Isern isn't sure what to call the next era. The northern European ancestry is being affected by influxes of capital and labor. If you're not willing to roll with it, you're left on the margins, Isern says. That's why we're so exercised about corporate hog operations. Isern believes the agricultural scene is becoming a frontier again.
Bonanza farming ends due to tax law changes and inflated land values.
Some 250,000 people settle in North Dakota from 1898 to 1915, many in the Missouri Plateau. The homesteading rate peaks at 2.7 million acres in 1906 and tapers off in the 1920s. In 1912, Congress reduces the homesteading requirement from five years to three for land ownership. Residence is required in seven months of each year. In 1914, the Clayton Antitrust Act allows the formation of farmer cooperatives.