Wheat Farming

When the Erie Canal opened in 1825, a wave of Germans, Scandinavians, and Dutch immigrants traveled west to settle. Finding the prairie lands of southwest Michigan suitable for farming, their pioneer settlements flourished. By 1860, 85% of the state's population relied upon farming for their livelihood, with winter wheat becoming Michigan's top agricultural product. Before the use of horse-drawn equipment or the invention of McCormick's reaper, farmers used scythes to harvest the wheat. With scythe in hand, one man could cut up to two acres per day. Proximity to the Great Lakes and the building of the railroads allowed for wide distribution of the grain. As populations migrated further west to discover the even-greater farming potential of the Great Plains, wheat production east of the Mississippi fell off. Yet many farmers took advantage of the soil conditions that they had found and established fruit orchards on lands that once grew wheat. Today's Michigan farmer will also grow black beans, soy beans, celery, asparagus, peppermint, spearmint, corn, cranberries or blueberries.