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Farm: A Year in the Life of an American Farmer
Richly textured and deeply moving, Farm chronicles a year in the life of Tom and Sally Bauer of Crevecoeur County, Missouri, who cultivate nearly two square miles of the surface of the earth. They struggle to build up their farm, harvesting corn, birthing calves, planting wheat, coping with the vagaries of nature and government regulations. Required of them are ancient skills (an attunement to the weather, animals, crops, and land) as well as a mastery of modern technology, from high-tech machinery to genetics and sophisticated chemicals.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
9 people are currently reading
335 people want to read
About the author
Richard Rhodes
114 books618 followersRichard Lee Rhodes is an American journalist, historian, and author of both fiction and non-fiction (which he prefers to call "verity"), including the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Making of the Atomic Bomb (1986), and most recently, Arsenals of Folly: The Making of the Nuclear Arms Race (2007). He has been awarded grants from the Ford Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation among others.
He is an affiliate of the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. He also frequently gives lectures and talks on a broad range of subjects to various audiences, including testifying before the U.S. Senate on nuclear energy.
He is an affiliate of the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. He also frequently gives lectures and talks on a broad range of subjects to various audiences, including testifying before the U.S. Senate on nuclear energy.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
February 15, 2010
Richard Rhodes' book, Farm: A Year in the Life of an American Farmer reveals the human side of farming. Rhodes lived for a year with the pseudonymous Bauer family (note that Bauer is German for farmer.) Tom Bauer is a 47-year-old Missouri farmer who raises hogs, cattle, grain and a family in western Missouri. The family's tribulations, the son with sight problems, the other son whose schoolwork is not up to par, are an integral part of the chronicle. Rhodes records the daily life with wit and detail.
(I have to applaud the Bauers for their patience, even while anonymous, in putting up with their urban visitor. Rhodes remains in the very deep background, never identified, except in one incident where a "city visitor", clearly Rhodes, almost blows off the head of Bauer's cousin while deer hunting.) Farm should be required reading for all urbanites; who, if nothing else, will learn about the sexual proclivities of corn, not to mention the difficulties encountered by a hog with a prolapsed uterus (having had to deal with this myself in a dairy cow I found myself in complete sympathy.)
Rhodes is an expert at explaining the arcane and enigmatic in very clear and precise prose. When Bauer needs to replace a screen in his combine the process becomes almost visual. His descriptions of the various farm programs, their implications, and the choices the Bauer family must make are the clearest I have read anywhere. I look forward to reading Rhode's Making of the Atomic Bomb which won numerous prizes for nonfiction.
(I have to applaud the Bauers for their patience, even while anonymous, in putting up with their urban visitor. Rhodes remains in the very deep background, never identified, except in one incident where a "city visitor", clearly Rhodes, almost blows off the head of Bauer's cousin while deer hunting.) Farm should be required reading for all urbanites; who, if nothing else, will learn about the sexual proclivities of corn, not to mention the difficulties encountered by a hog with a prolapsed uterus (having had to deal with this myself in a dairy cow I found myself in complete sympathy.)
Rhodes is an expert at explaining the arcane and enigmatic in very clear and precise prose. When Bauer needs to replace a screen in his combine the process becomes almost visual. His descriptions of the various farm programs, their implications, and the choices the Bauer family must make are the clearest I have read anywhere. I look forward to reading Rhode's Making of the Atomic Bomb which won numerous prizes for nonfiction.
