The older siblings did the field work. Corn and wheat were the cash commodities at the turn of the century. Soybeans were virtually unheard of. Oats were grown for the livestock feed and to help establish the clover stand. Although some believe crop rotation is a new idea, a rotation of two years of corn and one each of oats and hay was common practice, the men said.
Crop rotation is still the order of the day.
However, that is just about where the similarities between the time periods end. In 1910 an average farm was 139 acres. The amount of corn planted depended on how many acres could be easily harvested in the short time farmers had to harvest the crop. Today's farm is an average of 500 acres. Soybeans have become as popular a crop as corn, and farm acres are usually divided between corn and soybeans, with some pasture.