iowans’feeding’...
TRANSCRIPT
Iowans Feeding the World
EXHIBITION PLAN
Iowans Feeding the World
Sarah Jentz Maggie Moss
Annette Scherber
University of Northern Iowa Public History Undergraduate Program
EXHIBITION PLAN
CONTENTS Iowans Feeding the World ..…………………………………………………………………….1 Exhibition Overview ……………………………………………………………………………………....1 Statement of Significance ……………………………………………………………………………….1 Exhibition Objectives ……………………………………………………………………………….2 Visitor Outcomes ……………………………………………………………………………………….3 Theme 1: Horses to Hybrids ………………………………………………………………………4 Theme 2 : Advocates of Agriculture ………………………………………………………….…11 Theme 3: Road to the World …………………………………………………………………….19 Narrative Timeline ……………………………………………………………………………………..26 Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………………………………..28 Exhibition Narrative ……………………………………………………………………………..……..31
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Iowans Feeding the World This exhibition focuses on Iowans as leaders in the ongoing endeavor of providing food for the nation and the world. Using the stories of Iowa farmers, the exhibition illustrates:
➔ the advancement of technology to better cultivate food ➔ the advocacy of agriculture through educational and institutional support ➔ the global movement of agricultural commodities, Iowans, and their ideas
in producing agricultural products that connect Iowa's fertile farmland with the world.
Exhibition Overview Iowans Feeding the World highlights Iowans as leaders in the ongoing endeavor to provide food, knowledge, and agricultural opportunities to communities, the nation, and the world. This exhibition plan interprets the advancement of technology for better crop cultivation, the advocacy of agriculture through educational and institutional support, and the global movement of agricultural commodities, Iowans, and their ideas. Iowans have done more than just provide the world with food; they cultivated the global advancement of agriculture with the expansion of knowledge, new techniques, and opportunities. Utilizing oral histories from the Grout Museum District’s collection of Iowans engaged in the agricultural industry, the exhibition details the critical transition of horsepower to machine power on the farm, the fundamental importance of local, regional and national support programs for farmers, and the constant mobility of people and ideas between the farm and the world.
Statement of Significance Iowans Feeding the World interprets the impact of Iowa agriculture in the global community. The contributions of Iowans encompass more than just tangible products. They include providing ideas and opportunities for the next generation of agriculture. Through harnessing advancements in technology, communication and transportation networks, legislation, and education Iowans have impacted the global community. Iowans continuously work to maintain a balance between producing higher yields and managing the land. The collaborative power of dedicated individuals, key institutional and governmental organizations, and the critical use of machinery, function in unison, moving Iowa agriculture towards greater efficiency.
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Exhibition Objectives In this exhibition, visitors will: 1 – Discover how technology helps people produce more with less work. 2 – Explore the types of support networks fundamental to agricultural production. 3 – Learn how Iowans have been critical to the development of global agriculture. 4 – Explore agricultural careers outside of the farm.
Visitor Outcomes
1 – Visitors leave with a greater understanding and appreciation of what agriculture is and how it works (because they feel more connected to farmers and farming). 2 – Visitors leave with a greater understanding of the connection between Iowa agriculture and the rest of the world and its significance. 3 – Visitors share their impressions about their understandings and connections with the partner site. 4 – Visitors leave with a stronger awareness of agricultural careers.
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Horses to Hybrid Technological developments are at the forefront of Iowa’s mission to feed the world. Each innovation led to future developments, continuously evolving to yield more with less labor while expanding those who are fed. Machinery, modification, and precision technology produce more while encouraging Iowans to educate and research advanced methods throughout world agriculture. These mechanical inventions transform agriculture, facilitating the growth of farms. In the nineteenth century, John Deere’s steel plow allowed farmers to switch from slow moving oxen to the quicker horse. Tractors revolutionized agriculture with increased productivity, allowing for the expansion of fields. Combines simultaneously picked and shelled multiple rows. As machinery grew larger, Iowan farmers fed more people throughout their communities, country, and the world. Farmers are not the only Iowans to feed the world, researchers, scientists, and countless others develop technology to provide techniques and methods to feed more people. Technology includes modifications to land, plants, and animals. Land alterations protect the soil from erosion and overuse. Chemical modifications of land with fertilizer, pesticides, and nitrogen increase production. Hybrids promote growth in harsh environments, eliminating pests, and disease. Iowan and Nobel Laureate, Norman Borlaug cultivated hybrids in developing countries, birthing a “green revolution” and providing opportunity for self-sufficiency. This research fed the world through techniques and methods, promoting the cultivation of developing countries. Current technology advances towards precision and efficiency. Global Positioning Systems (GPS) combined with appropriate technology efficiently distribute exact amounts of fertilizer, pesticides, and water. Precision farming techniques are continuously being developed to produce more and waste less. As more hybrid technology and improved techniques are developed; Iowans have changed the methods in which they feed the world, by providing opportunity and techniques to developing countries. Iowans technological advancements in machinery, modification, and precision assist local and global farmers to provide more food to feed the world.
Machinery Machinery helped Iowans make the transition from feeding their families to
feeding the world. Machinery helped Iowans transition from feeding their families to feeding the world. In the nineteenth century, the farmer struggled to push the backbreaking plow with oxen before the invention of the steel plow facilitated work to be done by the quicker horse. Internal combustion engines automated previously manual processes like threshing grain and plowing fields. These innovations culminated in the invention of the tractor, which revolutionized agriculture mechanizing processes and increasing production. It
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moved faster than the plow and gave farmers the ability to plant and harvest more crops in less time. As equipment continued to be improved upon, machines were able to perform several steps simultaneously. Soon the combine picked and shelled multiple rows, saving time and producing higher yields. Companies like John Deere, International Harvester, Massey Ferguson, McCormick, and several others developed implements for products to increase the application and abilities for their machines. As machinery facilitated the growth of farms, cultivators sold their excess crops leading to Iowans feeding more people. Moving from manual processes to mechanical increased the yield of Iowa farmland, which allowed farmers to feed the world.
Modification Modification has been necessary to increase yields and maintain natural
resources for the future.
Technology involves more than just machines, it requires research and innovation to develop the best possible method and product. Modification is necessary to increase yields and maintain natural resources for the future. Iowa’s fertile fields have been modified to protect the land from erosion. Animals were bred and modified to reduce the spread of disease and ensure the health of each species. The most important technological development to feed the world has been modification of plants into high-yield, disease resistant hybrids, such as corn, which are able to thrive in the harshest environments. Iowa biologist, Norman Borlaug traveled around the world to Mexico, India, Pakistan, and throughout Africa to cultivate strains of crops, giving developing farmers the opportunity to feed their families and countries. Borlaug’s significant contribution to world agriculture was celebrated in 1970 when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Cultivation of these hybrids, developed by Iowa researchers, launched a “green revolution,” feeding billions of people throughout the world. Modifications provide the techniques and methods to protect the land and nourish world agriculture.
Precision Modern agriculture is moving towards precision and efficiency, eliminating waste
to produce more.
Modern agriculture is moving towards precision and efficiency, eliminating waste to produce more. Computers, developed by Iowans at Iowa State University, give farmers the vision to analyze data and forecast for the future. Iowan Robert Norton Noyce invented the microchip, which is used in computers and precision technology. A significant application of this microchip technology is Global Positioning Systems (GPS), which combined with agricultural technology, efficiently distributes exact amounts of
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fertilizer, pesticides, and water to use less and protect the land. Driverless tractors with automatic steering using GPS efficiently tend the fields. Precision farming techniques are continuously developed to produce more and waste less of our precious natural resources. These new appropriate technologies and techniques are shown to developing nation’s farmers so they can feed their own communities. Innovations in technology have created a constantly shifting world moving Iowa forward and plowing into the future of agriculture.
Potential Objects
● John Deere steel plow ● Tractor (open and enclosed cab) and other tractor models ● Evolving machinery (corn sheller to stationary gas engine sheller) ● Advertisements for farm implements such as a “Waterloo Boy Tractor” sign ● Non-genetically modified corn and genetically modified corn ● Global Positioning System (GPS) farming application ● No-till and terracing practices modeled at a smaller scale
Potential Images Images are pictured when available. Other images are listed, but require permission for use.
“20130920-OC-LSC-1097.” From the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2013. https://www.flickr.com/photos/usdagov/10621203553/in/set-72157637213262516.
“Directing and Riding Horse Drawn Plow, 1930.” From the Iowa State University Special Collections: Department of Agricultural Engineering. Iowa State University Library, 2012. https://www.flickr.com/photos/isuspecialcollections/7456044102/in/set-72157630341919022.
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“Dr. Borlaug training scientists.” From the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center. https://www.flickr.com/photos/cimmyt/10612926434/. “Fall Harvest.” TumblingRun. 2009. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/tumblingrun/4066349753.
Georgia National Guard. “Navigating Bamyan Province.” 2011. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ganatlguard/6100503984. Hardecopf, Justin. “John Deere 9650 STS.” 2010. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/jhardecopf/5052591519.
