dr. wayne rasmussen, chief historian, u.s. department of agriculture comments. marginal farmer also enjoyed this prosperity. before the war he might have been on the edge of going out of farming. now, with demand and high prices, he was making a reasonably good living. it looked as though this demand and these high prices would continue on forever. schoumacher: it was indeed the best of times, but the farmer's bountiful harvest provided the seeds for his future predicament. in three short years these best of times would become the worst of times. for, in 1921, the nation lurched into a post-war recession... and european agriculture had recovered much more quickly than anyone expected. demand for the farmers' crops fell. yet supplies remained abundant. prices plummeted marking the beginning of the farmers' season of despair and discontent. when the war was over, and without direction, most everything just kind of fell apart, you know and finally the 900-acre increase turned out to be a 900-acre blunder or mistake and they lost it all. but the misery of the thing