Bonanza farms were very large farms in the United States performing large-scale operations, mostly growing and harvesting wheat. Bonanza farms were made possible by a number of factors including: the efficient new farming machinery of the 1870s, the cheap abundant land available during that time period, the growth of eastern markets in the U.S., and the completion of most major railroads.
Most bonanza farms were owned by companies and run like factories, with professional managers. The first bonanza farms were established in the Red River Valley in Dakota Territory, and Minnesota in the mid-1870s. They were located close to the Northern Pacific Railroad which transported their wheat to market. Investors also organized bonanza farms farther west.
There were many Bonanza Farms in North Dakota; a number of them are still preserved.
Read more about Bonanza Farms: Role of Farm Technology, Dependence On Migrant Labor and Demise of Bonanza Farms, Bagg Farm
Famous quotes containing the word farms:
“For all symbols are fluxional; all language is vehicular and transitive, and is good, as ferries and horses are, for conveyance, not as farms and houses are, for homestead.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)