Huntley, Dan. “300 Series Ford Tractor [Explored].” 2011. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/fab05/6145608649/in/photolist-an4RkP-9RNii2-4iUJxU-8shs1a-b865Mn-6PLKB7-6PGC2n-6PGBUZ-2NCa3F-6PGBKM-bZYah7-6fWu2P-9RNifx-8skDty-6PGCi8-8shALg-6PGBjg-8cfgnp-2NC9V8-aphnmP-4DTLxE-2aQT9v-5kR87b-StikY-2ibFRc-crv9No-2ibF2n-8wbr9A-8w8oNT-b7EgWZ-b7Egjn-b7EmZr-b7EcrH-b7Ekxa-b7Esr8-
b7E9ie-b7EaWT-b7E8Mv-7yBstj-8iGvrR-6rffpN-6rff6J-b7E5zP-b7EcVn-b7EnWX-b7E6Hp-b7E6dX-29qs2N-8she2T-b7Edpt.
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Kohlbauer, Mike. “John Deere 9530.” 2012. https://www.flickr.com/photos/tincup-photo/8142111099.
“Man Operating and Tilling the Soil with a Cat 15 Track Tractor.” From the Iowa State University Special Collections: Department of Agricultural Engineering. Iowa State University Library, 2012. https://www.flickr.com/photos/isuspecialcollections/7456043278/in/set- 72157630341919022.
“Man Undertaking a Terracing Machine Project 364, 1934.” From the Iowa State University Special Collections: Department of Agricultural Engineering. Iowa State University Library. 2012. https://www.flickr.com/photos/isuspecialcollections/7455342432/in/set-72157630341919022.
McCabe, Tim. “Terraces and no-till farming work to control erosion on a farm in Montgomery County, Iowa.” U.S. Department of State. 2013. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/stateoesphotos/9020085184.
Powercat75. “4_18_1947_Hickermans_Rydal_Iowa.” 2008. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/powercat75/2523546664
Rothstein, Arthur. “Harvesting hybrid corn with a mechanical picker. Grundy County, Iowa.” 1939. From the Library of Congress: Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Photograph Collection. LC-USF34-028450-D http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/fsa2000009833/pp/.
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Rothstein, Arthur. “Wagonload of hybrid corn. H.C. Clarke farm. Grundy County, Iowa.”1939. From the Library of Congress: Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Photograph Collection. LC-USF34- 028775-D. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/fsa2000010167/pp/.
United Soybean Board. “Filling the Planter.” 2009. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/unitedsoybean/9629677169.
Vachon, John. “Hybrid seed corn dryer, Grundy County, Iowa.” 1940. From the Library
of Congress: Farm Security Administration/ Office of War Information Photograph Collection. LC-USF33-T01-001780-M5. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/fsa1997005833/pp/.
Vachon, John. “Corn Planting, Jasper County, Iowa.” 1944. From the Library of Congress: Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction Number: LC-USF33-001838-MI. https://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/ 3549666222.
Vachon, John. “Western Iowa farm boy, Monona County, Iowa.” From Library of Congress: Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information.1940. LC-USF34-060821-D. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/fsa2000041441/PP/.
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Wetmore, Randy. “Iowa Harvest is near.” 2010. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/21655952@N07/ 4981463354/in/photolist-8Acivd- 5DgGw3-fzZjXS-2YL7in-fgs41E-8JmK95-fcwse1-j3ixFP-fMxctF-7Tyk5V-adKUqD-8GiDtD-7ABbhX-2YQWn3-72FJYy-cYF6cy-hhDoiy-abbWDc-daaHnc-9cdrpp-5zywaX-dPyUES-59YaVX-dFtDMi-dGetYS-fQe82q-9kRkns-6rnsa3-8urm9b-8mGJ81-
aFb7hu-8WbmaM-55V8d9-8GKnMm-aY1F8H-7Pd2tF-8DCzJo-bJGtXt-asJMdu-fvthJg-fYBpE3-55AFby-hUcV4P-bV519r-hkd3fu-azePEk-co3s2q-ew7aVN-7Wgkvz-5a4xrQ.
“Wettach Collection SHSI #5072.” Iowa City: State Historical Society of Iowa, 2011. https://www.flickr.com/photos/shsi-library/9461094924/in/photostream/.
Zarria, Pete. “Iowa in the Morning.” 2010. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/toby_d1/5215797965/in/photolist-8jnWoP-b4XuEH-ebYKdD-bCMFVU-8jLQfx-bCMLTr-e9VbPn-dyqYmJ-bBiDu7-d9GaEk-bFY2pR-rpAtK-aUaCQR-8WUk28-bhbAvi-8tzELH-dLWKUF-7jjDmP-dGcRw9-9ya3mE-ebYhmo-8niUiX-dTSASf-7HrRJH-6nCKE6-eZQhNK-4PYsso-6m6K4W-cxcbFs-e27KXB-cvtFsw-d9Gp1B-j8hqN4-dr4fLd-kcvE1g-MGXfx-7Z3mdg-8nRn6r-7WjBJE-bzJ1De-jNUbZe-jpZuzx-
6whTQP-f15RJm-fnyEqy-f6nY4T-8uE5Fc-87Xu91-5ZbRXz-ghSdEY.
Oral History Excerpts
Aaron Cook ● [30:00] Technology in modern farming
Charles and Rachael Osborn ● [1:05:32-1:06:15] Husband and wife working as team on farm ● [40:41-41:18] Big farming and machinery meeting the needs of farmers
Marie Brown ● [32:30] Tractor technological improvements
Merlin Harbaugh ● [35:20-35:15] Community coming together to thrash and combine
Paul Haan ● [1:21:45-1:22:15] Driverless tractors ● [1:26:45-1:27:38] Technology helping to produce more corn, meeting world need
Richard Klingaman ● [35:18-36:15] Invention of the combine
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● [37:12-38:04] Tractor technological improvements Ronald Brocka
● [29:43-30:50] Conservation practices (terracing and contour farming) Ross Richard
● [9:30-10:22] Animal hybrids, experimenting with disease free animals Stauffer Johnson
● [23:04-23:36] Hand-picking corn Steven Leise
● [10:17-12:00] Using horses in farming
Potential Activities
● Pulley system to show ease of oxen-pulled plow versus horse-pulled steel plow.
● Visitors write thank you letters to individuals involved in agricultural industry depending on the visitor’s home county.
● “It’s more than just farming” quiz in which visitors respond to questions about their personal interests and skills, revealing an agricultural career to match up with visitor’s interests and personality.
● Display odd farm tools, making the visitor guess their purpose.
● Have containers with different types of soil (black/ Iowa, red/ southern, rocky), listing the composition of each to show the visitor that Iowa land is diverse and why it’s fertile.
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Advocates of Agriculture As farming technologies and techniques became more advanced, complex, and diverse, a vast array of institutions provided methods to help farmers expand their operations and make them more efficient and productive. The federal government, various institutions, and private businesses have provided aid, resources, and networks that encouraged Iowans become leaders in agriculture. The legislation, educational methods, and agricultural community organizations provided by these groups have helped Iowa farmers and agricultural professionals spread their products, knowledge, and ideas locally, nationally, and globally. Since the turn of the century, the federal government has retained its role in agriculture through numerous acts of legislation that provided economic support, agricultural education, and services to improve rural life. Other institutions took a revived interest in agricultural education, such as fairs, youth organizations, colleges, and companies that provided instruction and information on farming technology, methods, and opportunities. Armed with increased knowledge and resources provided by these institutions, the Iowa farmer transformed their farms from subsistence operations into businesses. As a result, Iowa farmers often began to specialize and produced more. As these commodities, such as corn, soybeans, and hogs, spread widely across the nation and the globe, numerous agricultural support industries and organizations cropped up across the state, linking more people than just farmers to Iowa’s products. Often times, Iowans created new groups, such as cooperatives, industry specific organizations, and charities that utilized their agricultural know-how, thrift, and ingenuity to provide assistance to other Iowans and farmers worldwide. In effect, Iowa’s agricultural community expanded beyond the small rural farm and its neighbors to include not just farmers, but businessmen, legislators, educators, technicians, dealers, and engineers across the state and nation. In reality, Iowans have used legislation, education, and community based institutions to transform agriculture into a dynamic force that promotes Iowa’s prestige locally, regionally, and nationally, as well as around the world.
Legislation Through legislation, the federal government provided services and programs
designed to help the farmer economically and improve rural life.
The federal government has played a direct role in agriculture, especially Midwestern agriculture, since the turn of the century. Through legislation, the federal government provided services and programs designed to help the farmer economically and improve rural life. Perhaps one of the first, and most effective of these acts was the Rural Free Delivery service set up in 1900, which allowed farmers to receive mail at home instead
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of only at post offices in town. New Deal legislation, such as the Agricultural Adjustment Act, aimed at price control through limitation, such as by providing farmers incentives for sealing excess corn in bins in exchange for loans. This 1933 act became the first farm bill, the main agricultural policy passed about every 5 years by the federal government. Later farm bills, like the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973, also helped the farmer economically by subsidizing prices of crops and authorizing disaster payments. Over time, these farm bills expanded and influenced energy, nutrition, conservation, and rural development. For example, the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 extended wetland reserve and conservation programs and created the Fund for Rural America, which provided money to research agricultural and rural development.
