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Red River Valley Sugarbeet Industry Oral History Project: Interview with Donald Grant
Red River Valley Sugarbeet Industry Oral History Project: Interview with Donald Grant
Titles: Red River Valley Sugarbeet Industry Oral History Project: Interview with Donald Grant (Supplied title)
Description: BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Donald Grant was born June 1, 1906 on the tree claim his grandfather homesteaded in 1897 in Glyndon Township, Minnesota. He graduated from high school in 1924 and attended North Dakota Agricultural College (later NDSU), graduating in 1930. It took him two extra years to graduate because of his brother's death, with whom he was very close. On his farm he raised potatoes as well as cattle and lambs. In 1942 he began growing sugar beets for American Crystal Sugar Company. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Brief history of his father's life; his father's work as a potato farmer; the onset of the Depression for the farmers, when the government removed price controls post-World War I; incorporating the family farm around 1929 in order to save it; the installation of drainage tile on the farm in about 1917; the strain and pressure of dealing with high indebtedness to several banks; his job of transferring farm operations from animal power to mechanical power; the success of sheep farming; the use of migrant workers on the farm; the use of prisoners of war during World War II; the contractual agreement with American Crystal; the impact of the use of tractors on the farming method; good and bad memories of his farming experience; how the survival of the family farm is going to depend on recognizing the work as a business; concerns about who will manage his family farm after he has died.
Dates
- 05/16/1989 (Creation)
Creation
- interviewee: Grant, Donald W.
- interviewer: Shoptaugh, Terry L.
Identifiers
- Library Call Number: OH 40
- Accession Number: AV2000.37.7
Holding Type: Oral History - Interview
Project
Quantity: 22 pages transcript
Format
- Content Category: text
Subjects
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Red River Valley Sugarbeet Industry Oral History Project: Interview with Donald Grant
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