Organizing and Operating Dryland Farms in the Great Plains; Summary of Regional Research Project GP-2

Excerpts from the report: In July 1958, the regional research project "Organizing and Operating Dryland Farms in the Great Plains to Meet Variable Climatic and Economic Conditions" (GP-2) was approved for 5 years by the Great Plains Research Committee of the Great Plains Agricultural Council. Six State agricultural experiment stations and the Economic Research Service had contributing projects. In 1963, the Great Plains Research Committee extended the life of the regional project 1 year. The purpose was to complete work underway and to review progress and accomplishments as a basis for extending or revising the project. How best to organize and operate dryland farms in the Great Plains has been a persistent problem that has occupied the thoughts and energy of generations of farmers. It has been studied specifically and directly by economists and other scientists. But the problem of organizing and operating farms in a variable climate has not been studied before in such a concerted fashion as under the GP-2 regional research project. The problem is larger and more complex than was realized 5 years ago. Yet much has been learned in GP-2 about yield and income variability in Great Plains farming. The purpose of this report is to summarize and evaluate what we have learned as a basis for outlining further research work and, hopefully, a fresh approach. The report is arranged in two parts. Part I briefly describes the regional project- -its objectives, procedures, and work planned--followed by a summary of the main research results. Part II discusses each contributing project in turn—the problems studied, the objectives, the work planned, and what was accomplished. There is a list of contributing publications arranged as a bibliography, followed by the appendix, which contains abstracts of selected research publications stemming from the contributing projects.