Education Agricultural education intensified as farm technology became more complex and
commodities like corn, hogs, and soybeans became more important to the economy.
Agricultural education intensified as farm technology became more complex and commodities like corn, hogs, and soybeans became more important to the economy. Various groups spread knowledge through a variety of methods, to people of all ages. County and state fairs started providing demonstrations and information on new farming machinery and techniques. In Waterloo, Iowa, the National Cattle Congress brought together dealers, tool manufacturers, and showcased numerous breeds of farm animals, to show farmers all the kinds of products and animals available to improve their operations. The 1914 Smith Lever Act brought experts to farms to provide instruction and guidance to farmers at home. The roots of the agricultural youth organization, 4-H also stemmed from this act. This vibrant organization, still in existence, educates and excites youth about agriculture, by allowing them to grow their own plots of corn or raise their own steers, among other activities. Colleges also offered short courses to farmers to teach them about soil, drainage, or animal husbandry. Iowa State University also began an “agricultural colleges on wheels program” in which participants boarded a train in their home-town and listened to agricultural themed lectures while onboard. After WWII, colleges offered advanced degrees that provided aspiring farmers and agricultural professionals with vital technological, engineering, and business education that helped Iowa’s farms turn into larger, more efficient operations. Today, farmers receive information from a vast array of sources, including educational institutions, publications, organizations, dealerships, and companies to make informed decisions.
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Community As farms expanded, farming techniques became more complex, and farmers became businessmen, formal support institutions took on added importance.
Iowa’s agricultural community has expanded dramatically since the beginning of the 20th century. As farms expanded, farming techniques became more complex, farmers became businessmen, and formal support institutions took on added importance. First, Iowans started to form organizations that were beneficial to their local communities. They formed cooperatives, which provided services to help them ship, store, and process their produce. Other groups and organizations specific to certain types of producers, like the Iowa Pork Producers Association, Iowa Beef Industry Council, Iowa Corn Growers Association, Iowa Soybean Association, and more, help educate farmers on practices and legislation pertinent to their products. These organizations also helped farmers market their products abroad. Farmers also got involved in their communities and created organizations that used their skills to specifically give back abroad. Self-Help International, headquartered in Iowa, sends used farm equipment to farmers in developing nations. Another organization is the World Food Prize, started by Iowan Norman Borlaug in 1986. This international organization honors individuals who contribute to improving the quantity, quality, or availability of food worldwide and is currently sponsored by Iowan John Ruan. The organization also educates Iowa youth about agriculture and the food supply through the World Food Prize Institute.
Potential Objects
● Prizes (trophies, ribbons, etc.) from County and State Fairs ● Old 4-H projects ● Handbooks from 4-H, FFA, etc. ● Old Agricultural textbooks ● Old pamphlets, brochures, advertisements from cooperatives, dealerships,
agricultural organizations, etc.
Potential Images Images are pictured when available. Other images are listed, but require permission for use. 4-H Cow.” Iowa State University Library, University Archives. 2010.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/isuspecialcollections/6150254327/in/set-72157627553527693.
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“4-H Pig Club Exhibit from Jasper County. “Iowa State University Library,
University Archives. 2011. https://www.flickr.com/photos/isuspecialcollections/6150798882/in/set-72157627553527693.
“Corn Judging Class, 1914, Panora, IA.” Iowa State University Library, University Archives. 2011. https://www.flickr.com/photos/isuspecialcollections/6150256999/in/set-72157627553527693.
“Corn Train (Agricultural Colleges on Wheels).” Iowa State University Library, University
Archives. 2011. https://www.flickr.com/photos/isuspecialcollections/6150249465/in/set-72157627553527693.
“Demonstration plot of hybrid corn planted at Iowa State Fair.” From the Library of Congress: Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction Number LC-USF34-027919-E http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8b18194/.
“Dairy Cattle Congress, 1935.” Copyright 2005. State Historical Society of Iowa.
http://www.iptv.org/iowapathways/artifact_detail.cfm?aid=a_000016.
“Farmer’s Cooperative Elevator at Ruthven, Iowa 1936.” From the Library of Congress: Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction Number LC-USF34-010083-D (b&w film nitrate neg.) LC-DIG-fsa-8b30009 (digital file from original neg.) http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/fsa1998022039/PP/.
“Farmer examines new corn picker, Iowa State Fair.” From the Library of Congress: Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction Number: LC-USF34-027978-D.http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/fsa2000009345/PP/.
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Fleischhauer, Carl. “Walking Sheep for 4-H Project.” From the Library of Congress: Paradise Valley Folklife Project Collection. AFC 1991/021: NV82-CF4-16. http://www.loc.gov/item/ncr001437/.
“Iowa State Fair.” Iowa State University Library, University Archives. 2011. https://www.flickr.com/photos/isuspecialcollections/6150247805/in/set-72157627553527693
Keeva999. “Iowa.” 2013. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/54159370 @N08/8656784222/ in/photolist-bCMFVU-ebYKdD-ebYhmo-b4XuEH-bCMLTr-f15RJm-dyqYmJ-eZQhNK-d9GaEk-6nCKE6-8jLQfx-e9VbPn-bBiDu7-7iqtRf-bFY2pR-crHqHU-kcvE1g-ghSdEY-rpAtK-8WUk28-bhbAvi-8tzELH-dLWKUF-7jjDmP-dGcRw9-9ya3mE-
6whTQP-8niUiX-dTSASf-fnyEqy-7HrRJH-4PYsso-6m6K4W-cxcbFs-e27KXB-cvtFsw-d9Gp1B-f6nY4T-8uE5Fc-j8hqN4-dr4fLd-MGXfx-7Z3mdg-8nRn6r-87Xu91-7WjBJE-bzJ1De-5ZbRXz-jNUbZe-jpZuzx.
“President Hoover signs Farm-Relief Bill.” 1929. From the Library of Congress: Harris & Ewing Collection. LC-DIG-hec-35414. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/hec2013005451/.
Rothstein, Arthur. “4-H Club girl with calf, Central Iowa 4-H Club fair, Marshalltown, Iowa.” 1939. From the Library of Congress: Farm Security/Office of War Information. LC-USF33-003336-M1. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/fsa1997012263/PP/.
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Rothstein, Arthur. “Judges examine a 4-H Club calf, Central Iowa 4-H Club fair, Marshalltown, Iowa.” 1939. From the Library of Congress: Farm Security/Office of War Information. LC-USF33-003336-M5. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/fsa1997012267/PP/.
Sir Realist. “Iowa State Fair.” 2005. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/toadaway/49026549/in/photolist-5kgTk-fvpEim-fvayCz-ad3MHn-fCZrew-fvpLbb-fvatek-fvpLN5-fvasHt-5dayG9-aeRtfy-5f5rcp-5vXQSP-6SBFdY-6SxCta-6SBFfG-6SxCsK-6SxCrv-6XkXeU-6RfFaC-5ddeVk-6RbCj2-2KV37w-5cH9Lt-cVahTG-cV9Uou-adP49b-cVaCJL-fvawLP-
fvay8K-fvpRr9-fvpQZb-fvazYz-fvpPjd-fvapMe-fvpDe3-5d6eYe-5d6frc-5dayL1-5dazc1-8vmi9G-cVpVLJ-8vieFB-cVaVmh-cVawCY-cVacrw-cV8icL-46FVJ-cVLToY-5ddjXp.
Sorensen, Paul D. “Iowa Islands…” Pilot Knob State Park. 2012. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ doc030395/6979892575/in/photolist-8jnWoP-b4XuEH-ebYKdD-bCMFVU-8jLQfx-bCMLTr-e9VbPn-dyqYmJ-bBiDu7-d9GaEk-bFY2pR-rpAtK-aUaCQR-8WUk28-bhbAvi-8tzELH-dLWKUF-7jjDmP-dGcRw9-9ya3mE-ebYhmo-8niUiX-dTSASf-7HrRJH-6nCKE6-eZQhNK-4PYsso-6m6K4W-
cxcbFs-e27KXB-cvtFsw-d9Gp1B-j8hqN4-dr4fLd-kcvE1g-MGXfx-7Z3mdg-8nRn6r-7WjBJE-bzJ1De-jNUbZe-jpZuzx-6whTQP-f15RJm-fnyEqy-f6nY4T-8uE5Fc-87Xu91-5ZbRXz-ghSdEY.
Vachon, John. “Farmer at the auction, Oskaloosa, Kansas.” From the Library of Congress: Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information. 1938. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/fsa1997003775/PP/.
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“Wallace endorses new AAA.” From the Library of Congress: Harris & Ewing Collection.1937. LC-DIG-hec-22778. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/hec2009009476/.
Oral History Excerpts Aaron Cook
● [12:00-13:03] Showing livestock with 4-H ● [41:55-43:03] Good Neighbor Award (educating school kids on farming)
Bill Northey ● [22:38-23:55] Community and farming, 22:38-23:55
Donald Hach ● [24:55-25:15] Making technical decisions using magazines, dealers ● [56:53-57:30] National Cattle Congress ● [1:08:22-1:09:07] ISU Extension
Fred Strohbehn ● [58:00-58:25] Self-Help International
Marie Brown ● [41:34-42:25] Reserve loans for farmers
Merlin Harbaugh ● [33:38-35:07] Corn Hog Program ● [1:41:15-1:42:12] Night school for farmers
Paul Haan ● [28:25-30:00] John Deere and the government
Ross Richard ● [5:30-5:50] Farmers schools on vaccinating hogs ● [12:13-13:02] ISU relations with Iowa Pork Producers
Steven Leise ● [13:01-13:24] Deciding to go to ISU ● [13:39-15:50] Farm Operations Program at ISU/New Things Learned at ISU ● [19:45-20:45] Chemical dealer relationships ● [1:05:16-1:07:15] Role of Government in Farming/Legislation
Trish Cook ● [20:58-22:01] Iowa Pork Producers
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Potential Activities
● Create a board game about getting mail before the postal service that simulates getting mail before the postal service. Provide obstacles such as a broken wheel, a neighbor stopping you to talk, snow or rain, that would stop one from getting to the Post office easily.
● Judging items at the fair (provide examples of different animals, projects, etc displayed at the state fair and have visitors choose one to be “best in show”).
● Design your own 4-H project (have visitors choose what they would want to do for a 4-H project, such as raising a steer, making a quilt etc.) or create a quiz that allows people to discover what kind of 4-H project they would likely do based on personality, likes/dislikes etc.
● At each site highlight 4-H projects done by the local organizations, showing community involvement in these organizations.
● Help the Farmer Decide! (Have the visitor take the role of dealer, expert etc. Provide hypothetical situations such as choosing to go from horses to tractors and have the visitor decide what they think the farmer should do).
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Road to the World Iowa’s ability to feed the world has been dependent on the efficient and reliable movement of resources. These resources are not limited to the products that are created by Iowa farms. The circular movement of people, ideas, and goods through the state has created the capacity for Iowans to feed the world. Iowans have transformed the way the global community views what and how they eat. The methods by which Iowans have transformed the global food market hinges on the quality of physical and metaphorical pathways that transverse the world. These pathways include the movement of immigrants in the nineteenth century to Iowa who became the pioneer prairie farmers. These men and women created a state that embodied the farm ethics of hard work and dedication. Their participation in the Market Revolution transformed subsistence farming into a commercial endeavor. They generated an avenue for Iowans to reach outside the boundaries of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Major global food programs, directed by Iowans, formed networks that moved Iowa’s ideas and products outside the boundaries of the single state. Iowans took their responsibility to transfer agricultural knowledge and capabilities to the world in times of tragedy and want, as well as prosperity and peace, seriously. Iowa led national legislation that created organizations and networks that brought people, ideas, and goods to other countries and to positively affect the global community. The globalization of the food market allowed farmers, scientists, educators, and businessmen a chance to impact the lives of billions of people through agricultural methods and the collaborative exchange of ideas. Through the creation of the calorie and the “green revolution,” Iowans were able to integrate their products, ideas and culture throughout the world and shape the way the world views the food they eat.
Pathways Iowa’s creation pivoted on the motivation of immigrants to settle in the Midwest
and become pioneer prairie farmers. Iowa’s creation pivoted on the motivation of immigrants to settle in the Midwest and become pioneer prairie farmers. During the nineteenth century vast amounts of immigrants endured the perilous journey across the Atlantic Ocean by ship and the arduous trek over the frontier by covered wagon and train to find a home between the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. They came to farm the fertile land of Iowa. These men and women shaped the farm culture of Iowa as the Market Revolution was changing traditional commerce. Improvements in transportation, communication, and the processing of goods transformed prairie farms from substance living to a commercial
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endeavor. The Market Revolution gave Iowans national mobility to move their products, people and concepts throughout the United States. Movement in Iowa is an ongoing story. Immigrants have continued to arrive in Iowa to work in the agricultural industry and agricultural research has continued to expand beyond the farm, the state and the nation. The advancements in transportation and technology improved the pathways by which Iowans can communicate their agricultural knowledge and methods to others, and move their products around the world. This in turn allows Iowans to feed the world.
Networks Iowans have helped create international networks to promote the movement of
agricultural goods throughout the world. Iowans have helped create international networks to promote the movement of agricultural goods throughout the world. Iowans such as Herbert Hoover and Henry A Wallace promoted the movement of food to aid people in times of war and depression. During World War I, Herbert Hoover directed the Food Administration, an agency whose responsibility was to distribute food reserves among the allied nations. This food authority evolved into the American Relief Administration after the war. The organization shouldered the responsibility of providing food to a devastated Europe. Ten years later, in 1929, the stock market crashed, which led to the federal government creating legislation to keep Americans fed. During the Great Depression, New Deal Legislation such as the Agricultural Adjustment Act assisted devastated farmers throughout the Midwest. Organized by Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace, this act limited farm output through price controls to help boost the economy in the United States. The economy did not stabilize until massive output was needed for the war effort. After World War II, the United States established the European Recovery Program, better known as the Marshall Plan, to aid Europe after the devastation of war. At the age of 71, Hoover returned to the federal government to help with the Marshall Plan and feed a war torn world. Other Iowans have also impacted the nation and the world, most prominently as U.S. Secretaries of Agriculture. Five of the thirty Secretaries of Agriculture have been from Iowa.
Globalization Globalization has expanded the definition of community such that Iowans are
connected through agriculture to the larger world. Globalization has expanded the definition of community such that Iowans are connected through agriculture to the larger world. Through advancements in the movement of agricultural products, ideas and people, Iowans have the capacity to share their
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accomplishments with a global society. As early as the 19th century, with the creation of the calorie by William Atwater, there have been efforts to spread agricultural knowledge across the globe. The formation of the calorie gave people the ability to quantify the needs of starving people. By the mid-20th century the concepts of feeding the world through scientific ingenuity had been taken a step further. Known as the “Father of the Green Revolution,” Norman Borlaug spent his life developing and modifying high-yield, disease resistant crops. His agricultural research took him all over the world. From Mexico to India, Borlaug produced crops suitable for different soil and climate conditions. Borlaug continuously traveled between the two hemispheres in order to implement his agricultural research year round. In 1970, Borlaug won the Nobel Peace prize for his contributions to world food production and, in 1984 Borlaug left retirement in the face of a global food crisis to expand his methods to the African continent. Through people like Borlaug, Iowa has expanded agricultural knowledge and used that knowledge to provide sustenance for the world. Today, the United Nations, through The World Food Programme and the Food and Agricultural Organization operates the largest global food program that feeds the world during times of distress.
Potential Objects
● Canning jars and other old food processing equipment ● Immigrant statistic charts, land deeds, and for sale signs ● Immigrant trunks containing all that people brought ● Immigrant travel tickets (boat, train, etc.) ● Railroad cars, telephones, and other Market Revolution items ● Norman Borlaug’s research and the United Nations program material
Potential Images Images are pictured when available. Other images are listed, but require permission for use.
Bobistraveling. “Mississippi River Effigy Mounds, Iowa 7237.” 2008. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/bobistraveling/ 2844512770/in/photolist-5kmSxC-5SZpio-nKhGb-fjiMF-5kmSJS-2tCHWs-aePAK5-2Q2Sbm-6f26BL-bLbSG2-8tjgGu-8jQrTb-68uBaR-5buTnp-H9gj8-4j56TT-otcnn-4VZWSm-9anfqx-5gxc3K-9TxTWt-bxubB9-8yQ6rv-9tvXXP-4WSejo-9BgcYx-fafS41-fag3eo-4XsTpB-37BT18-2znU3V-eKaaUU-
a1DdjG-Xy9cJ-9BgauB-8J1WxU-4PXFXR-9B7Nva-abCu4H-8yPVsp-8yTJ2U-a1odzu-a1Ddf3-9U8WkT-cRSUmC-gb75py-9DmpFm-7yHRsN-33JcEY-a1DdsY.
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"Carrier of news and knowledge, instrument of trade and industry, promoter of mutual Acquaintance, of peace and of good will among men and nations," From the Library of Congress: Eugene Francis Savage at the Ariel Rios Federal Building, Washington, D.C. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2013634516/
“ELEVATION OF TRUSS, FROM NORTH, WITH TRAIN-Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Viaduct, Spanning Des Moines River at Chicago & Northwestern Railroad tracks, Boone, Boone County, IA.” Photograph. Boone, Iowa. From the Library of Congress: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ia0420.color.571504c/.
Harris & Ewing. Photographer. “HOOVER, HERBERT C.” 1917. From the Library of Congress: Harris & Ewing Collection. Reproduction Number: LC-H261-9312. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/hec2008006527/.
