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It’s Not Your Granparent’s Farm, Or is It?

Event Details

May 2, 2013 9:00 AM — April 26, 2014 5:00 PM
Location: Grout Museum of History & Science

Event Description

When most people think of the Iowa farm, they immediately picture corn, beans, hogs and beef. However, in today’s changing economic landscape, small farming operations that once grew these four cash crops and livestock cannot compete with the larger, often corporate production units. Many family farms look for ways to continue their way of life and earn a living raising a variety of crops and farm animals and selling their products locally. A look at Iowa’s rich farming past as well as present methods will be discussed. A life-size diorama of a “Farmer’s Market,” will immerse visitors in the importance of supporting these local Iowa businesses and the families who raise everything from fruits, vegetables, ethnic foods for Iowa’s changing population, vineyards, dairy products, vintage seeds, trees, buffalo, goats, llamas, ostrich and bees. Guests will “shop” the displays to learn how these small enterprises produce and distribute their goods, whether at a Farmer’s Market or in small locally owned stores such as Hansen’s Dairy, which does it all from production to distribution, including operating their own stores that sell their products plus other goods produced by small family farms. Videos, photographs, artifacts, and ephemera will enhance the story-line, while a hands-on “Little Farmer” area will give the small visitor a chance to experience the exhibit while learning what farming in Iowa, past and present, is like.