FARM CRISIS

Mychal Wilmes examines how his brother and other farmers survived -- or didn't survive -- the 1980s farm crisis and what changes agriculture, ag lending and rural communities have seen since then.

Sarah Vogel, one of North Dakota's most noted agricultural lawyers and politicians, has written "The FARMER'S LAWYER: The North Dakota nine and the fight to save the family farm." It is a personal and career memoir of the Coleman v. Block lawsuit, a national class action suit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farmers Home Administration, in the teeth of the farm credit crisis of the 1980s.

Sarah Vogel of Bismarck, North Dakota, former North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner, has written “THE FARMER’S LAWYER: The North Dakota nine and the Fight to Save the Family Farm,” a memoir that features her 1983 class action lawsuit win in Coleman v. Block, which stopped foreclosures by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmers Home Administration.

It is Sarah Vogel’s memoir of a career as a lawyer/advocate, with a gritty, behind-the-scenes account of the 1980s farm credit crisis from one of its central figures, and her David and Goliath struggle against the federal government, on behalf of broke farmers..

Mychal Wilmes recalls covering Sen. Rudy Boschwitz, along with other characters sympathetic and otherwise during the 1980s Farm Crisis.

Walter Grotte, 81, of Finley, North Dakota, has been moving silos for nearly 50 years. In 1981 — 40 years ago — as a way to make his farm cash-flow through the farm credit crisis, he invented and built a 30-ton silo mover for the iconic but pricey blue Harvestore silos. His Mighty Mover debuted to great acclaim at Big Iron in 1984. Just ahead of Big Iron in West Fargo, Grotte, 81, is still using the machine, in a partnership with his grandson, Max Grotte, of Hope, North Dakota.

Harvestore silos were an innovation in their time, and many still stand out along the horizon. And they aren't just a thing of the past. Here's their story.

This column takes a candid look at what is more important to agricultural producers: their political opinions and ideological beliefs, or their shared purpose as food producers.

Agriculture became more efficient after the farm crisis in the 1980s. But for many, the turmoil of the decade led to losses of ways of life and of dreams.