History of Farming in Oklahoma
Objectives
Students will discuss the agricultural origins of every day items. Students
will read about farming in Oklahoma and write comparison/contrast essays.
Activities
1. Read and discuss “Agriculture Puts the Puzzle Together,” the separate
reading page and vocabulary included with this lesson. Lead a discussion
based on the following:
—Describe the basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter that are common
to all people. How does agriculture help meet these needs?
—Define and explain the role of the farmer as the producer and us as
consumers. What agricultural products do we consume?
—How are farmers paid for their products? What do we use to purchase
the products?
2. Divide the class into groups and provide copies of “Farming in
Oklahoma,” below. Assign one of the sections in the passage to each
group.
—Students will read their assigned sections in groups and work
collaboratively to present them to the class. Students will present the
main idea and supporting statements for their group sections.
—Discuss each section as a class.
3. Students will make a timeline of the reading related to important events
that were occurring during the same time period (Great Depression, Dust
Bowl, World War I, World War II, etc.)
4. Use the “Compare-Contrast” outline included with this lesson to discuss
compare-Contrast essays. Students will each select two sections from the
reading for comparison/contrast. Students will write essays comparing
and contrasting the two sections they have selected, taking the following
steps:
—Plan and prewrite a first draft.
—Build on ideas in multi-paragraph essays.
—Edit and revise multiple drafts for organization, transitions, to improve
coherence and meaning, sentence variety, and use of consistent tone and
point of view.
—Use resources to find correct spellings of words.
—Create a focused, organized and coherent piece of writing.
5. Provide copies of the two reading passages at the end of this document,
“Pioneer Farming in Oklahoma,” (an excerpt from the previous longer
passage) and “Farming in Prairie City.”
—Students will read the two passages and write essays comparing and
contrasting the two different treatments of the topic, as follows:
• Compare the methods the authors used to achieve their purpose.
Include support using tectual evidence.
• Evaluate points of view and perspectives. Explain how different
points of view contribute to the meaning or the work.
•Make connections between the two texts to support inferences.
Oklahoma Academic
Standards
GRADE 9
Speaking and Listening:
R.1,2,3; W.1,2. Reading and
Writing Process: R.1,2,3;
W.1,2,3,4,5. Critical Reading
and Writing: R.1,2,7; W.2
Oklahoma History: 4.3,5,6;
5.2A,7
GRADE 10
Speaking and Listening:
R.1,2,3; W.1,2. Reading and
Writing Process: R.1,2,3;
W.1,2,3,4,5. Critical Reading
and Writing: R.1,2,7; W.2
GRADE 11
Speaking and Listening:
R.1,2,3,4. Reading and Writing
Process: R.1,2,3; W.1,2,3,4,5.
Critical Reading and Writing:
R.1,2,7; W.2
GRADE 12
Speaking and Listening:
R.1,2,3,4. Reading and Writing
Process: R.1,2,3; W.1,2,3,4,5.
Critical Reading and Writing:
R.1,2,7; W.2
Reading Page
Farming in Oklahoma
PIONEERS
After treaties with the American Indians and federal legislation opened up Oklahoma lands for settlement
between 1889 and 1906, agriculture developed very rapidly. Although the Indians in eastern Oklahoma had
done some farming, mainly by leasing their lands to white tenants, farming in Oklahoma did not become very
important until after 1889. Following the Land Run of April 22, 1889, when thousands of people rushed into
the Unassigned Lands, agriculture moved swiftly toward becoming the basis of the Oklahoma economy. As
the president of the State Board of Agriculture wrote in 1907, “agriculture is, and will be for years to come if
not forever, the leading industry in our State.” His prediction was partially correct, because agriculture was the
state’s leading industry well into the twentieth century.
The pioneer settlers who pushed quickly into Oklahoma Territory to establish farms on free or cheap land
did not have an easy time. Confronted by periodic droughts, low prices for crops and livestock, lack of capital,
and other problems, they struggled to get a firm foothold on the land. Many of them initially lived in sod houses
or dugouts and provided most of their own subsistence by growing garden vegetables, milking a few cows,
butchering their own meat, and raising a few acres of corn. Times were so difficult and farmers so desperate
in 1891, because of the severe drought in parts of the territory, that the railroads provided some seed grain so
farmers could plant a crop.
