The Farm Community (1968)

[Music] From the top of the hill, Jamie can see the whole countryside. The Whitaker's farm, Eisman's, where his best friend lives, and our Delos, almost as far away as town. Jamie, come on. It's dinner time. Okay, Dad. [Music] Hi, Evelyn. We're home. Jamie Barrett wants to be a farmer. He thinks he would like planting seeds in the ground and watching them grow. He likes being outdoors. Most of all, he wants to grow up to be like his father, strong and independent. The farm has been in Jaime's family for more than 70 years. Mr. Barrett's father farmed here and his grandfather. Now Sarah and Jaime and Neil live here with their mother and father. [Music] The farm is a good place to live. There's lots of room to run, good fishing in the pond, and though friends aren't very close by, animals to play with, but there's work to be done, too, for everybody. Neil has a calf to raise, and it's all his own responsibility. The cow does most of the work. Sarah helps with the chickens or tries [Laughter] to. And even Jaime is able to help his father. Sometimes it's important just to hold on to a piece of equipment while it's moved from one part of the farm to another. Work and home life are closely joined on the farm. Like many farmers in this area, Mr. Barrett grows field corn on most of his land. Corn that can be sold as feed for livestock for cattle and hogs. But all of the farmland is not good for growing corn, and Jaime's father makes use of every foot of his land. On the bottom land, where the creek makes it too damp to work, Mr. Barrett leaves it in pasture for the cattle. Mr. Barrett has planted pine trees on hillsides too steep to work with the tractor. These will keep the soil from washing away in heavy rain and some can be sold for Christmas trees. The Barrett farm is the same size as most farms in this part of the country, about 250 acres. This would cover a very large area in the city, more than 100 city blocks. But crops need lots of space for growing. Farmers everywhere specialize today, raising mostly just one special crop they can sell, one that grows best in their kind of soil and with the rainfall and other natural conditions they have. In many parts of the south, cotton is the crop farmers grow because the soil, rainfall, and the long growing season there are very good for growing cotton. In California and Florida, it is warm most of the year. This helps make oranges grow well. Some farmers may grow only vegetables like these string beans. Everywhere specializing on growing one or two main crops is possible because our country has a good system of transportation. Fast trucks, trains, and airplanes make it possible for farmers to grow what grows best where they are, then send their crops to be sold in different places all over our country. Farmers have always had to work hard. Today, they have to know more, too. They cannot afford to guess how fertile their soil is or what crops will grow best in it. To begin with, the soil has to be tested. The farmer gets help from men who work for the federal and state governments. They help him find out what fertilizers and lime the soil needs to remain fertile. Farmers don't have as much of some public services as city people, but they do have other services for their special needs. Mr. Barrett talks with the county agent about insect pests, control of weeds, and other ways to help make his crops and cattle grow well. But the farmer must work with the help of nature. And nature doesn't always give him the kind of weather he needs. Sometimes bringing hot, dry weather when the crops need rain badly. Sometimes bringing frost when the farmer has counted on warm growing weather. Perhaps the greatest help Jaime's father has in running the farm comes from the machinery he has to work with. The power lines leading to the house mean the Barretts can have electric lights, washing machine, refrigerator, and stove just like people who live in the city. The telephone brings distant neighbors closer, and TV brings the world to their living room. an expert in the care and use of machines. He uses his machines for all sorts of farm work. To prepare soil, to plant and fertilize, to cultivate, all the labor a farmer must do to bring a crop to harvest. 25 years ago, when Jaime's father was a boy on this farm, the help of eight hired hands and 20 mules was needed to do the same amount of work Mr. Barrett can do today by himself with the help of his machines. And still on the same land, he is able to grow far more because of improved seeds and fertilizers and better farming practices. Mr. Barrett uses most of his land to grow feed corn, but he doesn't sell his corn crop. Instead, he chooses to feed it to cattle, turning the corn into beef, which can be sold at a higher price. As the cattle grow and fatten, Mr. Barrett must consider how best to profit from his investment of work and money. He follows market reports to learn what price he can expect to get for his cattle. For these prices may change from week to week. He checks over his expenses, the money he has had to spend to buy the cattle, and the cost of growing their feed of seeds, fertilizer, and equipment. Mr. Barrett must decide when the time is right to sell. A trucking company whose only business is transporting livestock carries his cattle to the market that serves the [Music] community. Here, Mr. Barrett can show his cattle to buyers who come to bid on livestock being offered for sale. They discuss the quality of the cattle, the price the buyer wants to pay, and the price the seller hopes to get. Finally, they agree on a price that satisfies both of [Music] them. When the Barretts have shopping to do, it means an expedition into town. Once a week, the whole family piles into the car and goes. Though town is some miles away, good roads maintained by the state and county make it a short drive. The rural community in which the Barretts live is made up of many farms like theirs together with the town that is their trading center. Many people and places important to Mr. Barrett's world are here. like the feed dealer whom he knows as an old friend from years of trading with him, whose advice he knows to be reliable and with whom he can discuss new products for farm use. Meanwhile, at the supermarket, Mrs. Barrett and the children shop for food, much of it grown by other farmers in distant parts of the country. As far as Jaime, Sarah, and Neil are concerned, the best place of all to shop is the town drugstore. It's important for Jaime's father to keep up with new changes in farm equipment. That could mean better farming and make his work easier. Mr. Barrett often has business at the bank. It takes a great deal of money to buy the cattle and equipment he needs to keep his farm running. He is able to borrow this money from the bank. The banker and other trades people in the town need Mr. Barrett as much as he needs them. These needs shared by the farmers of the area and the people of the town are what form the community. A life in common with common concerns. When Mr. Barrett meets other farmers in town. There's always something to talk about. New types of seed, changes in equipment, crop prices, and farm problems. Farmers work together in organizations to get needed laws that have to do with their special problems. The farm community has deep roots in our past as a nation, and it continues to endure. Day by day. Each Sunday after church, the Barretts meet and talk with friends and neighbors whose farms are some distance away. They are gathering as many generations have before them, but their life today is very different from that of the past. Modern times have brought many important changes. Jaime has to travel all the way into town and back every school day. But he and the other children in the farm community now have the same benefits and education the city child has. The farmer has the help of powerful machines. He's been freed from the backbreaking toil of former years. He has some leisure time to enjoy life with his family. He has the help of many people. People who bring telephone service and electric power to his farm. People who build and maintain good roads and highways. People who provide supplies and equipment needed on the farm. People who bring him scientific knowledge and many other services. the modern farmer has come to rely [Music] upon. Still, in many ways, farm life remains the same as it has always been. To be a farmer means working hard almost all of the time while being dependent on natural elements on soil and sun and rain. Hoping that while he does everything he knows how to produce a good crop that nature will help. The farmer must still bear the full responsibility for his work, the success or failure of his crops. But for Jaime, there are no doubts. He still wants to be a farmer. For there are few greater tasks within the reach of man than to make the earth fruitful, to bring forth our daily bread. [Music]