Information on farming during the great depression?

Question

links please

Answer 1

The Great Depression changed the lives of people who lived and farmed on the Great Plains and in turn, changed America. The government programs that helped them to live through the 1930s changed the future of agriculture forever. Weather touched every part of life in the "Dirty 30s": dust, insects, summer heat and winter cold. York County farm families didn't have heat, light or indoor bathrooms like people who lived in town. Many farm families raised most of their own food – eggs and chickens, milk and beef from their own cows, and vegetables from their gardens.

People who grew up during the Depression said, "No one had any money. We were all in the same boat." Neighbors helped each other through hard times, sickness, and accidents. Farm families got together with neighbors at school programs, church dinners, or dances. Children and adults found ways to have fun for free – playing board games, listening to the radio, or going to outdoor movies in town.

When the dryness, heat, and grasshoppers destroyed the crops, farmers were left with no money to buy groceries or make farm payments. Some people lost hope and moved away. Many young men took government jobs building roads and bridges. By 1940, normal rainfall returned, and federal programs helped to boost farm prices and improve the soil. About the same time, a new government program started to hook up farmhouses to electricity, making farm life easier and safer.

Answer 2

This is a couple of good articles on farming and farm life during the depression.  The last one is just a picture.

http://livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginth...

http://www.angelfire.com/pa/indiglu/farm...

http://encarta.msn.com/media_461513127/F...

Answer 3

My grandparents were lucky as they had just traded a house in the city for farm in 1929 so they were able to grow much of their own food during the depression.  They grew corn, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, tomatoes, canteloupe, watermelon, and many other crops using horses and mules to pull plows.  They sold what they couldn't eat or preserve and kept their money in a jar under the sink.  They had three sons and two daughters who helped on the farm, even the youngest helped plant, weed, and harvest the crops and tend to the chickens, goats, pigs, horses, and cows.  I don't think they would have survived if they had stayed in the city as the people there had little food.