October 29, 2012
I found this book in the used book sale of our new Millcreek (Salt Lake County) Library. It grabbed me because it was about the mid west where I grew up, and about Missouri where I am connecting with my ancestors that are from rural Missouri. Turns out the farm couple the book was about could be related to me by a second marriage of a distant cousin. But it describes "A Year in the Life of an American Farmer" (subtitle)in the 1980's. I was thick into 4-H in the late 1970's, and these were the people I hung around with and aspired to be. Again, I could imagine that because my dad had a day job (he was a doctor - we were secure). I never realized at the time how hard it is to farm and how insecure. I wanted to be a farmer, but I had blinders on and did not realize the economic difficulties of doing so. I love reading about farming though, and the good people involved in it. I loved those people, they are good folks. But I am also happy with my life in suburban Salt Lake City practicing veterinary medicine with my husband. When we made our kids work in our boarding kennels on Thanksgiving and Christmas day, I often felt like that was similar to "the family farm". My kids learned how to work, and then moved on to other careers, which works for me!!!
October 8, 2019
What was life like in the 1980s rural Missouri? Look no further than Russo’s true story of the year in the life of a farming family. He follows the Bauers through harvest, winter and planting season as they face various challenges of weather, government regulation, law-breaking neighbors, pregnant cows, dirty hogs, broken combines, school children and more.
I found some sections boring and hard to follow. Descriptions of tractor repairs, government subsidies, or combining details were difficult to understand and dragged on for pages. But the stories of neighbors, the Bauer’s kids, a hunting accident and history lessons were fun to read and a delightful window into a world many Americans do not know.
Now that the book is over 30 years old, I wonder how things have changed and what happened to the Bauer family.
I found some sections boring and hard to follow. Descriptions of tractor repairs, government subsidies, or combining details were difficult to understand and dragged on for pages. But the stories of neighbors, the Bauer’s kids, a hunting accident and history lessons were fun to read and a delightful window into a world many Americans do not know.
Now that the book is over 30 years old, I wonder how things have changed and what happened to the Bauer family.
January 26, 2022
Very surprised that a book about farming in the 1980s would grab my attention, but it did. The book focuses on a year in the life of a farming family who worked land in Missouri. I certainly learned a lot about how crops are planted/harvested, equipment challenges, the raising of various animals, etc, all due to how the author draws you in to the lifestyle of these great people.
Also of note is that this is the second Richard Rhodes book I've read and both have been great. Need to see what other books he's authored!
Also of note is that this is the second Richard Rhodes book I've read and both have been great. Need to see what other books he's authored!
December 16, 2007
I really identified with this book. It reminded me a lot about my grandparents' farm in IN. The story itself is set in 1986, which is like a century ago in terms of farming technology and economics. I'd be curious how this Missouri family has weathered the past twenty years. My copy is the original hard back---I should probably nab a copy of the U of NE reprint and see if it has an afterword or update.
August 16, 2019
Modern farm life through this actual account of the risks and rewards, the daily duties, and the long-range planning undertaken by Tom and Sally Bauer and their three children on their central Missouri farm.
To write this book, Rhodes, spent almost a year on the family farm in central Missouri owned by the pseudonymous 46-year-old Tom Bauer. he described the planting and harvesting of corn, soybeans and wheat; the mechanics of farm machinery and finances; hog and cattle breeding and castration; the farmer's battles with government controls, imperatives of grain companies and nature; and farmer camaraderie (mostly male, the female farmer is a rarity in Missouri).
1) relations with neighbors and eventually a neighbor who steals borders (he moves fences) and steals cattle con this movement.
2) “augmentation of soya beans after Chernobyl. From 30 cents to 4.60 dollars.
3) Use of combine: mobile factor for separation of the grain from the seed
4) History of the corn pag 103-104
5) The problems of the wasps in summer and spring
6) Their children. Wayne: The forst born with the problem nistagmo and diabetes.
7) The payment for storage grain and corn
8) Castration of calves without anestesia (for more quiet life)
9) Farm crisis for embargo of Jimmy Carter when Russian inveded Afghanistan and the time of Reagan: corn prices were way down and farmers were hurting!
10) For the crisis Sally (the wife) worked for a 2 years for gas company and after selling ceramics in Kansas city: their tighten their belts not buying anithing thei don’t need.
