American Agriculture History Minute: Growing Was One Thing, Harvesting Was Another

I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute.

Growing corn was one thing in American agriculture history, but harvesting it, certainly another. Imagine doing the job by hand.

No combines, no tractors, just a man, a horse, and a wagon. Beginning in the 1920s, labor saving machinery was available for corn harvest. But even into the 1940s, horses still plotted along on many farms as men hand husk corn then threw the ears into a high sided wagon. A hand husk field was picked clean. The ears were virtually free of shucks, which meant that the ears could be air dried in cribs.

That’s today’s American Agriculture History Minute. I’m Mark Oppold. Thanks for reading. I’ll see you next time.