Post by Arnold Colston-Westbrook on May 19, 2022 5:56:17 GMT
The End of the Agricultural Revolution
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Luka Wright looked out over the fields of what once was his farm. He smiled, he hadn't been forced to sell it all to some industrialist, his second son Carter had worked his ass off in order to save the family business from bankruptcy, and Luka was sure he had no way of fully repaying his son, not at his age and condition. Carter had put in hours of back breaking work with a few of his friends from the army to clear fields that had become overgrown, repaired broken equipment, and kept the horses in good health while Luka had been laid low after suffering a stroke. Luka sighed, it had taken months to be able to walk again and he still couldn't use his right hand properly with all the shaking that had never truly gone away.
But his son had done it, he had pulled them back from the brink. It was painful, they had been forced to fire many of the labourers, some of which had been with the family for decades, into a market where farm labourers were a dime a dozen and being laid off left and right, but it had to be done.
The first year was hard, the money made from selling as much of the harvest they could get away with went to repaying the debts they had already racked up. The second year had been better, with many of the debts repaid the profits could be used to replace the truly broken and worn out farm equipment, and hire skilled tradesmen to repair the house which had been practically falling apart in places from lack of maintenance. The third year was risky, Carter had taken out a loan in order to buy a pair of modern tractors and other industrial equipment to replace the patched, horse drawn stock, and to give Fredd the workhorse, who was getting a bit old for hard labour, a rest. It was at this point that Luka decided to officially give Carter the farm; he was out of his depth when it came to those 'new-fangled' machines and mechanisation.
The harvest that year was phenomenal.
The new equipment made the work a breeze, they had planted all the fields so quickly that they had time to prepare some extra land that had sat unused for generations because there was never enough time to work it. The larger harvest, on top of raised prices from all the agricultural exports which had suddenly gone from a tickle to a flood, meant that the equipment was paid off well ahead of schedule. With most of the leftover money Carter had even built a second house at the bottom of the property for his ageing parents to live in.
Luka huffed, he thought that it wasn't truly just to give him and his wife Eve an easier time getting around (the new house had been built a single story. Stairs were difficult after the stroke no matter how hard he tried). Luka suspected that it also had something to do with the fact that Carter had gotten himself a fiancé and wanted to have the old house just for the two of them, not that Luka truly minded.
After that, things had begun moving quickly, through some government program that Luka couldn't really wrap his head around, Carter had managed to extend the amount of land they owned for free into the surrounding wilderness. Something about 'taking advantage of unused arable land', 'helping family businesses', and the like. After another year and another bumper harvest Carter managed to rehire many of the old farm labourers and get the equipment for them to use in order to make all of the new land productive. Carter had even gone through the effort to educate many of the other nearby farmers of the programs they could apply for in order to get loans at affordable rates and land expansions from he government.
And here they were now. Luka looked away from the great field of corn which stretched up to the old house and back to Fredd whom he was giving a brush. Fredd gave Luka some side eye, the brushing had stopped while Luka was reminiscing.
"I know buddy, I was just looking back on it all. It's not a country for old men anymore, neither you or I."
Fredd huffed in response.
"Darling! The tea is ready!" Cried Eve from the kitchen window.
"I'll be right up!" Luka yelled back. "Just gotta finish brushing Fredd!"
"Well don't take too long! Tea will get cold!"
Luka turned back to Fredd, "What would I do without her?"
Fredd made horse noises in response.
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With that, the the current wave of agricultural industrialisation came to an end. The farms had been transformed from inefficient, manpower heavy operations, into modern, industrial outfits with far greater output than ever before.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Luka Wright looked out over the fields of what once was his farm. He smiled, he hadn't been forced to sell it all to some industrialist, his second son Carter had worked his ass off in order to save the family business from bankruptcy, and Luka was sure he had no way of fully repaying his son, not at his age and condition. Carter had put in hours of back breaking work with a few of his friends from the army to clear fields that had become overgrown, repaired broken equipment, and kept the horses in good health while Luka had been laid low after suffering a stroke. Luka sighed, it had taken months to be able to walk again and he still couldn't use his right hand properly with all the shaking that had never truly gone away.
But his son had done it, he had pulled them back from the brink. It was painful, they had been forced to fire many of the labourers, some of which had been with the family for decades, into a market where farm labourers were a dime a dozen and being laid off left and right, but it had to be done.
The first year was hard, the money made from selling as much of the harvest they could get away with went to repaying the debts they had already racked up. The second year had been better, with many of the debts repaid the profits could be used to replace the truly broken and worn out farm equipment, and hire skilled tradesmen to repair the house which had been practically falling apart in places from lack of maintenance. The third year was risky, Carter had taken out a loan in order to buy a pair of modern tractors and other industrial equipment to replace the patched, horse drawn stock, and to give Fredd the workhorse, who was getting a bit old for hard labour, a rest. It was at this point that Luka decided to officially give Carter the farm; he was out of his depth when it came to those 'new-fangled' machines and mechanisation.
The harvest that year was phenomenal.
The new equipment made the work a breeze, they had planted all the fields so quickly that they had time to prepare some extra land that had sat unused for generations because there was never enough time to work it. The larger harvest, on top of raised prices from all the agricultural exports which had suddenly gone from a tickle to a flood, meant that the equipment was paid off well ahead of schedule. With most of the leftover money Carter had even built a second house at the bottom of the property for his ageing parents to live in.
Luka huffed, he thought that it wasn't truly just to give him and his wife Eve an easier time getting around (the new house had been built a single story. Stairs were difficult after the stroke no matter how hard he tried). Luka suspected that it also had something to do with the fact that Carter had gotten himself a fiancé and wanted to have the old house just for the two of them, not that Luka truly minded.
After that, things had begun moving quickly, through some government program that Luka couldn't really wrap his head around, Carter had managed to extend the amount of land they owned for free into the surrounding wilderness. Something about 'taking advantage of unused arable land', 'helping family businesses', and the like. After another year and another bumper harvest Carter managed to rehire many of the old farm labourers and get the equipment for them to use in order to make all of the new land productive. Carter had even gone through the effort to educate many of the other nearby farmers of the programs they could apply for in order to get loans at affordable rates and land expansions from he government.
And here they were now. Luka looked away from the great field of corn which stretched up to the old house and back to Fredd whom he was giving a brush. Fredd gave Luka some side eye, the brushing had stopped while Luka was reminiscing.
"I know buddy, I was just looking back on it all. It's not a country for old men anymore, neither you or I."
Fredd huffed in response.
"Darling! The tea is ready!" Cried Eve from the kitchen window.
"I'll be right up!" Luka yelled back. "Just gotta finish brushing Fredd!"
"Well don't take too long! Tea will get cold!"
Luka turned back to Fredd, "What would I do without her?"
Fredd made horse noises in response.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With that, the the current wave of agricultural industrialisation came to an end. The farms had been transformed from inefficient, manpower heavy operations, into modern, industrial outfits with far greater output than ever before.