11) Pick program: harvest time for economy and so for 1 year there was the ecouragment farmers to grow less and boost the prices. Theiy put their lands out of production and the programm payed for this. But wide speculation begin inside Pik
12) The problem of hybrid wheat bur in the end it doesn’r resolve the crisis.
13) The rain is the stop of the work: they weans the porks, castrate tue boar pigs, driying the corn with porpane.
14) Dog Molly pregnant: the cannot feed those puppiesand have to thump their. Afetr the dog was attacked from coyotes
15) Deer season hunting
16) During the winter very cold: they sell the calves
17) Planting
18) Raise cattle and calving at spring
19) For the mortgage the farmers were just stewards and so Tom decided to give up and they create an open market
To write this book, Rhodes, spent almost a year on the family farm in central Missouri owned by the pseudonymous 46-year-old Tom Bauer. he described the planting and harvesting of corn, soybeans and wheat; the mechanics of farm machinery and finances; hog and cattle breeding and castration; the farmer's battles with government controls, imperatives of grain companies and nature; and farmer camaraderie (mostly male, the female farmer is a rarity in Missouri).
1) relations with neighbors and eventually a neighbor who steals borders (he moves fences) and steals cattle con this movement.
2) “augmentation of soya beans after Chernobyl. From 30 cents to 4.60 dollars.
3) Use of combine: mobile factor for separation of the grain from the seed
4) History of the corn pag 103-104
5) The problems of the wasps in summer and spring
6) Their children. Wayne: The forst born with the problem nistagmo and diabetes.
7) The payment for storage grain and corn
8) Castration of calves without anestesia (for more quiet life)
9) Farm crisis for embargo of Jimmy Carter when Russian inveded Afghanistan and the time of Reagan: corn prices were way down and farmers were hurting!
10) For the crisis Sally (the wife) worked for a 2 years for gas company and after selling ceramics in Kansas city: their tighten their belts not buying anithing thei don’t need.
11) Pick program: harvest time for economy and so for 1 year there was the ecouragment farmers to grow less and boost the prices. Theiy put their lands out of production and the programm payed for this. But wide speculation begin inside Pik
12) The problem of hybrid wheat bur in the end it doesn’r resolve the crisis.
13) The rain is the stop of the work: they weans the porks, castrate tue boar pigs, driying the corn with porpane.
14) Dog Molly pregnant: the cannot feed those puppiesand have to thump their. Afetr the dog was attacked from coyotes
15) Deer season hunting
16) During the winter very cold: they sell the calves
17) Planting
18) Raise cattle and calving at spring
19) For the mortgage the farmers were just stewards and so Tom decided to give up and they create an open market
February 15, 2025
FARM, as it's subtitle states, is about a year in the life of a midwestern farmer during the late eighties. As I was reading this, I pictured in my mind the layout of my Uncle Clarence's farm in Montana. It is very detailed in describing the crops he plants and harvests, about the machinery such as the harvester and tractor, how they work and the parts and pieces as he repairs it.
He grows corn, soybeans and wheat on his farm and has to get the grains harvested at the right time so they are the right moisture content and to avoid the heavy rains.
The farmer also raises hogs and cattle. He describes everything from birthing, weaning, castrating the boys, and taking them to market. One thing is for sure, hog manure stinks more than cow manure. (And I know this from first hand experience..)
The author, Richard Rhodes, needs to be commended for paying attention to the small details and writing with very detailed descriptions. He would have easily gotten an A+ in the college Technical Writing class I took.
I really loved reading the human side of the story too as he tells the interactions going on within the farmers family. The wife and the sons helped out around the farm. She often drove the tractor during harvest time. The work together planning finances. When to borrow money to buy new equipment or small farmers. They worked hard to pay off their loans.
One eye opener for me , was that I had totally forgotten how much the US government managed the affairs of the farmers. For instance, during the early 80's the government paid them vouches to leave some of their fields bare in order to cut down a surplus of grains like wheat.
