Haymakers: A Chronicle Of Five Farm Families [Hardcover]

Steven R. Hoffbeck (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2000

Tells a story of the labour and heartbreak suffered by five families struggling to make the hay that fed their livestock, a story not just about grass, alfalfa, and clover, but also about sweat and tears, toil and loss. This is an epic -- the history of a man's struggle with nature as well as man's struggle against machines. It relates the story of farmers and their obligations to their families, to the animals they fed, and to the land they tended.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"My heart ached when I finished this book. Let’s say it’s about more than haying, more than farm equipment, more than the survival of five farm families. It is all of these, but what makes The Haymakers extraordinary is Hoffbeck’s compassion for the people he writes about combined with his storyteller’s ability to make the stuff of history come alive on the page." — Jim Heynen, author of The One-Room Schoolhouse

"Hoffbeck’s hay, like Whitman’s grass, surprises the reader by turning out to be a large metaphor for our history and its effect on American interior life. While hay itself remains a wonder—a miracle even—the machinery we use to harvest and profit from it grows into a monster that harvests us, both economically and literally. From the elegant introductory essay on the nature and lore of hay to the sad family history of the afterword, Hoffbeck has made a sound and intelligent read for his audience—which should include all of us." — Bill Holm, author of The Heart Can Be Filled Up Anywhere on Earth and The Music of Failure

"Steven Hoffbeck’s The Haymakers is a love story and a requiem. Imaginatively weaving material gleaned from interviews, diaries, and the agricultural press, he lovingly recreates the hard work and the tragedies of Minnesota farm families from the time of the Civil War to the present. During those years the technology of haying has changed dramatically. Hoffbeck brings the reader into the hayfields and haylofts to experience these changes. He succeeds in causing the reader ‘to feel the burning July sun and the noonday heat that made haying one of the hardest tasks of agriculture.’ More than that, the author tells the stories of the lives of five farmers, mostly immigrants or the sons of immigrants, their families, and the rural communities to which they belonged." — Allen R. Yale, Jr., author of While the Sun Shines: Making Hay in Vermont, 1789–1990

From the Author

"This is a book of remembrance, a book tracing the role of haymaking in the lives of five farm families [from the mid-nineteenth century] through the present. . . . This is not meant to be a detailed technical manual on haymaking. . . . Instead I have tried to tell the stories of families on farms and how haying was part of the seasonal rhythms of their everyday lives, the larger rhythms of life and death. Those of us who grew up on farms have only to count the number of farm deaths in our own communities to understand that every family will eventually suffer its own set of tragedies. . . . Wound around my memories of summers haying with my dad and brothers are deeper threads of mourning. Danger, both natural and mechanical, is woven into the fabric of farmwork. This book is a tribute not only to those who lost their lives on farms but, also, to those who hav endured despite those losses and continued to work their farmsteads."--From the Prologue

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 223 pages
• Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society Press (October 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873513940
• ISBN-13: 978-0873513944
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,642,348 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Little Known Gem of a Book, July 16, 2005

By 

kone "kone" (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Haymakers: A Chronicle Of Five Farm Families (Hardcover)

Dr. Steven Hoffbeck's fast-moving book is about haying, or the process of putting up of hay, to feed farm animals through the long winter months. This is an unusual topic and if the book were only about haying techniques, it would have little interest except to farming historians, but the book is more than haying, much more. "The Haymakers" is about the struggles and triumphs of real people dealing with the joys and many heartrendering difficulties of farm life. Dr. Hoffbeck takes the reader through 100 years of haymaking by describing and telling us the personal chronicles of 5 farm families.

Haymaking methods are described, from the simple yet laborious scythe-harvest method through the making of large round and small square bales by machine. I found the evolution of haymaking facinating in itself, and it gave me an appreciaton of what farm familes have to go through to "get in the hay". For without hay, there is no winter feed for the many farm animals; and without farm animals, there is no farm.

As any farmer will tell you, close calls and accidents are unfortunately all too frequent on the farm. Dr. Hoffbeck shares his experiences of losing his own father, and then tragically his brother, all due to accidents on the home farm. I was touched by the way Dr. Hoffbeck writes about these tremendous losses, and one can feel his pain, anguish, and loss through his words.

Dr. Hoffbeck also clearly explains the farm crisis American farmers face today, that of debt, the trend to larger and larger farms, and the slow but steady passing of the small American homestead farm. Not having been raised, or even associated with the travails of farming life, I found his explanation quite enlightening. When he describes the crushing debt load that farmers take on to survive and modernize their farms, I can almost feel the weight of that debt on my shoulders as well. It is easy to understand the economic problems farmers face after reading this book.

If you are looking for fast adventure, high suspense, or international intrigue, this is not the book for you. However, if you are looking for a book that delves into the farming lives of our pioneers, our grandfathers and grandmothers, and our uncles and aunts, then this book will touch your mind and your heart. It will give you an everlasting appreciation of the hard toil that our independent and strong-willed ancestors faced on a daily basis. I highly recommend it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nostalgic and Heart Rendering, November 28, 2000

By 

Dr. Jim Koenig (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Haymakers: A Chronicle Of Five Farm Families (Hardcover)

Dr. Hoffbeck's fast-moving book is about haying, or the putting up of hay, to feed farm animals through the long winter months. But it is also more, much more. It is also about the struggles and triumphs of real people dealing with the joys and difficulties of farm life. Dr. Hoffbeck takes the reader through 100 years of haymaking through the chronicles of 5 farm families. Haymaking methods are described, from the scythe harvest method through the making of round and square bales by machine. I found the evolution of haymaking facinating, and it gave me an appreciaton of what farm familes have to go through to "get in the hay".

As any farmer will tell you, close calls and accidents are unfortunately all too frequent on the farm. Dr. Hoffbeck shares his experiences of losing his father, and then his brother, all due to accidents on the home farm. I was touched by the way Dr. Hoffbeck writes about these tremendous losses, and one can feel his pain, anguish, and loss through his words.

Dr. Hoffbeck also clearly explains the farm crisis American farmers face today, that of debt, the trend to larger and larger farms, and the slow but steady passing of the small American homestead farm. Not having been raised, or even associated with the travails of farming life, I found his explanation quite enlightening. When he describes the crushing debt load that farmers took on to survive and modernize their farms, I can almost feel the weight of that debt on my shoulders as well. It is easy to understand the economic problems farmers face after reading this book.

If you are looking for fast adventure, high suspense, or international intrigue, this is not the book for you. However, if you are looking for a book that delves into the farming lives of our pioneers, our grandfathers and grandmothers, and our uncles and aunts, then this book will touch your mind and your heart. It will give you an everlasting appreciation of the hard toil that our independent and strong-willed ancestors faced on a daily basis. I highly recommend it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lyrical testament, February 15, 2001

By 

Mary Sharratt - See all my reviews

This review is from: Haymakers: A Chronicle Of Five Farm Families (Hardcover)

The previous readers already praised this book so beautifully in their reviews that I don't know if I can improve on what has already been said, other than to say that I found this to be a very moving and lyrical testament to a vanishing way of life--the family farm. I loved Hoffbeck's detailed descriptions of the five farm families, ranging from early settlers to his own experience, and I thought he very masterfully combined factual details with personal revelations and insight. Extremely illuminating.