Oats The Ol’ Fashioned Way
Volunteers stack the oats into shocks on Tuesday at Nelson Pioneer Farm. (photo by Ginger Allsup)
Oskaloosa, Iowa – On Tuesday, history was a work in progress as volunteers gathered to cut and bind the oats at Nelson Pioneer Farm.
This year featured the return of an artifact that not only shared the way cutting and binding oats used to be harvested over 100 years ago, but also connected one family to its past.
The Rozenboom family once again helped to operate the McCormick Daisy Reaper that had been in their family. The design of the reaper dates back to the 1850’s.
The reaper had last been used in 1942 by the father of Ken Rozenboom, and survived the tornado that struck the small Mahaska County community of Wright in 1984, where the Rozenbooms called home at the time. The reaper was in the loft of a barn when the tornado struck, but appeared unharmed and on the ground after the storm had passed.
Ken Rozenboom sits on the McCormick Daisy Wheel Reaper Tuesday. This was the first time the implement was used since 1942. (photo by Ginger Allsup)
The more experienced farmers helped pass on their knowledge of harvesting oats to a newer generation. Learning how to place the bundles of oats into a shock, along with memories of the past when threshing runs would happen after the shocks were completely dried out, usually after a couple of weeks.
Nelson Pioneer board member Larry Linsley talked about those days gone by, and the threshing runs that would take place.
Threshing runs would move from farm to farm, with farmers forming corporations for the purchase of the equipment, such as the steam engine and threshing machine. Competition for business between the different companies of farmers could be intense at times.
Oats were an important commodity for a farm, since most of the labor was done by horse. Horses needed the oats for energy, and it wasn’t uncommon for a farmer to plant his land, one-third in oats, one-third in hay and the remaining in corn.
The oats were cut and bound and then shocked, which helps prepare them for threshing which takes place during the farms fall festival in September.
