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The first rumblings of the 1980s’ farm crisis came in the 1970s. In the early years of the decade, prices for farm products were relatively high. In 1973, farmers across the nation had a total net income of $33 billion. By 1977, record crops had pushed prices down, and the cost of fuel, seed, pesticides and other farm costs had risen — net farm income dropped to $20 billion. In addition, the value of farm land — the "equity" or ... Read more
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The Posse Comitatus was a right-wing extremist group that contended that the true intent of the country’s founders was to establish a Christian republic where the individual was sovereign, and that the Republic’s first duty was to promote, safeguard, and protect the Christian faith. They saw farmers as the victims of a Jewish-led, communist-supported conspiracy that had infiltrated the government. They thought the conspiracy would rob the farmer of his land through manipulation of ... Read more
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Verdigre is a small, close-knit Nebraska community of around 600 people near to the South Dakota border. In September, 1984, the Bank of Verdigre closed and its assets and outstanding loans were seized by Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or FDIC. The FDIC, of course, was set up in the 30s to protect the depositors in a bank, and so when a bank has bad loans, the FDIC tries to recoup as much ... Read more
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As more and more farmers came under stress, neighbors and eventually statewide organizations tried to help. The goal of most of these support groups was to help the farmers work through the hard times, if possible. If that was impossible, the goal turned to providing emotional support as the farmers found new careers.
Personal ... Read more
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In the 1980s, celebrities — particularly those with rural backgrounds — were concerned with the crisis on the farm. Farm Aid was one response.
Willie Nelson is from the plains of Texas. In 1985, he wanted to heighten public awareness of the plight of the family farmer and raise money for farm support groups. So he, Neil Young, and John Mellencamp organized a benefit concert at the University of Illinois. A wide variety of performers appeared on that first Farm Aid ... Read more
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This is the full text of Article XII, Section 8 of the Nebraska Constitution. These provisions are more commonly known by the name, Initiative 300.
Sec. 8(1) No corporation or syndicate shall acquire, or otherwise obtain an interest, whether legal, beneficial, or otherwise, in any title to real estate used for farming or ranching in this state, or engage in farming or ranching.Corporation shall mean any corporation organized under the laws of any state of the United States or any country ... Read more
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Initiative 300, the anti-corporate farming amendment, passed in 1982. The farm crisis that had begun during the late 1970s deepened in the ’80s. The prices being bid for agricultural land dropped. Opponents of I-300 were quick to argue this was partially because corporations were no longer allowed to bid for farmland in Nebraska. Supporters of Initiative 300 responded that the amendment was doing exactly what it was intended to do — keep corporations from snapping up Nebraska farm and ranch ... Read more
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You may think names such as Quality Pig, Inc., Profit Pig, Inc., Pork Chop, Inc., and Oink, Inc. are names given to corporate hog factories by their critics. But, the names were no laughing matter to Nebraska’s pork industry, which ibecame increasingly dominated by large-scale confinement hog factories in the latter part of the twentieth century.
Good hog prices, lucrative tax breaks, and in some cases, government financing brought a flurry of non-farmer investments in Nebraska hog confinement facilities prior to ... Read more
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Issues related to the environment, use of drugs and chemicals, and other problems shaped not only public policy, but consumer demand. In meeting these challenges, new and expanding niche markets for cattle grew.
Since the first days of cattle in Nebraska, producers have worked to keep up with the wishes of their consumers. Breeding and feeding technologies were developed to produce the tasty meat that Americans and people around the world wanted.
Most cattle in Nebraska belong to the Angus and Hereford ... Read more
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Somewhere about a third of the way across Nebraska’s 430-mile expanse, there is an invisible line. On the eastward side of the line, people involved in cattle wear seed corn caps and boots with rounded toes. On the west, the caps yield to cowboy hats and the toes of the boots sharpen and the heels rise.
This line is imprecise and curvy. It does not coincide with other invisible lines: the one that divides Central Time from Mountain Time; the line ... Read more
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In the 1880s, a new, more radical group attracted new members. The Farmers’ Alliance got off to a slow start. Their second state convention was planned to be held in August, 1882. But it was not well advertised and came in the midst of a harvest season. Only 15 people showed up.
But as hard times developed, the Alliance grew. By 1890, the Alliance claimed 1,500 local chapters and 50,000 members in Nebraska. At that ... Read more
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The first accepted evidence we have of human beings on the Central Plains is around 12,000 years old. Archaeologists have found spear points near Clovis, New Mexico, and elsewhere that date from that era.There is some evidence that human beings may have lived here even earlier, but that evidence is disputed. Most scientists believe the ancestors of today’s Native Americans walked across a "land bridge" from Asia to ... Read more
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In the east, there was history of Indian wars. Because of this, some white Americans new to the Louisiana Purchase area thought they needed protection from Native Americans. There were only some minor conflicts, but people still worried.
So in 1820, Fort Atkinson became the westernmost U.S. military post. The fort provided the only government authority in the huge territory west of the Missouri. It was built on the same Missouri River ...
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Edward Flanagan was born in County Roscommon, Ireland on July 13, 1886. As a young man Flanagan wanted to be a priest. Father Flanagan moved to America in the 1910s. His first parish was in O’Neill, Nebraska. His second one was in Omaha, Nebraska.
Father Flanagan developed an understanding for the boys and young men who were orphaned by society. He realized that children who ... Read more
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It is easy for most of us to become a citizen of the United States. For most U.S. citizens, ... Read more
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Notable Nebraskan, George William Norris was born near Clyde, Ohio, on July 11, 1861. Norris’ father died when he was four years old — only months after George’s older brother had died in the Civil War. Norris was the 11th child of a very poor family of farmers. George’s mother, Mary, encouraged him to continue his education to help him ... Read more
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In the 1930s, the United States was suffering through the Great Depression. In Nebraska and surrounding states, the effects of the economic depression were made worse by sustained drought. Farmers were being driven from their land by crop failures that were common in the “Dust Bowl” that spread across the Great Plains.
Nebraska had a history of drought. Most of Nebraska was once called the “Great American Desert”. Its scorching summers, harsh ... Read more
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There was already a war going on in Europe. After Germany invaded the former Soviet Union in June 1941, the United States joined Great Britain, China, the Soviet Union, and several others to become the Allied Powers. We promised aid to the Soviet Union to resist Germany.
Germany was part of the enemy we called the Axis Powers, along with Italy, and later Japan. Together, they signed the Tripartite Pact ...
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Within days of the declaration of war, troops began to move across the country, on their way to the front lines. In many ... Read more
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The Enola Gay certainly became World War II’s most famous airplane when it dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima August 6, 1945. It was built in Omaha. The B-29 Superfortress bomber was the single most complicated and expensive airplane produced by the United States during World War II.
The Enola Gay was specially modified for its mission and was handpicked from the assembly line in Omaha by the ... Read more