To sum it up here are a few of the farmer, Tom Bauer's words and thoughts. "Tom doubted if anyone who wasn't born on a farm could understand how he felt about the land. They say "it's just a piece of dirt." It was more than that to him. He knew every piece of land and how it was laid and its problems and all."
"Farmers were just stewards. It wasn't their land. They owned it for awhile, but it was for their children and grandchildren."
He grows corn, soybeans and wheat on his farm and has to get the grains harvested at the right time so they are the right moisture content and to avoid the heavy rains.
The farmer also raises hogs and cattle. He describes everything from birthing, weaning, castrating the boys, and taking them to market. One thing is for sure, hog manure stinks more than cow manure. (And I know this from first hand experience..)
The author, Richard Rhodes, needs to be commended for paying attention to the small details and writing with very detailed descriptions. He would have easily gotten an A+ in the college Technical Writing class I took.
I really loved reading the human side of the story too as he tells the interactions going on within the farmers family. The wife and the sons helped out around the farm. She often drove the tractor during harvest time. The work together planning finances. When to borrow money to buy new equipment or small farmers. They worked hard to pay off their loans.
One eye opener for me , was that I had totally forgotten how much the US government managed the affairs of the farmers. For instance, during the early 80's the government paid them vouches to leave some of their fields bare in order to cut down a surplus of grains like wheat.
To sum it up here are a few of the farmer, Tom Bauer's words and thoughts. "Tom doubted if anyone who wasn't born on a farm could understand how he felt about the land. They say "it's just a piece of dirt." It was more than that to him. He knew every piece of land and how it was laid and its problems and all."
"Farmers were just stewards. It wasn't their land. They owned it for awhile, but it was for their children and grandchildren."
August 16, 2022
Farm is the accounting of a year on a family farm in central Missouri. Tom, Sally, and their children raise corn, soybeans, and hogs on this farm, which is actually a patchwork of smaller farms. The year is mid-1980s, so there are the Reagan/Clinton farm policies to be dealt with, as well as issues such as how the land can be plowed, what to do about storage if there isn’t enough, and the ever temperamental weather situation. The fact is that not all the land is actually theirs (rented to them by older/absent owners) and then there are the farming equipment issues. The children consist of two older teen sons, one, with vision issues that limit his ability to perform some of the farming chores, and the other, looking forward to leaving farming. And a pre-adolescent daughter, bright and definitely the shining future of the family.
I chose the Bingo category “Mind” for this book, because it jumped out at me the mind-set necessary to be successful (and Tom and his family were definitely that) in this field. Equipment breakdown? Tow it back to the barn and fix it, or fix it in the field if needs be. Just planted that field and it pours rain? Let it dry out, plow it up, and replant. No sense in complaining about what can’t be helped. And when it’s harvest time, that’s where you’ll be, until there’s no more light. Get up early the next morning and pick up where you left off. This was a fascinating look into a life that is completely unknown to so many of us, and yet so necessary.
And then there’s those bits of wisdom leaned, no doubt the hard way. Blaze, one of his farm dogs, follows after the tractor as Tom heads on down to the hog pens. Soon enough, Blaze had already lost interest in the hogs and was happily chewing away on a clump of frozen hog manure. She was a farm dog through and through. You didn’t want to encourage her to lick your face.
I chose the Bingo category “Mind” for this book, because it jumped out at me the mind-set necessary to be successful (and Tom and his family were definitely that) in this field. Equipment breakdown? Tow it back to the barn and fix it, or fix it in the field if needs be. Just planted that field and it pours rain? Let it dry out, plow it up, and replant. No sense in complaining about what can’t be helped. And when it’s harvest time, that’s where you’ll be, until there’s no more light. Get up early the next morning and pick up where you left off. This was a fascinating look into a life that is completely unknown to so many of us, and yet so necessary.
And then there’s those bits of wisdom leaned, no doubt the hard way. Blaze, one of his farm dogs, follows after the tractor as Tom heads on down to the hog pens. Soon enough, Blaze had already lost interest in the hogs and was happily chewing away on a clump of frozen hog manure. She was a farm dog through and through. You didn’t want to encourage her to lick your face.
