world of profits for farmers.
Growth now meant transitioning from small scale systems such as the horse-powered thresher used on the Starke farm. As farms grew, the task of threshing became too much for a family to handle their own.
New technology was becoming more accessible. The Centennial Publication "A Century of Sowers" reports that Sever Quam had one of the first threshing machines in the area in 1906.
Farmers who acquired threshing machines were known to offer their equipment and services to other farmers. Some families shared equipment, as was the case of Swan E. Swanson, A.G. Nelson and Hjelmar Johnson of Grandfield township. Another option was to hire threshing crews. These traveling crews consisted of 23 men, 10 teams, a separator, and steam engine.
Farming had found firm ground in the northern plains, and not a moment too soon. With the onset of World War I, North Dakota farmers were ready to feed the world.
