A Day on an American Farm - in 1963...

"[caption id=""attachment_694"" align=""alignright"" width=""300"" caption=""George Teague, Age 3""][/caption]As you've seen lately, Youtube has made it easy for us to document our life on the farm. Back in the day - it wasn't so easy. Unbelievably, though, back in 1963, a whole year in the life on Reedy Fork Farm was recorded by the United States Department of Agriculture and made into a movie documentary. The Teague family was selected from all the farms in the country to appear in a film titled ""A Day on an American Farm, 1963"". It was shown to people touring the USDA building, and sent to schools all over the world. In fact, people from as far away as Japan actually looked up Reedy Fork Farm and came to visit. The film gives a charming and very nostalgic glimpse into a year of life with the Teagues. There is wonderful footage of milking, planting, and harvest. Various members of the family attend the County Agricultural Advisory Board, a 4H meeting, school, and 'town'. But a great part of the charm is brought to you by an absolutely adorable three year old George Teague. He drives a tractor, manhandles a puppy, wrangles a barbed wire fence, gets lost, cries for his dad, and pretty much steals the show. Knowing the farm as we know it now, it's amazing how prescient ""A Day in the Life..."" is. It's sort of surreal, actually. Here are some quotes: ""All of his land is under rotation."" ""Last year's silage is this year's feed."" ""Water he does not need today he saves for tomorrow."" ""Franklin Teague keeps his herd at about 100 head."" ""As a dairyman,..he believes that production is stimulated by kindness."" ""In common with the farmer of all places and ages, the American farmer will reap as he has sown."" And our favorite line, ""Thanks is given to God. Kind Heavenly Father..."" We used to drag out the old 16 mm projector to show the movie, but now, in clear instance of old world meets new - the film is now available as a downloadable or streaming video on Amazon.com. (Click here.) You can rent it for $1.99 - and we promise you it's worth your two bucks! You can see a preview on YouTube, but it stops about 10 seconds short of the star of the show...George. (Okay, he's not really the star...) So tonight, before you get into your cowboy pajamas and climb into your bunk bed, grab you a bowl of organic ice cream and take a trip down memory lane to...""A Day on an American Farm, 1963"". http://www.youtube.com/embed/X0X6QiJqpGk [gallery]"