Despite the hardships endured in the early years of settlement, the federal census reported that between
1890 and 1900 the number of farms increased from 8,826 to 108,000. By 1910, when the census was taken after
statehood, the number had jumped to 190,192. Of this number 13,209 farms were operated by African American
farmers. In fewer than twenty years the area that became Oklahoma added about 180,000 farms to the nation’s
total. This was one of the most rapidly settled agricultural frontiers in American history. After 1910 the number
of farms in Oklahoma remained about the same for a generation, between 190,000 and 210,000, until a steady
drop began in the late 1930s.
Oklahoma farmers produced a wide variety of crops including corn, cotton, winter wheat, oats, milo maize,
potatoes, sweet potatoes, peanuts, broomcorn, cowpeas, alfalfa, wild hay, and others. They also produced and
sold poultry, eggs, cheese, butter, and garden and orchard products. The main crops by acreage and value,
however, were corn, cotton, and winter wheat.
Corn was an ideal crop for a largely self-sufficient family in the early years of settlement. It was easy to
raise and was valuable as both a feed for livestock and food for the family table. A farm wife could prepare
grits, cornbread, and other foods from cornmeal, ground at home or at a local mill. Most farmers planted some
corn, and by 1910 more than five million acres were grown. This was more than twice as much as any other
crop.
COTTON AND WHEAT
Cotton was Oklahoma’s leading money crop, and production increased rapidly after about 1900. A decade
later cotton farmers produced 923,000 bales on 2,324,000 acres. In the first decade of the twentieth century
cotton growing was concentrated in central and southwestern counties of the state. In 1907
Lincoln County had thousands of acres of cotton, and some was grown in Woodward and
surrounding counties. By 1910 Oklahoma ranked sixth among the cotton-producing states
with a crop value of $61.8 million, as compared to the value of the corn crop of $47.8
million and wheat of $22.2 million.
The growing emphasis on cotton, however, raised serious questions among some of the
state’s leaders because of the system’s effect on farm families. J. P. Connors, president of the
State Board of Agriculture, wrote in 1908 that by concentrating on cotton, instead of diversifying their crops
and raising livestock, farmers became trapped in a destructive credit system. As early as 1910 some 54 percent
of Oklahoma farmers were tenants, and tenancy was even higher among cotton farmers. The rate was highest
among African American sharecroppers. Connors did not advise against planting cotton but urged farmers to
diversify and raise as much of their own living as possible.
Representatives of the newly established agricultural college at Stillwater (Oklahoma A&M, now
Oklahoma State University), directors of the Agricultural Experiment Stations, and editors of farm publications
were among others who urged farmers to diversify their operations. Farmers were advised to attend conferences
and institutes to gain better knowledge of how they might improve their income and of how farm wives could
increase their contribution to the family welfare. For example, in 1916 the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) reported that farm women in Bryan County experienced greater success in dairying and raising poultry
under the guidance of a home demonstration agent. Despite the effort to better educate farmers and improve life
on the family farm, many farmers were either unwilling or unable to make the recommended changes. This was
especially the case in locations where cotton was the principal crop.
By the eve of World War I Oklahoma farmers had established an agricultural pattern
that would persist for another generation. Wheat growing rapidly expanded in the central and
northwestern parts of the state while corn acreage steadily declined. By 1920 only a little more
than half as much corn was planted as in 1910. Wheat acreage, on the other hand, more than
doubled in that decade. As farmers pushed farther west into the drier parts of the state, especially
the Panhandle, where rainfall averaged less than twenty inches annually, they planted more
drought-resistant sorghum crops such as milo maize and Kaffir corn.
