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| Hello folks,
thought you might enjoy reading some of the responses my students collected.
Question #1
How have the physical demands of agriculture changed during your life? Do you miss any of the physical work of the past? What types of physically demanding work do you miss the least?
* I don't miss hookin weeds out of a bean field at all. They have definitely changed from all the equipment and technology. I know farmers today that will just get out of the tractor if there GPS goes out. Not saying they are lazy but technology has really limited the amount of physical activity from farmers
* the physical demads have change domasticlly from picking by hand to haveing a machine help out alot so it made it so easy as the technology became available. A little but my views have change but yeah i do miss walking the field in the morning and seeing the sun rise and the sun set i miss the most is the muddy fields and walking in them haveing mud sometimes up as far as the knees.
* Yes, they have changed significantly, but perhaps because of my age- 62. I miss being in top notch physical condition like I was at ages 16-20, and I miss the fun of being around a bunch of friends when we were baling hay . It was hard work but a welcome relief from the many hours of being alone riding a tractor around hundreds of acres. I DO NOT miss digging post holes when building or fixing fences. We used wooden posts, instead of metal ones. Each post required a hole 2.5 ft deep and I hated digging the holes!
* They have significantly lessend year by year. No, I miss lifting that cultivator up manually every round through the field the least.
* The physical demands have changed greatly in my life. I dont miss much of the physical work but sometimes I feel like I am playing a video game rather than driving a tractor and I dont like that at all. I dont miss any of the physical work taken away from making hay.
* we used to harvest almost everything by hand, now with all these machines you kids are lazy. I don't miss any of it
* Wow in my time I have seen alot we used to use horse drawn equipment when i was a kid, I have picked corn by hand and we even used to put hay in stacks so it has change a ton. Oh well you miss some of it but it was a lot more efficient not doing it the old fashioned way, so i guess i would say i dont miss it much and im too old to do things that way. I think the thing i miss the least is cutting roadsides by hand we would use a hand sickle trimmer and a scythe it was long hot days and you would have many blisters.
* the physical demands have changed greatly. Since i have been a live the implement of various technologies has allowed the modern farmer to use less physical labor. An example would be dumping each 50lb bag of soybean seed in to the drill. Nowadays, a farmer can use a probox and forklift and fill the drill much faster and with less effort. i cant say that i really miss any of it. Most new technologies have helped the modern farmer. Building fence, and setting posts by hand is by far work that i miss the least.
* Work has become more mental, rather than physical. I miss how there was more physical work in the past to keep you more physically fit. I don't miss picking ear corn and filling cribs.
* More and bigger equipment. Don't have to go out there with a one horse plow. Yes. Milking Cows, Hauling manure, cleaning out chicken houses.
* A. Not necessarily easier, there is more mental/technological work to it. I do not miss the labor, at my age thinking about it makes me cringe. The things that I miss the least are doing the repairs and milking cows in the cold of winter
* It has gotten much easier because there is a lot more technological equipment with planting and harvesting. There is not much I miss about the physical labor. I can get a lot more work done in a small amount of time now. The part I miss the least is sitting on the tractor without a cab and getting dirt and debris blown all over me.
* Physical demands have certainly changer a lot. I used to hate bailing hay and now hardly anyone puts away little square bales. This is only one of the things that is easy to remember.
* When I was a child my dad harvested corn by hand. He would pull a wagon with mules and harvest corn. This was back breaking work which consisted of many long hours of labor. As time pasted machinery emerged and one or two row pull behind pickers were constructed and made available to farmers. At the time my dad had a two row pull behind picker which was the best thing since sliced bread! As more time passed the machinery got bigger, more powerful and allowed farmers to pick and shell several rows of corn at a time. The physical labor decreased along with backbreaking work and long hours. My dad also had cows that had to be milked which took a very long time and lots of work. As time and machinery advanced mechanical milkers came along making it easy to milk cows and allowed for more cows to be milked.
* Physical demands were more c hallenging when I was in my 20s, the main physical challenge for our farming operation was the fact that we did not have cabs on the tractors, so we were in the elements all day. Sometimes I miss that surprisingly because it reminds me of how I got started, but when the elements are bad, I don’t miss it at all.
* Yes the physical demands of agriculture have changed a lot during his life. He does not miss the physical demands because it has taken a toll on his body. The demanding work that he does not miss doing is walking beans because before there was round-up the weeds had to be hand weeded. Also loading ear corn into the wagons and into the bins. My grandma said she does not miss having to fill the planter with fertilizer that came in big bags.
* The physical work farmers did back in the mid 80's is completely different than now days. Machines have been manufactured to be more effictive and the uses of chemicals has changed a great deal. Bean hooks are a thing of the past.No physical work will be missed, now I have more time for off farm operations along wiht family ties.
* Farming has changed through production, and consumption. Since I was a kid I've farmed beside my dad, and the physical demands have changed greatly. The changes are helpful to the demands that agriculture now requires. I don't miss any of the past labor and I've been able to do away with most today with the machinery.
* When i was a child as long as i could remember, we would have to wake up at 5 before school to milk our cows. it never bothered me at the time, but after seeing the technology that exists today, i dont see how i did it. i liked the milking to some extent, i liked being with the cows. i definitely do not miss this time of year on the farm. Harvest season was always a difficult part of the year.
* The physical demands have changes a lot. I mean one don't even have to steer a tractor now, things don't break down near as much as it use to, and if its to big of a brake down now people just call the dealer and have them come fix it because it takes a educated mechanic to know how. Also for example, it use to be in order to change any settings on your combine you had to get out of the cab, get your wrenches out and start working, NOW you sit in the cab and just hit a button to adjust your rotor speed, fan speed, sieve placement, and Concave position, as your going through the field.
* Well...it all depends on the demographics. If you're in California it's still pretty much all still done by manual labor. The biggest percentage is done by manual labor anyways... Here, we've got more harvesting tools equipment to make life easier. But we don't grow lettuce and stuff like that. I particularly don't miss any of it. I don't miss having to get up in the middle of the night to go work and work til dark and do it all again!
* The physical demands of agriculture has changed a lot during my life, it has changed mainly because of all the new technology there is today. I personally do not miss any of the physical work that I did in the past. What I miss least is walking beans and cutting/pulling weeds by hand.
* Weed control is much better and ways of removing grain from bins is much easier. I do miss being in good shape but not the work. Walking bean fields to remove weeds and volunteer corn.
* They have changed greatly especially with machinery, and the invention of round-up. i do not miss walking beans at all, and equipment is a lot safer today than it was in the past.
* It has definately gotten easier throughout the years..today there is a tool for about everything..the thing that makes it harder for the older generation to use these new machines is that their is a lot of computers and other technology that is hard for us old folks to understand. I don't miss messing with hogs. I also don't miss biulding fence or putting up hay.
* agriculture is and always has been a very physically demanding industry, but it is not near what it used to be when i was growing up. now days you have less people doing more work. technology has changed this industry forever. I miss taking care of livestock. these days i have a hobby chicken farm, few goats, and a few horses. I would like to be back into a bigger livestock operation.
Answers to the following questions are attached:
Did you get paid for agricultural labor as a child? If not, what motivated you to do it?
Do you view the reductions in physical labor in agriculture during your lifetime as all positive? Do you think there are any negative trade-offs?
Do you think participation in agricultural labor has impacted your health or character? Please explain.
Is there anything else about the past (or perhaps the future) of agricultural labor that you would like to comment on?
Joel
WIU Agriculture
Edited by jbgruver 9/25/2010 20:07
Attachments
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 PhysicalLaborInterviews.doc (146KB - 209 downloads)
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Physical labor in agriculture responses
