Farming Has Changed!

Most of ya'll know about my vast agricultural background. I was raised on farms in both Lockney and Quanah, Texas. My dad was killed in a farming accident in 1971. My step-dad farms in the Quanah area. And I have spent a life time in the business. Except for a stint in the real estate business back in the mid 80's, I have been directly involved in production agriculture all of my adult life. I have witnessed lots of changes in farming in my life time. The very first change that I can remember, as a child, was air conditioned cabs on tractors. I can remember the first tractor we owned that had an air conditioned cab. It was an Allis Chalmers 7060 (i think the model is right). John Deere had a long back order list for the 30 series tractors in early to mid 70's. So we bought the AC and I can remember the day Jack Handley from Vernon delivered it. My step dad, Joe Gayle, had a cousin, Donald Drake, that was and AC man. He's the one responsible for us owning anything Allis Chalmers. (LOL! I blaim him! LOL!) I can remember when Joe C. Baker, who was Joe Gayle's dad, went and bought a used John Deere 4430 about a 6 months to a year after we bought the Allis Chalmers tractor. Now we had 2 tractors with air conditioned cabs.



I learned to drive a tractor on a 4020 John Deere. No cab, no ac, and it ran on LP gas! It was very hot in the summer time. Now in the winter, we had "comfort covers" on the tractors. The comfort cover was made of heavy canvas and started up front just behind the air cleaner screens and went along both sides of the engine, all the way back to the seat. It moved the warm, or in the case of the LP model HOT, air back to the operator. Making it some what bearable to be out on a cold winter day.



I'm not even going to get started on changes in harvesting equipment!




I drove a brand new John Deere, like this one, for two days this week. My very good friend, Randy Henderson, called me Tuesday morning looking for a tractor driver to get some fallow ground plowed. I helped him out. I plowed about 600 acres in 27 hours! That's about 22 acres an hour! (to put that in terms some of you can understand, there are 43,560 square feet in an acre) It has a gps unit on it that steers the tractor for you! Now, you may ask yourself, "why would you need that?". Well, let me tell you. I was a crooked plower growing up. I couldn't make straight rows for nothing. My attention span is not that long! LOL! You're always either overlapping or leaving a skip. This gps unit steers you to within 6"-8" of where you need to be. And straight! I really looked good out there! LOL!

I couldn't help but think about my great grand-dad John Belt while I was driving this tractor. He followed my great grand-mother and her family to the south plains from Olustee, Oklahoma back in the early teens. He passed away in the late 70's. I can remember a story he used to tell about coming to Floyd county horseback, the grass stirrup high and made him sea sick waving in the wind. And those early pioneers breaking this land out with a horse or mule and a single bottom breaking plow. I don't know if you realize this, but that's been less than 100 years ago. In 100 years, we have gone from horse drawn plows to the tractor I have described. And to be able to manage money to be able to pay for this tractor! The list, base price is some where around $225,000. John Belt bought a combine in the early 20's for $1500. Not only has technology changed, the $$$$ have too.