November 13, 2021
This such a compelling read—more pick-it-up-from-time-to-time. But that did not reduce the pleasure of embedding with the author to document a year on a Missouri farm, or recall my own regular weekend or longer visits to my grandparents’ farm. As I neared the end of the book, I wondered how the book would differ if written today, what Tom and his sons are doing, and the condition of those farms now. Farming has changed so much since then that this seems to be an important record of a particular era in American farming.
February 12, 2018
Living in rural Ohio, this books was like talking to my neighbor, Richard Scholl. "He was just plain old Tom. he didn't have no fancy words. he didn't have no fancy clothese. He just wanted to take care of his family and do his best. But he had the land he armed in his head...he'd walk the whole thing...he'd seen the things that need fixing, improving...
June 1, 2019
A new respect for farmers will come from this book for many readers. Very well written, you feel like you are right there as a witness. Lots of humor, but plenty of seriousness. Explains a lot for me about the many expressions I did not understand while growing up in rural Missouri.
November 14, 2021
Pretty straight-forward. There really isn't a story line here, just 'tell-it-like-it-is' about farming in the 1980's and reads almost 'diary' style. Sadly, 30 years later nothing has changed very much, and probably it has gotten worse. Farming is a hard life and this book doesn't sugar-coat it.
August 5, 2024
A detailed pleasant read of the nuts and bolts of daily farm life in Missouri. Very repetitive as the chores of such a life are wont to be.
The lack of cussing gives it a bit of an air of unreality.
The lack of cussing gives it a bit of an air of unreality.
June 24, 2019
A true picture of what farming entails in the midwest.
December 16, 2020
It was a nice look into how my grandparents grew up.
July 5, 2025
we take our farmers for granted
June 27, 2018
Only Richard Rhodes could write a 400-page account of farming life vivid enough to hook a city kid who doesn't know a combine from a cucumber. Maybe it's too detailed in spots, but the profiling of the Bauer family carries it along. That said, if ever there was an opportunity to supplement the text with good graphics -- like how a combine works -- this is it. Some of the mechanics are pretty hard to visualize.
July 31, 2015
"From planting to harvesting, Richard Rhodes follows the daily lives and fortunes of Tom Bauer and his family as the struggle to wrest a livelihood from the land, harvesting corn, birthing calves, coping with the vagaries of nature and government regulations, and mastering twentieth-century technology. To Americans born in the city, farming may seem as mysterious as nuclear physics, yet it is still central to our definition of our nation. Rhodes reveals its immense, fascinating reality: crashing thunder-storms, massive combines, bulging grain elevators, the new green sprouts of spring.
"Farm is the brilliant, deeply moving chronicle of a way of life in which self-reliance, devotion to friends and family, hard work and sheer old-fashioned grit stand in thought-provoking contrast to modern-day urban America."
~~back cover
I was stunned by this book. Or rather, I was stunned by the sheer overwhelming weight of all a farmer in America today has to know how to do; at all the different kinds of machines he has to know how to run, and how to fix when they break down; at the incredible sheer magnitude of government regulations, regulations that change from year to year and are so complex that it takes specialists to figure them out; at all the different crops to choose from and all the different types of soil, and land, and how to plant and harvest them to advantage.
It's all so complicated that it would seem to take a college degree to be able to pull it all off, and yet most farmers never went to college.
Mr. Rhodes obviously lived with the Bauer family for a seasonal round, and presents it clearly and easily. Well, except for the detailed descriptions of all the machines, and all the regulations. Which are necessary to convey the full depth and breadth of what a modern farmer has to know and contend with.
This book will open your eyes to life on a modern farm -- and it's nothing like you would expect.
"Farm is the brilliant, deeply moving chronicle of a way of life in which self-reliance, devotion to friends and family, hard work and sheer old-fashioned grit stand in thought-provoking contrast to modern-day urban America."
