I’m a fan of history. I think that it is important to know the history of our country, and the history of an area so that we can learn from the past. 2026 will be 97 years since the start of the Great Depression that started in 1929. A lot of valuable lessons were learned from that market crash, and some might be repeated again if history ever repeats itself. The latter part of the 1920’s and into the 1930’s is a dark spot in American history. It’s especially troublesome for those in agriculture.
One of the greatest books ever written, The Grapes of Wrath, tells the story of how a struggling farm family in Oklahoma was forced off their land due to foreclosure and like many Americans at the time, made the long journey westward in search of work. The Dust Bowl and the financial collapse of the economy created the perfect storm for one of the most difficult times in our past. Drought, overproduction, lack of conservation practices and a lack of financial backing all played a part in forcing many people out of production agriculture. People were so poor that they lived in Shanty Towns, houses made from anything they could piece together. They clothed themselves in rags and a starving appetite was common.
Many that grew up in that time have now passed on. The stories that they told and the lives that they led are slowly beginning to fade away. On a recent trip back home to see family for Christmas, I was reminded of how people were forced to leave behind the life that they knew by seeing some of the old abandoned homesteads that still stand. These homesteads were abandoned during the Dust Bowl by farmers who couldn’t raise a crop to pay the note at the bank. Some of these places are only marked by a rusty mailbox along the side of the road where they used to collect mail.
My fear is that too many have forgotten the lessons that the past has taught us. Many of us have not gone to bed hungry because we are secure in where our next meal will come from. We live in a disposable society, where we don’t fix anything, we simply throw it away and buy a new one that will arrive in two days off the internet. My grandparents were children of the Great Depression. Grandma used to save the aluminum foil that covered her leftovers. She would rinse it off, straighten it back out and then fold it neatly and put it in a drawer in her kitchen to be used another day. Clothes were made from flour sacks, everything could be reused and repurposed for something else.
I’m afraid that there will come a time in our future where we will have to be taught the lessons learned from our ancestors again. As producers, we have to remember to take care of the land that takes care of us. We cannot overstock our ranges, nor can we not utilize modern conservation techniques in farming to hold the soil in the fields where it belongs. Cover crops, crop rotations, leaving fallow in fields and finding ways to develop soil profiles without chemicals are all important to ensuring that we don’t see the heartland blow away in a cloud of dust again.
If we want to grow our small towns and strengthen our rural economy, let’s first look back before we look forward. The lessons of the past will guide us into the future. Teach our kids about conservation, repurpose things and being mindful of the things that we consume. If we aren’t careful, the next Great Depression might leave even more rusty mailboxes along the side of the road. That’s all for this time. Keep tabs on your side of the barbed wire and God Bless!