Dick Woodfin talks about his early life growing up on farms in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Cheyenne Wells, Colorado. He speaks about his schooling in animal husbandry at Colorado State University and his brief career as a vocational agriculture teacher in Nebraska. He remembers his career as a county agricultural extension agent in Crowley County, Kit Carson County, and Mesa County, Colorado. He recalls the different government and agricultural organizations and programs that existed to help farmers before and after the Great Depression, and talks about how county extension services helped to organize farmers. He talks about when rural electrification came to Mesa County and the rest of Colorado. He discusses agricultural problems specific to Mesa County, including a high water table and the overuse of irrigation water that bring alkali to the topsoil, limiting the productivity of soil and crop yields. He recalls helping to introduce studies and solutions to plant diseases, alkali soil, and irrigation problems. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
*Photograph from 1929 Colorado State University yearbook