By 1920 the average size Oklahoma farm was 166 acres. However, there were huge
variations in size. The largest category of farms, or 34 percent, was from 100 to 174 acres, the traditional 160acre homestead. However, there were thousands under fifty acres, many of them operated by white and black
sharecroppers. The large farms, those of more than 260 acres, made up about 14 percent of the total. Most of
the state’s farms were family enterprises in which the operator used horse and mule power to pull their plows,
cultivators, and other machinery. A few large wheat farmers were beginning to adopt tractors and combines, but
full-scale tractor farming was still in the future. Farm families provided much of their own living, especially
outside the main cotton-producing areas, and most of their own labor. Men and sometimes women, as well as
children, worked in the fields, milked cows, and did other chores. Women tended gardens, raised chickens,
made and sold butter, and marketed eggs. Their work contributed greatly to the economic condition of residents.
The federal census of 1920 reported that on the average Oklahoma farm families provided 57 percent of their
own food.
Oklahoma’s 194,000 farmers were just beginning to be exposed to modern
conveniences by 1920. Only 4 percent had electricity, 1 percent owned trucks, and 3
percent had acquired tractors to replace or supplement horse and mule power. However,
an increasing number of farmers were becoming better connected to the larger world: 25
percent had automobiles, and 37 percent enjoyed telephones. Overall, it was still the horseand-wagon and dirt-road period of farming in the Sooner State. The benefits of electricity,
running water, and indoor bathroom facilities were still nearly a generation away for most.
RADICAL FARMERS
The deflation and severe drop in farm prices that began in late 1920 severely affected all of American
agriculture. Oklahoma farmers were among those hardest hit. The prices of cotton, wheat, and livestock, the
main sources of agricultural income, drastically dropped. Between 1919 and 1920 cotton prices declined from
thirty-five cents a pound to twelve cents; wheat brought only half as much in 1921 as it had in 1919. The cost of
things farmers had to buy did not drop in proportion to those of farm prices, which created what the economists
called a cost-price squeeze.
These conditions intensified a spirit of political unrest and radicalism among Oklahoma farmers who
believed that the large corporate and financial institutions had become their oppressors. There had been a
substantial number of discontented farmers even before 1907 statehood. Some of them had joined the Socialist
Party, which advocated state-operated enterprises such as a state bank and state-owned grain elevators,
warehouses, and other facilities that Socialists believed could serve farmers better and at lower costs. Farmers
complained loudly about high interest rates, especially those charged to tenants and sharecroppers. In some
cases interest rates were as high as 40 percent a year on loans. Many farmers in Oklahoma voted for Fred
W. Holt, the Socialist Party candidate for governor in 1914, when the party polled about fifty-two thousand
votes. Farmers also joined the Nonpartisan League in 1918 and demanded that the state establish state-owned
marketing facilities to help farmers.
Given this background of protest, it is not surprising that financially depressed farmers were the most
numerous supporters of the Oklahoma Farmer-Labor Reconstruction League, and of Jack Walton, the
organization’s candidate for governor in 1922. The league’s legislative goals called for much the same program
advocated by the Socialists. Farmers believed that state-owned enterprises would help their economic situation.
While the farm vote helped Walton win the governorship, he was unable to push any of the league’s programs
through the legislature and was eventually impeached. Farmers were left without any assistance from state
government. John A. Simpson, a leader in the Oklahoma Farmers’ Union and later president of the National
Farmers Union, was the most active and influential farm spokesperson in Oklahoma.
Better prices by 1923 and 1924 for both wheat and cotton reduced farm discontent, although life on
thousands of Oklahoma farms was a struggle. There were a few good years in the 1920s but also some very
bad ones for commercial farmers. In 1925 cotton farmers planted 5.2 million acres of cotton and produced
1,691,000 bales that brought seventeen cents a pound. But the next year a huge crop drove prices down to only
nine cents a pound. Wheat prices were also good in 1925, bringing $1.40 a bushel, but within a couple of years
it was only a dollar a bushel. In short, the extreme changes in the price of farm crops and livestock were hard on
farm income. Moreover, both interest rates and taxes continued to be high. By 1930, 61 percent of Oklahoma’s
farmers were tenants, and in some counties tenancy was as high as 70 percent.