~~back cover
I was stunned by this book. Or rather, I was stunned by the sheer overwhelming weight of all a farmer in America today has to know how to do; at all the different kinds of machines he has to know how to run, and how to fix when they break down; at the incredible sheer magnitude of government regulations, regulations that change from year to year and are so complex that it takes specialists to figure them out; at all the different crops to choose from and all the different types of soil, and land, and how to plant and harvest them to advantage.
It's all so complicated that it would seem to take a college degree to be able to pull it all off, and yet most farmers never went to college.
Mr. Rhodes obviously lived with the Bauer family for a seasonal round, and presents it clearly and easily. Well, except for the detailed descriptions of all the machines, and all the regulations. Which are necessary to convey the full depth and breadth of what a modern farmer has to know and contend with.
This book will open your eyes to life on a modern farm -- and it's nothing like you would expect.
December 10, 2008
I enjoyed this book, but I'm not sure I would recommend it as fun leisure reading for most people. It's a very detailed, journalistic account of the daily goings-on of a Missouri corn/soybean/hog farmer in the 1980s.
The author accomplishes what he set out to do. I have a much better idea of the day-to-day tasks of farming now: the guy spends a lot of time fixing machinery, which says a lot about the nature of our agricultural system. The author is appropriately sympathetic to his subject, but the book doesn't even attempt an analysis of the farming system, so it shouldn't be the only thing you ever read about commodity farming (in case you've been on Mars: start with Michael Pollan).
The author accomplishes what he set out to do. I have a much better idea of the day-to-day tasks of farming now: the guy spends a lot of time fixing machinery, which says a lot about the nature of our agricultural system. The author is appropriately sympathetic to his subject, but the book doesn't even attempt an analysis of the farming system, so it shouldn't be the only thing you ever read about commodity farming (in case you've been on Mars: start with Michael Pollan).
June 23, 2016
Farm, a year in the life of an American farmer by Richard Rhodes
This book starts out with a family that farms. What I found interesting was how the government subsidizes what is harvested. Started in around 1930's and talks of other enhancements to the program through the years.
Always knew the famers would pitch in and help others in time of need-as they do here in our town.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
This book starts out with a family that farms. What I found interesting was how the government subsidizes what is harvested. Started in around 1930's and talks of other enhancements to the program through the years.
Always knew the famers would pitch in and help others in time of need-as they do here in our town.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
February 14, 2011
Very detailed description of life of an American farmer... particularly interesting after having read Michael Pollen's The Omnivor's Dilemma. This is a description of that farmer who lives the life of producing corn, soybeans, and hogs to meet a specifically American market controlled by government programs. It wouldn't be an easy life.
October 29, 2016
I kept waiting for something to HAPPEN.
I was also put off by the couple's irresponsibility in not spaying and neutering their dogs. Then, when the female had puppies, the man killed them. That's what I'll remember about the book. And, of course, castrating animals without using pain killers.
I was also put off by the couple's irresponsibility in not spaying and neutering their dogs. Then, when the female had puppies, the man killed them. That's what I'll remember about the book. And, of course, castrating animals without using pain killers.
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November 25, 2008Farm: A Year in the Life of an American Farmer by Richard Rhodes (1990)
May 10, 2010
I learned that I knew almost nothing about how farming is done. A must-read for anyone not raised on a farm who likes talking about farming.
March 2, 2013
I never realized farmers still, despite modern machinery, worked this hard. They work from dawn to dusk, sometimes 7 days a week. Makes me appreciate my life even more!
August 7, 2013
Cool descriptions--laying drainage tile in the field with the help of a computer, going hunting. Accessible and educational for people who live in the suburbs.
January 4, 2015
A must read if you're interested in the demise of the family farm. I will never think of the Reagan presidency the same way again.
May 17, 2016
My husband actually read this book and liked it. He's not a reader, but a former farm kid.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews