Dry Farming in the Northern Great Plains: Years of Readjustment, 1920-90 (Development of Western Resources) - Tapa dura

"A superb history. Hargreaves has a keen eye for the detail necessary to show the complex relationships between the environment, economics, and governmental policy for farming on the Northern Great Plains."--R. Douglas Hurt, author of Agricultural Technology in the Twentieth Century"A provocative piece of work. Hargreaves is not afraid to question the established wisdom, but when she does so she is grounded firmly in the evidence. Indeed, while some may question her conclusions, none can question her knowledge or her mastery of the subject. An outstanding work of history and public policy analysis."--David B. Danbom, author of Our Purpose Is to Serve: The First Century of the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station "A fitting sequel to Hargreaves's first book on dry farming in the northern Great Plains. Again she has delved deeply into the relevant literature, exploring the effects of technological advance, policies, climatic factors, and economic variables as they have affected one of the nation's important and unique farming areas."--Howard W. Ottoson, coauthor of Land People in the Northern Plains Transition Area "This superb book is required reading for agricultural historians and those wanting to know how every president from 1920 to 1990 has dealt with farm problems. It contains a cornucopia of information and is truly enlightening."--American Historical Review"A superlative history of farm policy on the northern Plains by one of the most meticulous students of the phenomenon in the past half century."--Great Plains Quarterly "[Hargreaves's] arguments for dry farming sustainability are compelling, and add a balanced note to the often dire predictions of other Great Plains historians."--Journal of the West "A regional agricultural history blended with national themes that is thoroughly and meticulously researched."--Choice "This book is a solidly researched masterwork and a welcome addition to the literature of Great Plains agricultural history."--North Dakota History "An important study that is essential for all collections about the Great Plains or American agricultural history."--Kansas History "Essential to understanding agriculture in the northern Great Plains."--Nebraska History "A superb volume which demonstrates once again the author's abilities as an agricultural historian."--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

Grandiose plans for land retirement and expanded irrigation have been frequently proposed for the northern Great Plains, but they have not significantly affected agricultural practices in the region. Those major readjustments to farming methods that did occur in the region evolved out of local initiative in response to drought and depression during the 1920s. With some refinements but few amendments, procedures remain basically the same today. In Dry Farming in the Northern Great Plains, Mary Hargreaves reviews the changes in agricultural technology and farm management through the 1920s, the introduction of federal programs as drought and depression recurred in the 1930s, and the realignment of concerns from drought to marketing instability during the recovery years that followed. Drought remains a perennial problem in the region, which in this study includes the eastern two-thirds of Montana and the western half of the Dakotas. But instability of marketing has been a greater concern, according to Hargreaves, and marketing, not environmental factors, occasioned the land retirement programs of the 1950s and 1980s. Despite the economy and practicability of dry farming, the national agricultural policy of acreage restrictions since the 1930s has promoted the use of costly inputs and enabled higher-cost producers to continue competitive operation. "Misconceptions and myths have too frequently entered into national land-use planning," Hargreaves writes. "There are still those who see the Plains as a 'Great American Desert'; still those who look to irrigation as the only basis for successful agriculture there; and still those who cherish the small diversified homestead operation as the agrarian dream, regardless of the environment." Dry farming has proved successful in the northern Great Plains, Hargreaves contends. That success is measured not only by production but also by limited erosion. On its record, dry-land agriculture should not now fall prey to "hyperbole, myth, or politics."