SEGMENT: FARM EQUIPMENT, HIRED HELP, & FARM BUSINESS
Bill Gommel>NIU Collection>NIU Collection, Segment 7
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- CHILDREN'S ACTIVITIES
- Family was involved in 4-H, church activities. Children built things, played with toy tractors and trucks, & read. Didn't have television for a long time - didn't need it.
- CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
- Left school to work. Martha left home after mother died to work. Bill, high school (difficult to understand), had to work. Martha left home young to make a living. Education is important.
- TRAVEL
- In the 1970s, Gommels had some extra money & traveled more.
- CHANGES IN FARM EQUIPMENT
- Bought new machinery when they could. Explain "bottoms," with respect to plows & plowing. Newer equipment saved labor.
- HIRED HELP
- Mentions need for hired help when landowner increased farm size. Talks about a part-time man who was with them for 11 or 12 years. Hired an extra man to operate another machine during harvest.
- FARM BUSINESS
- Bill tells about his duties, managing, making planting decisions. Draws on his experience to do that. Considers prices, government programs & what he'll be able to sell for in the coming seasons. Good discussion of government programs, but very difficult to hear. Surpluses versus demand, subsidized markets. Importance of bringing in a crop that will "pay." Refers to the 1930s, compares it to the structures in place today.
- CONSERVATION
- Good discussion of use of cover-crop on fields not in production (set-asides) to prevent erosion, but again difficult to hear. Describes how government keeps tabs on what a farmer grows by aerial photography.
