Anybody with three or more cows were being urged to act immediately to buy a separator for their operation in order to capitalize on expected strong prices for butter in the fall of 1907.

Butter prices of 50 cents a pound were predicted over the coming winter, and separators were being advertised as a way to “double your dairy profits and cut your work in half.”

75 years ago
A new food trend was emerging in war-torn America in 1944. American housewives were discovering soybeans as “people food,” and recipes for cooking them were being developed.

As supplies ran short to provide for the troops fighting the war, the need for meat substitutes drove the market for soybeans, and farm wives were encouraged to add soybeans to their vegetable gardens. Recipes included ways to prepare green soybeans, dried beans, bean sprouts and soy grits.

55 years ago
Electricity was plentiful and inexpensive back in 1964, and farm families were taking advantage of it with “total electric” homes heated by electricity. Farm families loved the clean and quiet operation of electric heat.

50 years ago
Four new, short-strawed wheat varieties were introduced by DeKalb in January of 1969. The new varieties were designed to improve production efficiency. The new varieties that year were named Satanta, Chanute, Yukon and Palo Duro.

35 years ago
Grain theft was a serious problem in January of 1984, with two gangs of thieves believed responsible for the theft of 48,925 bushels of grain. Local elevators reported the theft of 29,649 bushels of wheat, 8,889 bushels of milo, 2,127 bushels of corn and 8,244 bushels of soybeans. Marvin Wentz, a co-op employee in Atchison, took action to help authorities catch the thieves when he observed trucks loading at the elevator at a time when he knew there should be no activity going on.

20 years ago
It has been two decades since Tom and Judy McCarty moved to Kansas to start a dairy in Rexford. The couple had no way to expand their 155-cow dairy in Pennsylvania, and their four sons wanted to pursue dairying. They found success in Kansas and have expanded to dairies in Bird City, Scott City and Nebraska. They also contract to sell evaporated milk to Dannon yogurt.

Goerzen is Executive Director of Old Cowtown Museum in Wichita.