SEGMENT: FARM EQUIPMENT & FARMING DURING GREAT DEPRESSION
Jacqueline Jackson>ISM Interviews A-L>ISM Interviews A-L, Segment 29
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- FARM EQUIPMENT
- In Spring 1929, Prof. Duffy made a deal with two implement companies to loan their machinery to farmers. One farm had all Case machinery, and the Dougan farm had all Harvester machinery. An assistant from Harvester came to the farm. At the end of the first season the farm hadn't made any money. Duffy sent Jackie's grandpa a letter accusing him of running the farm poorly. After two years they companies wanted their machinery back. Grandpa confided with Dewitt Griffus about the difficulty of the farm work and Dewitt said they were reverting to life before the idea of "life as well as a living." Grandpa pointed out the problem with the machinery in his last letter to Duffy. He thought the experiment did not work out for three reasons - he hired too many men, he didn't work hard enough, and he didn't lay off any men.
- FARMING DURING GREAT DEPRESSION
- The Federal Land Bank kept the farm afloat. They incorporated the milk business separate from the farm. They asked each creditor to take notes on the milk business. They got a loan from the Rock County Federal Farm Loan Association in 1933 and was still paying it off in the 1960s or '70s.