“Iowa State Fact Sheets, Top 5 agriculture exports, estimates, 2012” From the United States Department of Agriculture: Economic Research Service. Accessed 12 April 2014.http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/state-fact-sheets/state-data.aspx?StateFIPS=19&StateName=Iowa#.U0mRBvldXwE.
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Koshy, Koshy. “Terrace Farming.” Flickr. 2005. https://www.flickr.com/photos/kkoshy/2877646816/in/photolist-cCVvCN-5ohG9h-bi1H5Z-fEHzSC-dSGZkG-9YSUpQ-5xr9dJ-95jzFG-eLvBso-bRqPWg-9eBJwm-9sBcxu-iaTDE2-e84VLv-9GhdCb-9GemQ2-82oJo4-7FhdAQ-6kHz8T-7uCuTB-7u2JiX-i6LpEs-ib5jo-aCqFWs-69AxzT-8xsZHt-4c7y2z-4jKm7d-5XJRFA-7UANbr-4CAtCJ-amaJX9-9Ykbny-59AU7S-fz93CZ-
8w6AGZ-bvKndC-fVRcsh-c3AE2A-2Dni3S-eEqfoG-eaVNKm-9K7oF2-9ZL2Ng-ax9V9v-9c1x4N-9K77ui-9K9Wk1-9K7aJ4-a4txZg/.
“Norman Borlaug, 1952.” Photograph. 1952. From the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center. https://www.flickr.com/photos/cimmyt/4578629580/in/photolist-7YAF4j-7Yxq9i-7YACwQ-7YACym-7YAJdJ-7YAGaC-iogm18-agHKra-agHxFF-agHxoD-agHytg-agHwWX-hH2pey-hMjqUb-hMjMRE-hMjMt5-hMk3E6-iogBZv-6YpqnD-iog37m-hGYxxp-iogCyX-aVtauz-hGZrih-hGYw9c-hGZNbi-7YxsJD-hGZrFb-iogkxq-4etD1Z-8EPMKD-6UK61c-dcuBky-aag3KT-dcuAmz-aaiRmq-hGZP1z-iofVJx-iofUZ7-iogBj2-iofVyx-iog2jE-hMjLrf-iofVoJ-dvFy68-dq4MkX-drhHyL-huaDQQ-mEt33P-mEt2Kz.
“Norman Borlaug, 1964.” Photograph. 1964. From the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center. https://www.flickr.com/ photos/cimmyt/4578621620/in/photolist-fwfH3X-7YACG5-7YACTw-8zBSWw-hH2pey-7YAHHs-aaiRmq-6UK61c-8EPMKD-hMjqUb-hMjMRE-hMk3E6-hMjMt5-mskoMK-7YACPG-fJoYst-6YpqnD-fNG5Di-USQH-doGPF7-doGMKe-doGLVG-doGT4L-doGEJa-doGJKn-doGEST-doGKCB-doGDPF-doGCpv-doGMRQ-doGQUS-doGQ2N-doGPas-doGGQr-doGUxq-doGSk5-doGCHD-doGRwU-doGFVz-doGGz6-doGN82-doGRes-doGNjS-doGDya-doGJcz-doGK5V-doGP5p-doGXJ5-doGDhp-doGLqR.
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Romeo, Daniele. “Woman shelling corn.” Flickr. 2012. https://www.flickr.com/photos/travelife/6756086325/in/photolist-cCVvCN-5ohG9h-bi1H5Z-fEHzSC-dSGZkG-9YSUpQ-5xr9dJ-95jzFG-eLvBso-bRqPWg-9eBJwm-9sBcxu-iaTDE2-e84VLv-9GhdCb-9GemQ2-82oJo4-7FhdAQ-6kHz8T-7uCuTB-7u2JiX-i6LpEs-ib5jo-aCqFWs-69AxzT-8xsZHt-4c7y2z-4jKm7d-
5XJRFA-7UANbr-4CAtCJ-amaJX9-9Ykbny-59AU7S-fz93CZ-8w6AGZ-bvKndC-fVRcsh-c3AE2A-2Dni3S-eEqfoG-eaVNKm-9K7oF2-9ZL2Ng-ax9V9v-9c1x4N-9K77ui-9K9Wk1-9K7aJ4-a4txZg/
Sipalla, Florence. “DTMA monitoring.” 2013. From the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center. https://www.flickr.com/photos/cimmyt/11072600674/.
Sorensen, Paul D. “Hot, Dry, Dusty…” 2012. From flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/doc030395/7893672716/in/set-72157604739164136
“[Train on the] highest single piling trestle in the world.” Photograph. 1913. From the Library of Congress: Miscellaneous Items in High Demand. Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-83338. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002711305.
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Underwood & Underwood. “#1921-11.” From the Herbert Hoover Library: Food Relief. http://www.hoover.archives.gov/info/Food%20Relief/1921-11.html.
Vachon, John. Photographer. “Fred Coulter, Iowa farmer, Grundy County.” Photograph.
1940. From the Library of Congress: Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Photograph Collection. LC-USF33-TO1-001806-M4. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/fsa1997005951/PP/.
Vachon, John. Photographer. “Parked cars, Des Moines, Iowa.” Photograph. Des Moines: 1940. From the Library of Congress: Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Photograph Collection. LC-USF33- 001865-M4. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/fsa1997006231/PP/.
Oral History Excerpts Chuck Grassley
● [11:57-13:00]-The growth of the global population and the future of farming John Miller
● [19:10-19:30]-Feeding the world ● [41:09-41:55]-The importance of public knowledge that food comes from farmers
Marie Brown ● [1:15-1:39]-Her father as an immigrant farmer
Paul Haan ● [9:00-1013:]-Rationing and farming during WWII
Trish Cook ● [20:58-21:43]-The importance of organizations to promote Iowa products globally
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Potential Activities
● The creation of a small (possibly made of cardboard) train in which the cars are filled with educational material. This could include coloring pages, puzzles, maps, and art supplies. This train would be a metaphor for the movement of education and ideas. Also, it would be an easy set of activities for more reserved children.
● An interactive map in which you could select people or acts that have helped feed the world. When an act or person is selected, countries that have been directly affected will light up. The interactive map allows visitors to select more than one at a time. Then they can see the large impact Iowa has made on the world. In conjunction, this map can also display facts and/or quotes from the event or person.
● Visitors will write a six-word story of how they relate to agriculture and/or how Iowa agriculture impacts their community, country, and world. The six-word story becomes a part of the exhibition, adding visitors’ stories to the greater story of Iowa agriculture. The six-word story is a great tool for articulating meaningful ideas in a small space. It is derived from Ernest Hemingway’s response to a challenge to tell a story in only six words. His story read: For sale: baby shoes, never worn.
● Immigrant trunk identifying potential objects immigrants took to Iowa.
● Visitors are encouraged to stick pins into a world map locating where their families immigrated from. Also, have a map of Iowa that allows visitors to stick pins in their hometown.
