A History of the Indiana Farm Bureau 1919-1999. (From the book) "Hoosier Farmers. . . Era of Change traces our grassroots to global interests for the last 30 years. Our organization's history from the late 1960s to nearly 2000 is a whirlwind of adapting to agriculture's changing ways."

Indiana's pioneers came to southern Indiana to turn the dream of an America based on family farming into a reality. The golden age prior to the Civil War led to a post-War preserving of the independent family farmer. Salstrom examines this "independence" and finds the label to be less than adequate. Hoosier farming was an inter-dependent activity leading to a society of borrowing and loaning. When people talk about supporting family farming, as Salstrom notes, the issue is a societal one with a greater population involved than just the farmers themselves.

Imagine Indiana farms at the turn of the last century. What comes from the land sustains us. Our farms and families depend on it. Having a good or bad year can mean the difference between prosperity and your family going hungry. Farmers knew how to provide. Throughout the 1800s, parents had passed their best knowledge on to their sons and daughters, who in turn taught their children tried-and-true methods for managing a farm--methods that provided consistency in a world of droughts, disease, and fluctuating markets. Before they abandoned a hundred years of proven practices or adopted new technology, they would have to be convinced that it was in their best interest. Enter county extension agents. Indiana county extension agents took up their posts in 1912, at a crucial juncture in the advancement of agriculture. The systematic introduction of hybrid seed corn, tractors, lime, certified seed, cow-testing associations, farm bureaus, commercial fertilizers, balanced livestock diets, soybeans, and 4-H clubs were all yet to come. Many of the most significant agricultural innovations of the 1900s, which are commonplace today, were still being developed in the laboratories and experimental fields of land-grant colleges like Purdue University. Compiled from original county agent records discovered in Purdue University's Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections Research Center, Enriching the Hoosier Farm Family includes hundreds of rare, never-before-published photographs and anecdotal information about how county agents overcame their constituents' reluctance to change. They visited farmers on their farms, day after day, year after year. They got to know them personally. They built trust in communities and little by little were able to share new information. Gradually, their practical applications of new methodologies for solving old problems and for managing and increasing productivity introduced farmers and their families to exciting new frontiers of agriculture.

A supplemental textbook for middle and high school students, Hoosiers and the American Story provides intimate views of individuals and places in Indiana set within themes from American history. During the frontier days when Americans battled with and exiled native peoples from the East, Indiana was on the leading edge of America’s westward expansion. As waves of immigrants swept across the Appalachians and eastern waterways, Indiana became established as both a crossroads and as a vital part of Middle America. Indiana’s stories illuminate the history of American agriculture, wars, industrialization, ethnic conflicts, technological improvements, political battles, transportation networks, economic shifts, social welfare initiatives, and more. In so doing, they elucidate large national issues so that students can relate personally to the ideas and events that comprise American history. At the same time, the stories shed light on what it means to be a Hoosier, today and in the past.