GREAT DEPRESSION, NEW DEAL, DUST BOWL
However hard the economic struggle was for farmers in the agricultural depression of the 1920s, the onset
of the Great Depression in 1929 and 1930 created even worse conditions. By 1931 and 1932 farm commodity
prices had dropped to disastrous levels. The farm price of the huge cotton crop of 1931 fell to about five cents
a pound, and wheat brought as little as thirty cents a bushel. Prices of other crops and livestock also dropped.
Peanuts, which had become an important crop for some farmers in the southwestern part of the state, declined
to as low as $1.60 for one hundred pounds, or about one and one-half cents a pound. The gross income of all
Oklahoma farm production, both crops and livestock, dropped from $314 million in 1929 to $115 million in
1932.
Under these circumstances, what could farm families do? They had tried to improve their position in the
economy in the 1920s by forming agricultural cooperatives. They had sought to increase their efficiency through
agricultural mechanization by using more and better production equipment. They had appealed for state and
federal help, but nothing had brought any relief. About all the USDA could suggest was for farmers to become
more self-sufficient. But, according to one writer, farmers had lowered their standard of living “to an extent
reminiscent of pioneer days.”
Finally, in May 1933 farmers began to see a glimmer of hope through Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal
when Congress created the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) and subsequently enacted other
legislation to help farmers. Believing that huge agricultural surpluses were responsible for low prices, the AAA
provided Oklahoma’s cotton and wheat farmers cash benefit payments in return for reducing their acreage.
Producers of some other crops also received federal benefits, and programs were implemented to assist hog and
cattle raisers. To bring supply and demand into better balance, farmers plowed under a portion of their growing
cotton in the spring of 1933. Drought cut wheat production, but farmers received benefit payments if they
promised to reduce acreage in 1934. Federal programs also included better farm credit facilities and payment for
certain soil conservation practices. Some farmers also received cash from work relief projects.
Federal programs were very significant in helping Oklahoma farmers get through the Great Depression.
For example, in the fall of 1933 the state’s wheat growers received $6,840,000 in cash benefit payments, and
cotton farmers realized millions more. Cash payments continued through the 1930s and beyond. Because cash
payments to farmers of the main crops were made for reducing acreage, the larger operators benefited most from
direct government payments. Small farmers, especially sharecroppers, received little help. This left thousands of
small family farmers still struggling to survive.
Federal farm programs helped farmers get better prices for their products, but nothing could stop the
drought and severe dust storms that struck western Oklahoma between 1933 and 1937. The western and
northwestern counties all suffered, but conditions were worst in the Panhandle. The economic catastrophe
created by wind, drought, and poor prices caused such distress and financial hardship that thousands abandoned
their farms and migrated to California and elsewhere. Many of
these migrants left the eastern part of the state as well. The Dust
Bowl out-migration was most dramatic between 1935 and 1940
when the number of farms decreased by 33,638. The drought
conditions in the 1930s encouraged some farmers in western
Oklahoma to turn to irrigation. That area rested on a huge
underground aquifer, and by the 1930s deep drilling and pump
technology made deep well irrigation practical. A few farmers
turned to irrigation before 1950, but land under irrigation
expanded quite rapidly in the next thirty years.
MOVING TO THE CITY
The highest number of farms in Oklahoma history, 213,325, was recorded in 1935. These figures reflect
some return to the farm by town dwellers who wanted to raise part of their own food or who no longer had an
urban job. From 1935 onward, however, the number of farms dramatically declined. Even though during World
War II both crops and prices were favorable to farmers, by 1950 Oklahoma had only 142,246 farms. Many of
the small operators concluded that they could not make a living, or they found better conditions in nonfarm
employment. Even somewhat better living conditions could not keep families “down on the farm.” By 1950
Oklahoma’s farm population was only 25 percent of the state’s total, compared to 50 percent in 1920.