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Narrative Timeline 1830s
• 1837 – John Deere invents the first commercially successful steel plow
1840s • 1843 – John Lawes creates
commercially viable fertilizer • 1847 – Iowa becomes a state
1850s • 1850 – About 75-90 labor hours
required to produce 100 bushels (2.5 acres) of corn
• 1858 – Iowa Agricultural College founded (later Iowa State University)
1860s • 1862 – United States Department of
Agriculture formed under Abraham Lincoln
• 1862 – Homestead Act passed • 1862 – Morrill Act establishes land-
grant colleges • 1868 – Steam tractor invented
1870s • 1870 – Census shows farmers in the
minority of all employed persons • 1873 – Panic of 1873 triggers a
nationwide depression • 1878 – Milking machine invented • 1879 – Veterinary College
established at Iowa State University 1880s
• 1881 – Hybridized corn produced • 1882 – Modern cream separator
invented 1890s
• 1890 – About 35-40 labor hours required to produce 100 bushels (2.5 acres) of corn
• 1892 – John Froelich invents first gasoline engine tractor in Clayton County Iowa
1900s • 1900 – Rural Free Delivery Service • 1902 – Charles Hart and Charles
Parr build first successful American gasoline tractor
1910s • 1914 – Smith-Lever Act (4-H)
establishes cooperative extension services
• 1916 – Federal Farm Loan Act • 1917 – Smith-Hughes Vocational
Education Act (Future Farmers of America)
• 1917 – Herbert Hoover head of the Food Administration
1920s • 1920 – American Farm Bureau
founded • 1922 – International Harvester
introduces a power takeoff • 1923 – Commercial hybrid seed corn
sold by Henry A. Wallace • 1924 – Crop dusting planes aerially
applied pesticides and fertilizers • 1929 – Stock Market crash leads to
the Great Depression 1930s
• 1930 – About 15-20 labor hours required to produce 100 bushels (2.5 acres) of corn
• 1932 – Rubber tires on tractors • 1933 – Agricultural Adjustment Act
and Commodity Credit Corporation created
• 1935 – First research on conservation tillage to reduce erosion
• 1938 – First self-propelled combine introduced by Massey-Harris
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• 1945 – About 10-14 labor hours required to produce 100 bushels (2 acres) of corn
• 1948 – Marshall Plan begins • 1948 – Farmers Commodity Credit
Corporation Charter Act 1950s
• 1954 – Combine corn head attachment introduced by John Deere and International Harvester
• 1956 – Federal Highway Act • 1959 – Self-Help International • 1959 – Robert Norton Noyce patents
the microchip 1960s
• 1961 – United Nations creates the World Food Program
• 1961 – Foreign Assistance Act (USAID)
• 1964 – Iowa Soybean Association • 1966 – International Maize and
Wheat Improvement Center founded 1970s
• 1970 – Norman Borlaug wins Nobel Peace Prize
• 1970 – No tillage farming popularized
• 1973 – Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act
• 1975 – 3.3 labor hours required to produce 100 bushels (1.125 acres) of corn
• 1977 – Iowa Corn Growers Association
1980s • 1980 – Precision Agriculture • 1983 – Agricultural Crisis • 1985 – Food Security Act • 1987 – World Food Prize created
1990s • 1990 – Disaster Assistance Act • 1990 – Food, Agriculture,
Conservation, and Trade Act • 1994 – Global Positioning Systems
(GPS) used for precision agriculture • 1996 – Federal Agriculture
Improvement and Reform Act • 1997 – Weed and Insect-Resistant
biotech crops available commercially 2000s
• 2000 – First DNA sequencing of a plant genome
• 2002 – Farm Security and Rural Investment Act
• 2008- Food, Conservation and Energy Act
2010s • 2011 – Driverless Tractors • 2014-Agricultural Act (Farm Bill)
Passed
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Bibliography Collections:
● Flickr-Search Terms: 4-H, GPS, Hybrid, Iowa, Iowa State Fair, Precision Technology, Terracing, Tractor,
● Herbert Hoover Library ● John Deere Photo Archives ● International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center Digital Photo Archives ● Iowa Farm Oral History Project, Grout Museum District, Waterloo ● Iowa State University Library
○ University Archives ● Iowa State University Special Collections:
○ Department of Agricultural Engineering ● Library of Congress
○ Farm Security Administration/ Office of War ○ Harris & Ewing Collection ○ Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering
Record/Historic American Landscape Survey ○ Prints and Photographs Divisions
● State Historical Society of Iowa ● Harry S. Truman Library ● United States Department of Agriculture
○ Economic Research Service ● United State Department of State
Secondary Literature:
“About.” World Food Programme: Fighting Hunger Worldwide. http://www.wfp.org/about. Borlaug, Norman. “The Green Revolution, Peace, and Humanity.” Nobel Lecture.
December 11, 1970. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1970/borlaug-lecture.html
Cullather, Nick. The Hungry World: America’s Cold War Battle Against Poverty in Asia.
Cambridge: Harvard Press, 2010.
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Devine, Jenny Barker. On Behalf of the Family Farm: Iowa Farm Women’s Activism Since 1945 (Iowa and the Midwest Experience). Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2013.
“Farmland.” Directed by James Moll. 2014. Los Angeles, CA: Allentown Productions. DVD.
“Feeding the World.” Hoover & Truman: A presidential friendship.
http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hoover/world.htm “Iowa State Fact Sheet.” United States Department of Agriculture.
http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/state-fact-sheets/state-data.aspx?StateFIPS=19&StateName=Iowa#P6f9b72327d10479da9caad9250b38812_2_586iT21R0x0.
Lauck, Jon K. The Lost Region: Toward a Revival in Midwestern History. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2013.
Nordin, Dennis S. and Roy V. Scott. From Prairie Farmer to Entrepreneur: The
Transformation of Midwestern Agriculture. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005.
Rockefeller Foundation. “Agriculture.” 100 Years, The Rockefeller Foundation. http://rockefeller100.org/exhibits/show/agriculture
The World Food Prize. “About Dr. Norman Borlaug.” The World Food Prize.
http://www.worldfoodprize.org/en/dr_norman_e_borlaug/about_norman_borlaug/. Troubled Waters: A Mississippi River Story. Directed by Larkin McPhee. 2010.
Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota and The Bell Museum of Natural History. DVD.
EXHIBITION NARRATIVE
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Exhibition Narrative Introduction
Iowans are major leaders in agriculture in the Midwest, the United States, and
the world. Armed with cutting edge technology, widespread educational and institutional
support, and efficient networks that spread their agricultural products and ideas, Iowans
have connected their fertile farmland with the broader agricultural community.
Mechanical power, hybrid seeds, advancements in animal health techniques, and most
lately, precision farming have all increased efficiency and yield for Iowa farmers. As
Iowa farms output increased and Midwestern agriculture took on added importance,
Iowa farmers received increased help from federal legislation and educational
organizations and institutions on farming technology and techniques. Iowa farmers also
formed their own cooperatives, organizations, and groups that harnessed their skills,
which not only helped shape their local agricultural communities, but those abroad.
Lastly, Iowans effectively used widening transportation and communication networks to
promote their products and ideas across the nation and globe. As advancements in
transportation, such as the railroad, brought many immigrants to farm Iowa’s land, the
products Iowans produced and techniques they perfected spread abroad through help
from the federal government, innovations in transportation and communication, and
ingenious, hardworking Iowans, such as Norman Borlaug. Through combined efforts
between Iowa farmers, businessmen, engineers, and politicians and technology,
institutions, and transportation and communication networks, the products that fill Iowa’s
fields have helped feed the world.
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Horses to Hybrids: Machinery, Modification, & Precision
Technology continues to be vital within Iowa agriculture. The instrumental role it
had in the transformation of Iowa agriculture from providing food to methods and
products, makes technology an enduring driver in the field of agriculture. Since the
nineteenth century, the scientific developments have promoted feeding the world.
Farmers used technology to shift from feeding families, to the country, and to the world.
Agricultural research allows farmers and scientists to develop methods that support the
growth of the industry throughout the world. It acts as a catalyst for shifts in agricultural
methods and techniques, moving Iowa and the world forward. Innovations in machinery,
modification, and precision technology move producer to waste less and yield more.
Farm technology continuously evolves to produce more with less labor. Since the
beginning of Iowa agriculture with the combination of human and animal strength,
Iowans labored to feed their families and communities. Mechanical inventions have
eased the farming process and facilitated the growth of farms. John Deere’s first
commercially successful steel plows moved swiftly through the soil, which allowed the
use of horses, expediting the labor. A farmer could plow two acres a day walking
behind a plow, but seven acres could be completed with a horse pulling the plow.
Internal combustion engines were applied to agriculture, these innovations led to the
tractor, an invention that revolutionized agriculture.1
The gasoline tractor, invented by John Froelich in 1892, utilized the internal
combustion engine, mechanized processes, and increased production. Faster than the
plow, it gave farmers the ability to plant and harvest more crops in less time. Soon
1 Dennis S. Nordin and Roy V. Scott, From Prairie Farmer to Entrepreneur: The Transformation of Midwestern Agriculture, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005), 120.
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companies like John Deere, International Harvester, McCormick, and many others
added improvements to increase the productivity and application of the machinery.
Tractors let farmers expand the plots. As farmers produced more food, they needed the
technology and education to continue growing. For the genesis of surplus, was also the
birth of commercial farming to feed the world. Soon these machines became all-
encompassing behemoths of the field. Corn-picking attachments added to combines
were capable of simultaneously picking and shelling multiple rows of corn.2 Implements
and attachment expanded the ability and application of tractors and combines
multiplying what each farmer could cultivate. As farms grow larger, machinery needed
to keep up. Farmer, Charles Osborn said when people “talked about someday farmers
are going to have twenty or thirty thousand” he said it “couldn’t happen because you’ve
got such a little window to plant and harvest. Darn machinery people built the machinery
to do it.”3 Machinery creates the ability for farmers to produce more with less labor, as
technology is developed it constantly changes its role in agriculture.
The role of Iowans in world agriculture is shifting. The expanding agricultural
science and agribusiness sector offers an alternative to farming that directly influence
and help developing countries. Iowans bring technology into the developing countries
giving them the methods and innovation to feed themselves. Agricultural careers include
an array of scientists and other disciplines as the role of technology expanded within the
core of the farm. As machines permitted farms to grow, more land was needed to be
useable for agriculture. Iowa’s wetland environment was drained, irrigated, tiled, and
dammed to produce more food. Although high yields continue to be the driving
2 Nordin and Scott, From Prairie Farmer to Entrepreneur, 133. 3 Bob Neymeyer, Interview with Charles and Rachel Osborn, October 24, 2013, Iowa Farm Oral History Project, Grout Museum District, Waterloo, Iowa.
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motivator, conservation of soil was discovered to be crucial in maintaining production
levels, as soil is a “capital investment” that must be protected.4
Modification of animals has been important to a healthy world ecosystem.
Institutions of higher education study diseases to “isolate the organism, the virus, the
bacteria, and the contributing factor in that given outbreak.”5 Cooperation between
higher education and farmers takes Iowa to the future of farming with disease-free
swine and better understanding of animal health. Interconnected with higher yields, the
use of chemicals on fields and livestock became common practice. Fertilizer and
nitrogen on the precise field greatly increased production. Pesticides protect crops
ensuring they are healthy and full. Cattle and hog hormones prevent the spread of
disease and decrease the use of natural resources. Modification of plants and animals
is vital to the cultivation of more food production abroad, allowing countries to feed
themselves.
