GREEN GOLD CROP ROTATION & GRASSLAND FARMING 1950s FILM 52584

The American Society of Agriculture and Republic Steel Corporation joined forces to present “Green Gold,” a 1953 Wilding Pictures Production that captures life down on the farm. We meet the “Weston Family,” and as the film opens a father and son argue over what to do with farm land they’re currently using as a cow pasture. Thanks to the son’s vocational agricultural class, he has learned new methods of farming that surpasses that of his father, who inherited the farm from his father. During a lengthy narration the son explains how fields can be rotated and used for planting crops such as hay part of the time and for pasture the rest (mark 04:00). “Without plenty of good grass our whole way of life would change,” the son informs his father as he pulls out stacks of literature to support his claim. The two discuss grassland farming as the film continues, and in an effort to sway his father’s opinion meets with agricultural scientist Will M. Myers (mark 07:23) and discuss “the meaning of grassland farming.” (Grassland farming is a system of farming in which grass is the basic crop taken from the land whether as a direct cash crop or as a source of income through further processing such as by feeding cattle - a point described at length by Myers as various related scenes accompany his speech.) “Agriculture needs … more farmers growing more good grass and turning it into meat and milk,” says Myers at mark 10:43 as bovine parade across fields. After further discussion of fertilizer, erosion, and plowing, a county agent meets with dad to encourage him further on different uses for his pasture including rotation pastures and rotation grazing, and starting at mark 20:12 the son offers his own synopsis of the differences. Preparing for a speech before the Future Farmers of America, the son “practices” in front of his family at mark 24:05 as he revisits some of the points already covered in the film, as once again his points are illustrated by various scenes. As the film concludes, father and son finally agree to repair their pasture and include more grassland.
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[@Beaguins]

I love how old instructional films were made into stories. It's a lot more fun than PowerPoint slides.

[@kanshelmyles-lopez6359]

this is a great way to understand..what the teacher is trying to teach...

[@arden40]

My how the message to farmers changed about a decade and a half or so later when government policy began to overstep. Dr. Myers was the head of the Agronomy and Plant Genetics Department at the University of Minnesota at the time this was filmed. Teaching row crop farmers that diversifying their crop rotation with forages and using rotational grazing systems was the way to sustainability for the family farm and agriculture in this country. That meat and milk produced from grazed pasture and forage crops was the cheapest and most efficient. The message later turned to "get big or get out" and ag professionals advocating for diverse cropping and livestock systems became all but futile. Now we have a monoculture across the Midwest and much of the livestock in feedlots. The American farmer is still trying to overcome the policies that led to the denigration of our farming communities and the loss of this type of knowledge and teaching in agriculture.

[@ArmpitStudios]

The world needs more men smoking pipes.