The River Warren and the Struggling Farmer :: Warren

The River Warren and the Struggling Farmer    The alarm clock sounds every morning at five o'clock, not a Sony or any other form of electrical device, but the sounds of the roosters crowing and horses scurrying around the dew filled pasture eagerly awaiting their morning grain. One can hardly ignore crashing and banging sounds that the hogs make as they lift their feeder covers with their noses and bounce them up and down to alert their owner he is late for breakfast again. As the farmer stumbles out of bed, he is greeted by tantalizing aroma of fresh coffee and his wife's award winning biscuits. He quickly throws on a pair of pants and heads to the table with his shirt halfway unbuttoned and his boots untied. He quickly scarves down his breakfast and is out the door ready for another day of work, with out so as thank you to his wife for meal that she was up at four o'clock to prepare.    For most Americans a life like this only exits in their memories of Little House on the Prairie, and it is hard for them to imagine what it would be like if they had to do so much as squeeze their own orange juice. But for the average family of the early nineteenth century it was a way of life. There were no supermarkets or grocery stores where food could be easily purchased. The choices were easy, farm or starve! For the most part people choice to farm.    Means and methods of farming have changed greatly in the last hundred years. The small time farmers are a thing of the past. Every year many farms are going under do to a fall crop market. The price of equipment and farmland has also increased a great deal, and the market is far from keeping up. If this does not change the supermarkets may not have a produce section. A hundred years ago this would problem would never been for seen.    Back then means of farming were very difficult and each member of the family played an important role if the farm was going to survive. The women would always arise about an hour before the men and get breakfast started.