Modification of plants produces higher yields and more output. Iowan and Nobel
Laureate, Norman Borlaug, along with countless biologists, agronomists, and other
scientists dedicated their lives to producing higher yields to end world hunger. When the
Nobel Peace Prize Committee designated me the recipient of the 1970 award for my
contribution to the "green revolution", they were in effect, I believe, selecting an
individual to symbolize the vital role of agriculture and food production in a world that is
hungry, both for bread and for peace.6
4 Bob Neymeyer, Interview with Ronald Brocka, February 22, 2012, Iowa Farm Oral History Project, Grout Museum District, Waterloo, Iowa 5 Bob Neymeyer, Interview with Ross Richard, July 24. 2013, Iowa Farm Oral History Project, Grout Museum District, Waterloo, Iowa. 6 Norman Borlaug, “The Green Revolution, Peace, and Humanity,” Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1970, http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1970/borlaug-lecture.html.
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Instead of only testing in the United States, Borlaug tested hybrids during
alternating seasons around the world, and he developed popular strains in half the time
while teaching his methods to developing countries farmers. Hybrids flourished in
harsher and thought to be unsuitable environments. These changes allowed farmers in
Mexico, India, Pakistan, and throughout Africa to feed their own populations, giving
them the opportunity to improve their countries and communities. Cultivation of “miracle
seeds” or high-yield hybrids has fed billions of people around the world. The “green
revolution” brought Iowans into the world. They have gone from providing food to the
world to providing the means and methods to feed the world.
Technology goes hand in hand with the survival of Iowa agriculture,
“specialization, expansion, and the adoption of better methods and appropriate
technology” allowed farmers to endure.7 Currently, agriculture is undergoing
monumental changes towards precision and efficiency. With machinery and
modifications, science is looking towards the future of farming and how it can facilitate a
growing world. Computers, first built at Iowa State University, assist farmers to make
data usable with spreadsheets, analysis, and forecasts. Iowan Robert Norton Noyce,
developed the first microchip in 1959, opening the floodgates for innovation in
computers and micro-technology which Iowans utilize today. Global Positioning
Systems (GPS) is an agricultural application of microchip technology. Since 1994, GPS
can record precise locations in fields, which need exact amounts of water, fertilizer, and
pesticides. Paul Haan, an Iowan farmer, experienced the drive towards precision
believing that driverless tractors “can do better…than you could if you had a driver in
7 Nordin and Scott, From Prairie Farmer to Entrepreneur, 157.
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it.”8 Scientists and agricultural specialists are continuously developing new techniques
and methods. Terracing protects Iowa’s fertile fields, so farms can endure. We live in a
constantly changing world that needs new methods and appropriate technology to
protect the resources we have. Iowans bring ideas and opportunities into the world
providing the means for self-sufficiency. The future of farming is bright as precision
farming technology in tractors and combines eliminate waste.
Global organizations seek to use the world as a laboratory to find the most
effective farming methods and the appropriate use of technology. Farming technology is
working to eliminate hunger. “We’re improving crops all the time...there’s so many new
ways that we can go, which we don’t understand yet, but we’ll make it, we always
have.”9 Technology has transformed from helping Iowa farmer produce more to helping
farmers around the world feed their own communities and countries. Sparking an
exciting time for agriculture, innovations are leading the world into the future of farming.
Advocates of Agriculture: Legislation, Education, & Community
Governmental, educational, and farmer created institutions have played a major
role in agriculture since the advent of the 20th century. Through legislation, the
government began to aid farmers by subsidizing crops, stabilizing prices, promoting
agricultural products abroad, and funding agricultural education. The latter was
particularly important as farmers needed to be kept up to date on new, rapidly changing
farming technology and techniques. County and state fairs and agricultural colleges
8 Bob Neymeyer, Interview with Paul Haan, August 3, 2013, Iowa Farm Oral History Project, Grout Museum District, Waterloo Iowa. 9 Bob Neymeyer, Interview with Paul Haan, August 3, 2013, Iowa Farm Oral History Project, Grout Museum District, Waterloo Iowa.
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began to offer classes and demonstrations to farmers. Eventually, many Iowans earned
advanced degrees to foster a variety of careers in agriculture, and formed and joined
many organizations and groups that strengthened the Iowa agricultural community and
promoted Iowa’s products and ideas across the nation and world.
During the so-called “golden age” of agriculture, the federal government began to
play a more direct role in agriculture, especially midwestern agriculture, and tried to help
the farmer economically.10 Early, strong examples are the New Deal Agricultural
Adjustment Act and the creation of Commodity Credit Corporation in 1933, which aimed
at price control through limiting commodities.11 Later acts also helped the farmer
economically. The Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 included target
prices and deficiency payments for farmers that subsidized prices of crops and the
Disaster Assistance Act of 1990 provided funding to relieve farmers from crop failure.12
Iowan Merlin Harbaugh recalls a program his parents participated in the 1930s. He said,
“the government had a program where you could seal your corn and you were not
allowed to get into that bin and then they would pay you so much a bushel….I
remember there was a thing on the outside of the crib that was sealed so we didn’t use
those.”13
Agricultural education also took on an added importance. County and State fairs
provided demonstrations and information on new farm technology and techniques.14
The National Cattle Congress in Waterloo, which according to Donald Hach, “was the
10 Nordin and Scott, From Prairie Farmer to Entrepreneur, 47. 11 Nordin and Scott, From Prairie Farmer to Entrepreneur, 106, 108. 12 Nordin and Scott, From Prairie Farmer to Entrepreneur, 191, 196. 13 Bob Neymeyer, Interview with Merlin Harbaugh, November 6, 2012, Iowa Farm Oral History Project, Grout Museum District, Waterloo, Iowa. 14 Nordin and Scott, From Prairie Farmer to Entrepreneur, 31.
38
biggest show in this part of the country…every implement dealer was there, every tool
manufacturer, all kinds of farm animals,” is a prime example of this type of instruction,
as it showed off an array of new technology and techniques to farmers.15 The 1914
Smith Lever Act also spread such education by sending agricultural experts to farms to
offer guidance and instruction. This act also helped start 4-H, an educational
organization that gets youth interested in agriculture.16 Aaron Cook said 4-H “gave you
an excuse to have something on your own.” For his first project, Cook got a loan from
his grandpa and bought a calf to raise. Cook said, “I still remember paying him back and
it meant a lot to me and it was how I got started and saw how things worked.”17
Around this time, colleges also began to offer short courses on soil, drainage,
animal husbandry, and agronomy. ISU took it a step further and started an “agricultural
colleges on wheels program,” in which participants boarded a train in their home-town
and while riding heard agricultural themed lectures.18 Eventually, Iowa colleges offered
advanced degrees for young, aspiring farmers that oriented them with new farming
techniques, technology, and entrepreneurial skills. Steven Leise, an ISU graduate,
described his education in the late 1960s as “I was in the farm operations program. And
basically what that is an a la carte. You take some agronomy, some ag[ricultural]
engineering, you took a business, econ courses….And you had options…I took
additional administration courses any time I could because this (a farm) is a business
15 Bob Neymeyer, Interview with Donald Hach, June 25, 2013, Iowa Farm Oral History Project, Grout Museum District, Waterloo, Iowa. 16 Nordin and Scott, From Prairie Farmer to Entrepreneur, 35, 39. 17 Bob Neymeyer, Interview with Aaron Cook, February 16, 2012, Iowa Farm Oral History Project, Grout Museum District, Waterloo, Iowa. 18 Nordin and Scott, From Prairie Farmer to Entrepreneur, 33-34
39
and you have to know how to account.19 Farmers gained valuable support outside
colleges as well. Numerous publications, organizations, companies, and dealerships
provided support to help farmers make informed decisions concerning their operations.
Iowa farmers also formed organizations that were beneficial to their local
agricultural communities. They created cooperatives, which managed shipping, storage,
and processing of their produce.20 Other groups and associations were organized
specific to certain types of producers, like the Iowa Pork Producers Association. These
organizations help educate farmers on practices and legislation and gain support for
their products. Farmer Trish Cook said the biggest role Iowa Pork Producers plays for
her operation is its ability to market her farm’s hogs abroad. “…I’m not gonna call China
and say hey do you need pigs this week. We’re all part of a larger organization which
binds us together and promotes our product.”21 As their products became known
globally, Iowa farmers too began to form organizations that used their skills to give back
to not just their local communities or nation, but to those abroad. For example, an
organization headquartered in Iowa called Self-Help International sends used farm
equipment to third world nations. This organization, according to board member Fred
Strohbehn, helps farmers abroad so “they can do things themselves.”22
Farmers, the government, and educational institutions have worked together to
make agriculture prosper in the Midwest and Iowa. Legislation, various methods of
education, and community-centered institutions have helped agriculture flourish in Iowa.