In the late 1930s living conditions on the farm were beginning a major transformation, largely because the Rural
Electrification Administration (REA) was established in 1935. By 1950 about two-thirds of Oklahoma’s farmers
had electricity. In addition to electric lights, many farm families began to enjoy running water, bathroom
facilities, home freezers, refrigerators, electric washing machines, and other conveniences. By midcentury the
better-off farmers experienced about the same home conveniences and standard of living as their town and city
cousins.
By 1950 it was clear that a major restructuring was occurring in Oklahoma agriculture. Farms were
becoming fewer and larger as the better-capitalized and more efficient producers expanded by renting or
buying more land from departing neighbors. From 1950 to 1980 the number of farms dropped from 142,246 to
72,000, and the average size more than doubled from 253 acres to 481 acres. By 1997, the last federal census
of agriculture in the twentieth century, Oklahoma reported a few more farms, but this was caused partially by a
change in the definition of a farm.
By the 1970s the state’s commercial agriculture was concentrated in the hands of relatively few farmers.
In 1978 the market value of all farm products sold was $2,367,696,000. Fifty-five percent of that value was
produced by only 3,716 farmers and ranchers. These large corporate farms were highly capitalized with huge
investments in equipment such as tractors, trucks, grain combines, mechanical cotton pickers, hay balers, and
other expensive machines. Farms were significant business enterprises that required not only large amounts of
capital but also good management to be successful. In 1997, for example, more than four hundred Oklahoma
farmers sold in excess of $500,000 worth of wheat, and 114 of them more than $1 million worth.
Thousands of small farmers had become “sidewalk and suitcase farmers”—part-time or hobby farmers—
and derived their main income from off-farm work. Of the 74,214 farms reported in 1997, over half, or 41,154,
of the operators listed their main occupation as something other than farming. Only 33,060 listed farming as
their principal occupation. Whether it was grain or cotton farming, raising peanuts or sorghums, or raising
chickens, hogs, or cattle, the operations were mainly in the hands of large operators. By the end of the century
most of the hogs and poultry were raised in confined conditions by a few producers. Despite a growing degree
of concentration in agriculture, most farms continued to be family owned. But the successful family farms of
the 1990s were dramatically different from those in the years before World War II.
By the 1990s the annual value of Oklahoma’s agricultural production annually ranged between $4 billion
and $5 billion. In 1997 the figure was $4.1 billion. Of this amount, crops were responsible for $908 million and
livestock and poultry products for $3.2 billion. Wheat had become by far the main commercial crop, leading
hay, cotton, sorghums, peanuts, and soybeans by a large margin. By the late twentieth century Oklahoma usually
ranked second, third, or fourth in the nation in winter wheat production.
While the number of farms and the farm population declined sharply after World War II, agriculture
continued to be a major factor in Oklahoma’s economy. Farming not only supplied food and fiber for state,
national, and world needs, it furnished the raw materials for processing and manufacturing industries that
provided consumer goods and nonfarm employment.
By 2000 only a very small percentage of Oklahomans lived on farms. However, the historical experiences
of farming and farm life have placed an indelible imprint upon the state and its people. The steady decline of
the farm population and agriculture’s lessening role in the economy have not eliminated the traits and character
associated with strong rural traditions. Hard work, honesty, responsibility, neighborliness, a cohesive family
life, and practicality are some of the historic farm traits that have been incorporated into the lives of modern
Oklahomans. Indeed, the state’s farm experiences have left a permanent mark, not only on its economy, but also
on Sooner history and culture that will take generations to erase, if ever.
—Gilbert C. Fite, “Farming,” Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture, Oklahoma Historical Society,
http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entryname=FARMING
Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma
Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.
Reading Page
Pioneer Farming in Oklahoma
Excerpt from previous passage, Gilbert C. Fite, “Farming,” Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture,
Oklahoma Historical Society, http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entryname=FARMING
After treaties with the American Indians and federal legislation opened up Oklahoma lands for settlement
between 1889 and 1906, agriculture developed very rapidly. Although the Indians in eastern Oklahoma had
done some farming, mainly by leasing their lands to white tenants, farming in Oklahoma did not become very
important until after 1889. Following the Land Run of April 22, 1889, when thousands of people rushed into
the Unassigned Lands, agriculture moved swiftly toward becoming the basis of the Oklahoma economy. As
the president of the State Board of Agriculture wrote in 1907, “agriculture is, and will be for years to come if
not forever, the leading industry in our State.” His prediction was partially correct, because agriculture was the
state’s leading industry well into the twentieth century.
The pioneer settlers who pushed quickly into Oklahoma Territory to establish farms on free or cheap land
did not have an easy time. Confronted by periodic droughts, low prices for crops and livestock, lack of capital,
and other problems, they struggled to get a firm foothold on the land. Many of them initially lived in sod houses
or dugouts and provided most of their own subsistence by growing garden vegetables, milking a few cows,
butchering their own meat, and raising a few acres of corn. Times were so difficult and farmers so desperate
in 1891, because of the severe drought in parts of the territory, that the railroads provided some seed grain so
farmers could plant a crop.
Despite the hardships endured in the early years of settlement, the federal census reported that between
1890 and 1900 the number of farms increased from 8,826 to 108,000. By 1910, when the census was taken after
statehood, the number had jumped to 190,192. Of this number 13,209 farms were operated by African American
farmers. In fewer than twenty years the area that became Oklahoma added about 180,000 farms to the nation’s
total. This was one of the most rapidly settled agricultural frontiers in American history. After 1910 the number
of farms in Oklahoma remained about the same for a generation, between 190,000 and 210,000, until a steady
drop began in the late 1930s.
Oklahoma farmers produced a wide variety of crops including corn, cotton, winter wheat, oats, milo maize,
potatoes, sweet potatoes, peanuts, broomcorn, cowpeas, alfalfa, wild hay, and others. They also produced and
sold poultry, eggs, cheese, butter, and garden and orchard products. The main crops by acreage and value,
however, were corn, cotton, and winter wheat.
Corn was an ideal crop for a largely self-sufficient family in the early years of settlement. It was easy to
raise and was valuable as both a feed for livestock and food for the family table. A farm wife could prepare
grits, cornbread, and other foods from cornmeal, ground at home or at a local mill. Most farmers planted some
corn, and by 1910 more than five million acres were grown. This was more than twice as much as any other
crop.
Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma
Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.
Reading Page
Farming in Prairie City
From Prairie City, by Angie Debo, pp.25-27
Everyone knew that Mrs. Lockwood had only one dress—of hickory shirting—which she washed at night
and ironed in the morning, clad in her petticoat and her husband’s shirt. The children wore cast-down garments
of every shape and hue. The men’s clothes were loaded with patches, and two or three went barefooted and unashamed. “These clothes have got to last till harvest,” they said; “then I’ll dress like a dude.”
For the wheat grew green and rank during the winter of 1890-91. It furnished pasture for the cows, and the
cows converted it into cream and yellow butter for the settlers. All the wild new land lay in disciplined beauty
that third spring—dark corn growing, sturdy kaffir on fresh sod, stiff oats, and dimpling, waving fields of wheat.
Nobody had ever seen such wheat.
But harvesting was a perplexing problem. The acreage was still small—twenty to forty acres of wheat to
a farm, and a smaller patch of oats—but a binder cost one hundred and forty dollars. (“All on account of that
blasted Republican tarriff,” said Jim Cobb; “they ship binders across the ocean and sell them cheaper than they
do right here.”) A few of the older farmers were fortunate enough to have machines, which they had brought
from the old home. Others on the strength of their prospects managed to borrow money from a grain buyer
or make the purchase on credit from an implement dealer in one of the railroad towns. To some the cost was
prohibitive; they had to rely on hiring their neighbors to cut their fields.
...Thus each homesteader struggled with his individual difficulty. And as the wheat riped, all was merged
into the stress and toil, the zest and excitement of that first harvest. As one long day of perfect weather followed
another, the grain fell evenly before the sickle and was piled into smooth golden shocks. For the first time in all
the brooding ages the prairie landscape stretched field after field to the horizon bearing this crown of ordered
beauty.
...As soon as their first fields were threshed, stories began to circulate of the marvelous yield—of Tom
Lockwood’s twenty acres turning out thirty-seven bushels to the acre, of Pat O’Hagan’s thirty-acre field
producing at the rate of forty-three bushels, of John Clark’s four hundred and sixty bushels from eleven acres, of
an average yield of twenty bushels. And the oats, it was said, were threshing out sixty bushels to the acre. If the
people suspected exaggeration in these accounts, they appreciated them the more; it showed faith in the country.
Hauling a load to Hennessey was a hard day’s work for the half-starved, skinny horses; most of the wheat
would be left in the granaries until winter. But everyone hauled a few loads soon after threshing. The price was
good that year—65 cents or more a bushel. Families bloomed out in new clothes, farmers bought needed machinery, people no longer did without necessary groceries.
Debo, Angie, Prairie City: The Story of an American Community, University of Oklahoma Press, 1998.
Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma
Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.
Compare-Contrast Essay
Reading Passage 1
Reading Passage 2
How are they alike?
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How are they different?
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with regard to
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Summarize:
Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma
Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.
Vocabulary
acre—a measure of land area in the US and Britain
that equals 4,840 square yards (about 4,047 square
meters), about the size of a football field
Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)—
an agency of the US Department of Agriculture
responsible for overseeing the Agricultural Adjustment
Act, a federal law of the New Deal era which reduced
agricultural production by paying farmers subsidies
not to plant on part of their land and to kill off excess
livestock. Its purpose was to reduce crop surplus and
therefore effectively raise the value of crops.
agriculture— the science or occupation of farming
alfalfa— a type of plant that is grown mostly as food
for farm animals
aquifer— a layer of rock or sand that can absorb and
hold water
bales— large closely pressed bundles, bound and
usually wrapped
binder— a machine that cuts grain and ties it into
bundles
broomcorn— any of several tall cultivated sorghums
having stiff-branched panicles used in brooms and
brushes
bushel— a unit for measuring an amount of fruit and
grain that is equal to about 35.2 liters in the US
brooding—sitting quietly and thoughtfully
capital— accumulated goods devoted to the
production of other good
capitalized— provided the money needed to start or
develop (a business)
census— the official process of counting the number
of people in a country, city, or town and collecting
information about them
cohesive— closely united
combine— a machine that cuts crops (such as corn or
wheat) and separates the seeds of the plant from the
rest of the plant
commercial— related to or used in the buying and
selling of goods and services
commodity— something that is bought and sold
cooperative— an enterprise or organization owned by
and operated for the benefit of those using its services
corporate— involved or associated with a large
business or organization that under the law has the
rights and duties of an individual and follows a
specific purpose
cost-price squeeze— a period of increasing costs
and simultaneous decreasing or stable prices, e.g.,
commodity crop farmers facing increasing costs of
inputs (fertilizer, seeds, etc.) and decreasing crop
prices
cowpeas— a sprawling herb of the legume family
related to the bean and widely cultivated in the
southern US especially for forage and green manure
credit— money that a bank or business will allow a
person to use and then pay back in the future
crop— a plant or plant product that is grown by
farmers
cultivator— a tool or machine that is used to prepare
the soil and kill weeds around growing plants
deflation— a contraction in the volume of available
money or credit that results in a general decline in
prices
dimpling—curving in on a surface
diversifying—producing a greater variety
droughts— long periods of time during which there is
very little or no rain
dugout— a shelter that is made by digging a hole in
the ground or into the side of a hill
enterprises—systematic purposeful activities
fiber— a thin thread of natural or artificial material
that can be used to make cloth, paper, etc.
frontier— a region that forms the margin of settled or
developed territory
generation— a group of people born and living
during the same time
grain elevator— a building for elevating, storing,
discharging, and sometimes processing grain
granary— a storehouse for threshed grain
Great Depression— a period of time in the US in the
1930s in which there was little economic activity and
many people did not have jobs
grits—a type of coarsely ground hulled corn that is
eaten especially in the southern US
harvest— the act or process of gathering in a crop
hickory shirting— a soft but sturdy striped twill
cotton denim woven with small brown and white, blue
and white and occasionally red and white stripes and
some checks
home demonstration agent— a person responsible
for disseminating educational information related to
agriculture and home economics to individuals who
did not attend college
homestead— a piece of government land that a
person could acquire by living on it and farming it
when the western part of the US was being settled
implement—device used in the performance of a task
income— money that is earned from work,
investments, business, etc.
