The most recent farming crisis occurred in the 1980s. Issues began the decade before as farmers began taking on more debt for land and equipment. Farm debt doubled between 1978 and 1984. Then record production made commodity prices fall, an embargo against the USSR decreased exports, and the price of farmland continued to increase. All of these factors displaced many farmers and ranchers. In 1987 alone, 5,500 farmers and ranchers were uprooted in North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota.
In response to this crisis, NDSU began a program for displaced farmers. A New York Times Article from this date in 1987 explains it. Dean H. Roald Lund and his associate, T. Ross Wilkinson created the Farmer Career Change program in 1985, after a graduating senior, Ward Eichhorst, asked if the college could help his farming father in Washburn.
At the request of Senator Quentin Burdick, the Department of Agriculture approved a pilot program. Under an agreement between the State of North Dakota and the United States Department of Agriculture, they expanded the pilot program in 1987 by $600,000 to offer financial grants to displaced farmers through 1990. That money provided up to 60 full scholarships for farmers, ranchers, and spouses in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota. Half of the money came from the Department of Agriculture. The other half came from the North Dakota Rural Rehabilitation Corporation, a relic from 1937 that assisted farmers affected by the Great Depression.
Many people who utilized the program were grateful for it. One man, Mike Friederich, took over his family farm at the age of 19, only to lose it 16 years later. He stated, ''When the farm went under, I lost every damn thing I had in my life: my livelihood, my friends, even my wife.” He began driving a truck part-time, but felt incomplete, saying, “...there’s got to be more to life than hauling sugar beets.” Under the program, he was able to study agricultural economics to help him look for jobs as a commodities broker or specialist in agricultural credit. He said, “It wasn't easy doing this, being older and all, but I'm beginning to feel good about myself again.”
Dakota Datebook written by Lucid Thomas
Sources:
