Ranching Continual Change and Diversity Chapter III

Great Crops

The good times of the 1960's and 1970's were filled with positivity and optimism. More land in cultivation, and profitable prices for livestock and other commodities, made sense of the notion that when you work harder you gain more monetary wealth.

Garlic production increased in the Smith Valley during this period. There were farmers that previously grew onions and potatoes that started growing garlic for seed. It was grown for  multiple fresh market garlic and dehydrated spice producers in California. They adapted the same equipment that they used in onions. They planted two rows on forty inch beds and cultivated two beds at the same time. It was much different  than the large four row cultivation and propagation that is now a common practice. The irrigation was done by furrow-flood and was very labor intensive. It is now irrigated with sprinklers and drip tape.  The cloves were separated after hand harvest in the fields. This was done in small "cracking sheds" by mostly women crews. What was a  slow and difficult process is now totally mechanical and high production. It proved to be a profitable crop alternative for more than twenty years.

We built a new cattle feeding facility and feed mill in 1970-71. We moved to a new location about three miles from our existing mill and feedlot. The old facility had been built in the early 1930's and had a capacity of about three thousand head of cattle. At that time there was a cattle packing house about fifteen miles from the feedlot. Alfalfa hay, barley, wheat, oats, beet pulp, and  beet molasses made up the cattle rations. The grains were steamed and rolled. The hay was ground in a very large hammer mill. The new facility was a continuous flow mixing system rather than a batch system at the old mill. The rations also included corn, almond hulls, rice bran, cull prunes, and hominy feed.

Farming methods were changing with the opportunities in new technology applications. The most significant to irrigated agriculture was the introduction of laser controlled land leveling technologies. It allowed for accurate and uniform grade and slope control which contributed to positive affects in irrigation uniformity. The uniformity of water distribution increased the per acre production of the various crops and proved to be water saving.

These fields were originally laser leveled and terraced during the 1970's