interest rate— a charge for borrowed money
generally a percentage of the amount borrowed
irrigation—the watering of land by artificial means to
foster plant growth
kafir— a grain sorghum with stout short-jointed
somewhat juicy stalks and erect heads
leasing— using (something) for a period of time in
return for payment
legislation— a law or set of laws made by a
government
livestock— farm animals (such as cows, horses, and
pigs) that are kept, raised, and used by people
migrants— people who go from one place to another
especially to find work
milo maize— a small usually early and droughtresistant grain sorghum with compact bearded heads
of large yellow or whitish seeds
money crop— an agricultural crop grown for sale to
return a profit
Nonpartisan League— a political organization
founded in 1915 that advocated state control of
mills, grain elevators, banks and other farm-related
industries in order to reduce the power of corporate
political interests
Oklahoma Farmer-Labor Reconstruction
League— farmer-labor group formed in 1921
calling for cooperative laws, state ownership of grain
elevators, flour mills, packing plants, and mines, free
textbooks, broader worker compensation laws, eighthour work days, and minimum wages
Oklahoma Farmers’ Union—union of farmers
dedicated to improving farm incomes through
cooperative action
oppressor— someone who treats (a person or group
of people) in a cruel or unfair way
pasture—land or a plot of land used for grazing
pioneer— one of the first to settle in a territory
plow— a piece of farm equipment that is used to dig
into and turn over soil especially to prepare the soil for
planting
poll— to ask (several or many people) a question or
a series of questions in order to get information about
what most people think about something
prairie— a large, mostly flat area of land in North
America that has few trees and is covered in grasses
prohibitive— so high in cost that people are
prevented from using or buying something
prospect— an opportunity for something to happen
radicalism— having extreme political or social views
that are not shared by most people
rank— luxuriantly or excessively vigorous in growth
raw materials— the basic materials that can be used
to make or create something
riped— fully grown and developed
rural— of or relating to the country, country people or
life, or agriculture
Rural Electrification Administration (REA)—
agency responsible for administering the Rural
Electrification Act of 1936, which provided federal
loans for the installation of electrical distribution
systems to serve isolated rural areas of the US
sharecroppers— tenant farmers who are provided
with credit for seed, tools, living quarters, and food,
who work the land, and receive an agreed share of the
value of the crop minus charges
shock— a pile of sheaves of grain or stalks of Indian
corn set up in a field with the butt ends down
sickle— a tool with a curved metal blade attached to a
short handle that is used for cutting grass, grain, etc.
Socialist Party— an organization that advocates
collective or governmental ownership and
administration of the means of production and
distribution of goods
sod— the grass- and forb-covered surface of the
ground
sod houses—house built with bricks made of sod
soil conservation practices— actions that prevent soil
loss from erosion
sorghum— a kind of tropical grass that is grown for
food; also : the grain that grows on this grass
subsistence— the smallest amount (as of food and
clothing) necessary to support life
surplus— the amount that remains when use or need
is satisfied
tariff— a tax on goods coming into or leaving a
Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma
Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.
country
tenant— one who rents or leases (as a house) from a
landlord
traits— qualities that make one person or thing
different from another
threshed— separated the seeds of corn, wheat, etc.,
from the plant by using a special machine or tool
treaty— an official agreement that is made between
two or more countries or groups
Unassigned Lands— lands ceded to the US by the
Creek (Muskogee) and Seminole Indians following
the Civil War and on which no other tribes had been
settled
urban— of or relating to cities and the people who
live in them
work relief projects—projects whose goal is to
provide jobs for people who are unemployed
yield— the amount of something that is produced by a
plant, farm, etc.
zest— a feeling of enjoyment and enthusiasm
Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma
Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.