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In the photo at top, Waldo Miller is on his family farm located on Jeffords Road, Rush, late 1940s. It was not uncommon to see farmers still using horses in their farmwork. Walter Kozimor, son-in-law of Waldo Miller and current Phelps Road resident, is shown here in the bottom photo on his Jeffords Road farm in the late 1940s, with his McCormick Deering tractor.
The family farm has undergone significant change over the years. In the early years of our towns, approximately 90% of the population lived on a farm. Those farms were mostly self-sustaining operations and produced what was needed by the family.
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Food and goods needed by the family and not produced on their own farms were usually obtained through trade and barter at the local store or with other local farmers.
These small family farms once dotted our countryside . Although our area still maintains a very strong agricultural base, the farms of today are much different from those of earlier days. Today’s farms are much larger in size and typically less diverse in what they produce than those in the past. Large farms today often specialize in a particular product rather than growing specifically what is needed to support their own families. The 2015 Farm and Land Report by the US Department of
Agriculture states the number of US Farms in 2015 was estimated at 2.07 million, a decline of 18 thousand farms from the previous year. The average farm size in 2015 consisted of 441 acres. In comparison, the USDA Agriculture Census for 1950 shows that there were 5,647,800 US farms averaging just over 200 acres per farm.
Technology has provided many advances in farming operations and along with those advances, came many changes.
Join us Monday evening, November 28th, for more on how farming has changed over time. Selden Chase will be moderating a farming talk with Rush residents John David, Bill Gaffney, Jack Gaffney, Walt Kozimor and Bob Kuhls. All of the panelists either grew up on a family farm and/or worked a farm as an adult. Join us for some interesting stories of their earlier days on the farm!
When: Monday, November 28th, 7pm, The Udicious Pavilion behind the Rush Town Hall. All are welcome!