19 Bob Neymeyer, Interview with Steven Leise, July 18, 2013, Iowa Farm Oral History Project, Grout Museum District, Waterloo, Iowa. 20 Nordin and Scott, From Prairie Farmer to Entrepreneur, 61. 21 Bob Neymeyer, Interview with Trish Cook, February 16, 2012, Iowa Farm Oral History Project, Grout Museum District, Waterloo, Iowa. 22 Bob Neymeyer, Interview with Fred Strohbehn, December 14, 2012 Iowa Farm Oral History Project, Grout Museum District, Waterloo, Iowa.
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These efforts combined have ultimately resulted in the promotion of Iowa’s products at
home and abroad.
Road to the World: Pathways, Networks, & Globalization
Movement is a circular story. It allows goods to be transferred from one area to
another with relative ease. Movement brings people to new lands and sends knowledge
around the world. Advancements in the way people, goods, and ideas move has
dramatically shaped the creation, culture and food production of Iowa. From the
settlement of immigrants to global exportation, developments in transportation networks
have allowed Iowans to take on the responsibility of feeding the world. Furthered by
legislation organized by Iowa natives, Iowa’s fertile fields have fed the world in times of
depression and war as well as prosperity and peace. Transportation has allowed
families to create a home between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. It has carried
sustenance across oceans. Yet, it is more than physical transportation of goods. The
movement of people and ideas tells a greater story about the impact of Iowans. Through
the movement of Iowans and their ideas, a circular story occurs that incorporates not
only the exportation of sustenance on a global scale, but also the emergence of Iowans
willing to share their knowledge about agricultural methods. Iowans have utilized
advancements in transportation to feed their community, their nation, and their world.
A vast wave of Immigration occurred during the nineteenth century as men and
women arrived in Iowa to become pioneer prairie farmers. Though the population of
Iowa varies economically, culturally and religiously today, the majority of immigrants
originated from countries in northern Europe such as Germany, Holland, and the
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countries of Scandinavia.23 This mixture of ethnicities shaped the Iowa culture, as it
became a state in 1847. This movement of people west of the Mississippi river would
not have been possible without advancements in transportation networks. From the
initial passage across the Atlantic Ocean by ship to the trek over the frontier by covered
wagon and then later by train, families participated in a precarious journey in pursuit of a
prosperous life. As improvements in transportation and communication became faster,
more reliable and more efficient during the Market Revolution, farming became a
commercial endeavor. The movement of people is still apparent today as careers in
agriculture continue to bring individuals to the state. This movement of people created
more than sustenance in Iowa. It produced a culture devoted to advancement and
dispersion of education. This knowledge would move outside the boundaries of the
Missouri and Mississippi Rivers in order to connect Iowa’s fertile farmland with the
world.
Since the creation of Iowa, federal legislation has enhanced the production and
education of farmers as well as their ability to promote their commodities throughout the
nation and around the world. This movement goes beyond physical goods as successful
Iowans, working at the federal level, attempt to feed the world. Many became a
metaphorical pathway through the implementation of their ideas through federal aid
programs. Two world wars and a debilitating depression catapulted Iowa into the
forefront of global food production. By 1917, the United States had entered into the First
World War. President Woodrow Wilson created the Food Administration, a national food
authority to conserve foodstuffs to ration food for the war effort. This administration
would need the commitment of Iowa farmers in order to function to its full extent. The
23 Nordin and Scott, From Prairie Farmer to Entrepreneur, 7.
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Food Administration was directed by Iowan Herbert Hoover. He managed the
transportation and conservation of food as war raged in Europe. After the war ended,
the Food Administration became the American Relief Administration. This organization,
still led by Hoover, was assigned the daunting task of shipping food to the devastated
countries of Europe. Hoover believed that the distribution of American food throughout
Europe would be the only thing to create lasting peace and order after the war.24
With the stock market crash of 1929, the Great Depression wrecked the United
States economy. It changed the way Iowa farmers did business, and many farmers just
tried to survive. However, Secretary of Agriculture and Iowa native Henry A. Wallace
organized a plan that would make farming, labor, and industry complementary rather
than competitive.25 Under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal Legislation, the
Agricultural Adjustment Act limited farm output, through price controls in order to
prevent over production.26 It would not be until World War II that Iowa farm production
would resume to stable levels. The Second World War stabilized the United States
government as massive output was sent to Europe. This created a need for reliable
transportation across the Atlantic Ocean. After World War II ended, President Harry S.
Truman enlisted the help of former Food Administration director during World War I,
Herbert Hoover. The 71 year old came out of retirement to travel the world and aid the
hungry through the European Recovery Program, better remembered as the Marshall
Plan.27 Iowa continues to be a leader of food distribution through the federal
24 Nick Cullather, The Hungry World: America’s Cold War Battle Against Poverty in Asia (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2010), 20-22. 25Cullather, The Hungry World, 48. 26 Nordin and Scott, From Prairie Farmer to Entrepreneur, 106-108. 27 “Feeding the World,” Hoover & Truman: a presidential friendship, accessed April 14, 2014, http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hoover/world.htm.
43
government. Five of the thirty Secretaries of Agriculture are from Iowa
Through improvements in transportation and technology, Iowa has the capacity
to feed the world through sustenance and research. With the creation of the calorie by
Wilbur Atwater just before the turn of the twentieth century, Iowa farmers and the United
States legislature now had a scientific way to end starvation. They used this knowledge
to create nation-building policy that peaked in the 1950s and 1960s in what is now
called the “green revolution.”28 One of the most famous and respected men working to
promote advancements in agriculture was biologist and Iowa native Norman Borlaug.
His work included time with the Mexican Agricultural Program and work in India and
countries in Africa to create crops suitable for the climate of these respective areas.
Through his research in plant breeding and genetics, Borlaug was able to create
modified wheat that was applicable to varying types of soil, climate conditions, and
diseases. He was able to travel between the two hemispheres in order to promote food
production year round. In 1970, Norman Borlaug was awarded the Nobel Peace prize
for his tireless life work of feeding the world through agricultural research.29 Despite his
fame, Norman Borlaug never forgot the importance of his upbringing in Iowa,
“I realize how fortunate I was to have been born, to have grown to manhood, and to have received my early education in rural Iowa. That heritage provided me with a set of values that has been an invaluable guide to me in my work around the world... These values ... have been of great strength in times of despair in my struggle to assist in improving the standards of living of rural people everywhere.”30
28 Cullather, The Hungry World, 7. 29 The World Food Prize, “About Dr. Norman Borlaug,” The World Food Prize, accessed 8 April 2014, http://www.worldfoodprize.org/en/dr_norman_e_borlaug/about_norman_borlaug/. 30 Norman Borlaug, “In His Own Words,” Norman Borlaug Heritage Foundation, accessed 8 April 2014, http://www.normanborlaug.org/
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Today, Iowa is the number one exporter of soybeans, pork, corn, feeds and fodder, and
grain products in the United States.31 The United Nations, through the World Food
Programme and the Food and Agricultural Program, operates the largest organization
that feeds the world.32
This globalization of Iowa food production shows the need for advancements in
transportation. Transportation is needed for not only commodities, but also people and
ideas. Immigrants came to Iowa to settle and cultivate the fertile farmland. Men left
Iowa, such as Herbert Hoover, Henry A. Wallace, and Norman Borlaug, to promote
agriculture around the world through science and legislation. Through advancements in
transportation, Iowans were able to facilitate the movement of Iowa production in order
to feed the world. Agriculture is an indispensable resource of America. As John Miller
described, “If you want to have a reliable economical source of food, then you better
keep agriculture going.”33 Advancement in transportation networks is an immense
component in order to keep agriculture going and in turn, feeding the world.
Conclusion
The contributions of Iowans encompass more than just tangible products. They
include providing ideas and opportunities for the next generation of agriculture. Through
harnessing advancements in technology, communication and transportation networks,
legislation, and education Iowans have impacted the global community. Iowans
“Iowa State Fact Sheet,” United States Department of Agriculture, accessed 12 April 2014, http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/state-fact-sheets/state-data.aspx?StateFIPS=19&StateName=Iowa#P6f9b72327d10479da9caad9250b38812_2_586iT21R0x0. 32 “About,” World Food Programme: Fighting Hunger Worldwide, accessed April 17, 2014, http://www.wfp.org/about. 33 Bob Neymeyer, Interview with John Miller, November 6, 2012, Iowa Farm Oral History Project, Grout Museum District, Waterloo, Iowa.
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continuously work to maintain a balance between producing higher yields and managing
the land. The collaborative power of dedicated individuals, key institutional and
governmental organizations, and the critical use of machinery, function in unison,
moving Iowa agriculture towards greater efficiency. Iowans have produced more than
just food. The ideas, techniques, and organizations they have promoted and created
have also provided opportunities for increased self-sufficiency abroad. Therefore,
Iowans involved in agriculture have emerged as leaders in the ongoing endeavor to
improve agriculture worldwide. Through the use of appropriate technology, institutional
and educational support, and global networks, the contributions of Iowans will endure in
agriculture and shape the future of farming.