By Steve Ohmes, Assistant Farmpark Administrator

Horsepower Weekend on September 25 and 26 presents a great opportunity to witness the horsepower used to grow food from past to present. Horses and tractors will plow the fields side by side (weather permitting) and tractors will be on display in Festival Field.

The progression of technology in the past 100 years from horses to auto-steer tractors guided by satellites is truly amazing. We can calculate physical horsepower, but what were the farmers of years past feeling as farm power switched from horses to combustion engines? I have been fortunate enough to have visited with individuals who lived through the transition. I would like to share some of their stories.

Combustion engines gave us the ability to work if there is fuel in the tank. When the tank is low, we fill the tank and go again. Horses, on the other hand, need breaks and can only work so long. My grandfather farmed with horses until the late 1940s in Greely, Kansas and said he would work one team until mid day, then switch horses and work until evening. The half day shifts would contain breaks for the horses to rest before continuing. If you watch the plowing demonstrations during Horsepower Weekend, pay attention to how the teamsters plow with the horses and how often they take breaks by reading the horses’ body language. Test your skills at reading the horses’ body language and what it is conveying.

An innovation that came with tractors was lights. Tractors enable us to farm all day and night due to the ability to add more fuel and lights that illuminate the dark. I hadn’t thought much about that until I spoke with a woman who had grown up on a farm during the change from horses to tractors. When her family farmed with horses, her father and brothers would be in at dark since they could no longer see to perform their tasks. They were able to have dinner and spend time together as a family. Once her family switched to tractors with lights, her father and brothers would farm well past dark and she would be asleep before they came in for the night. She missed seeing them at the end of the day and as a child, she felt tractors took family time away from her.

Progression of technology brought with it the combine. This machine combined reaping and threshing. I remember my grandfather stating that once threshing rings ceased, neighbors didn’t depend on each other as much. The threshing ring would go from farm to farm threshing the grain but when combines were introduced, that was no longer necessary.

I have also spoken to a number of people who mentioned that they loved farming with horses because of the relationships they built with them. Many of the individuals remember working in the fields with the horses at about eight years old. They said they never felt alone because they always had the horses to keep them company. Working with horses day after day allows the development of a deep bond between horse and teamster. I will always remember a statement from Farmpark employee Ernie Hall who said, “If you can win a horse’s heart it will do anything for you.” This bond is never developed with a tractor. A gentleman from Amsterdam, Missouri described how he remembers standing in the driveway crying as he watched the last team of horses leave. “Tractors are great, but you will never have a relationship with a tractor like he did with the horses. They were partners in the field.”

Farming with horses is hard work, but there are still farmers out there who enjoy it and continue to share the tradition and knowledge with others. On your next visit to Farmpark, talk to the individuals driving and working with the horses. They have all been trained with knowledge handed down from generation to generation. If you are interested in gaining some in-depth knowledge about horse driving, we offer training classes throughout the year.

I share just a few of the stories from the transition of horses to tractors from individuals who experienced it. As agriculture moves forward many more changes will take place. Will farmers be reminiscing fifty years from now how a human had to physically drive a tractor? Only time will determine what technology will develop within agriculture, but farmers will adapt just as they have for hundreds of years.