Farming Carrizo

Farming Carrizo. . , The first homesteaders arrived on the Carrizo Plain in 1885. The area's limited and unpredictable rainfall, averaging only 8-10 inches per year, made cultivation challenging and risky. Dryland grain farming, however, emerged as a successful business in an area formerly focused on ranching. , , The plowlines visible along the foothills serve as reminders of the early days, when equipment drawn by horses or mules worked the land. In the 1940s more efficient tractors and modern harvester machines arrived, making large-scale farming possible. , , Mechanized agriculture was a very noisy affair, with a diesel tractor pulling a harvester powered by a gasoline engine. Typically, the captain on the harvester signaled the tractor driver by yanking a cord that rang a bell. Shouting was futile. Harvest was usually in July, when temperatures spiked to 100-110 °F. At days' end the crew often jumped into the cattle watering troughs for relief. , , Harvesters (such as the ones on display here) were cumbersome and difficult to operate, requiring a crew of 3-10 men. The earliest harvesters were pulled by a team of 16-20 horses or mules. Harvesters operated through the 1940s before being replaced by more efficient tractors and, later, threshers.