FCS Financial: One Hundred Years July 2016 | Page 48

PCA scholarship winners attending the annual honors dinner at the University of Missouri at
Columbia, March 4, 1971. Front (L to R): David Cravens, Mansfield; Christine Kleiboeker, Scotts
City; Genevieve Erisman, Centralia; Trudy Lindeman, West Plains; Richard Akin, Fortuna; Samuel J.
Atkinson, McCredie. Back, David Heisterberg, Cole Camp; Daniel Prosser, Goodman; Ellis Benham,
Stockton; Michael Hackmann, Jonesburg; Carl Poehlmann, Jamestown; Leo Himmelberg, Glasgow;
Steven Jones, Aurora.

With the increased value of land, the practice of leasing land,
while not new, became a growing trend. For the young farmer, a
group targeted by the Commission on Agricultural Credit, leasing
land provided an avenue for them to get their start in business.
Many farmers in the 1970s either owned no land at all or owned a
small tract while cultivating hundreds of leased acres. These larger,
commercial farmers expanded their operations and maximized
their capital by investing in machinery instead of land. In addition
to leasing land, young farmers also teamed up with other farmers
to save on labor and machinery costs. Others borrowed from
Production Credit Associations to purchase livestock to produce
income until they accumulated enough capital to go out on their
own. Still others took day jobs, farming part-time to get their start.

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Selected References