Share Your Story

Share Your Story is an interesting way to preserve the knowledge of your farming family history at the Smithsonian.  Here is picture of this place, nearly 100 years ago.

Here are a few highlights:
"Personal Experience: Changes in agriculture have affected people living on farms, ranches, suburbs, and cities. Have you ever talked to your grandparents about how food is different today? Even if you don’t have a family connection to farming, have you noticed changes in agriculture affecting your own life or the landscape of where you live? Do you think food has gotten less expensive? Do you eat out-of-season fruits and produce?

Technology: What is the role of technology in modern American farming? How has GPS and precision farming changed the way you work? When did computers first come to the farm? Do you have photos or stories about how things have changed?

Biotechnology: What has biotechnology and new hybrids meant to American farmers? Do you have photographs of “walking the beans,” detasseling corn, selecting seeds, and other such experiences? Has the expense of hybrid seeds been worthwhile? When did you first bring new hybrids to the farm?"

Do you think your writer can answer these questions?  Oh, I think he has a few stories to share!  I did submit a short story on my knowledge of the Winkle family history of farming in the US.  I will probably share that tomorrow.

You can see this piece is aimed at Americana but I think we as farmers with some known history about our family history in agriculture should be shared.  I admit this would be a better winter project and it's too busy on the farm right now to do much writing about it.  There are many questions to answer and I did not answer them one by one, though I would like to.

Many of my readers are excellent writers and I encourage to submit an essay about your family history in agriculture in America.  I would love to read your essays.

Thanks,

Ed Winkle

Here is a picture of how this place looks today.