I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute.
Agriculture continued its western movement in the early years. Farm spread from the colonies westward along with the settlers.
In cooler regions, wheat was often the crop of choice when lands were newly settled, leading to a wheat frontier that eventually continued westward into what is now the plains. Also, very common in the Midwest was corn and raising hogs, complementing each other, especially since it was difficult to get grain to market before there were canals and railroads.
After the wheat frontier, as it was called, more diversified farms took their place in parts of the Midwest, dairy generally in parts of Wisconsin and Michigan.
That’s today’s American Agriculture History Minute. I’m Mark Oppold. Thanks for reading. I’ll see you next time.