Why did farmers want railroads?

Ranging from 3,000 to 30,000 acres, these huge farms needed fleets of harvesters and armies of workers to gather their crops. Steel rails linked the farms and the mills. The railroads provided the efficient, relatively cheap transportation that made both farming and milling profitable.



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At first, the farmers wanted the government to control prices on the railroads. Later, the farmers began to demand that the government own the railroads. The farmers decided they had to have an organization. They formed several organizations.

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Answer and Explanation: The railroads benefitted western farmers the most by connecting them and their farms to America's cities and markets. Farmers could now easily and quickly move their produce and farm goods to the cities to sell, and could import finished, manufactured goods from the industrial east.

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The railroads provided the efficient, relatively cheap transportation that made both farming and milling profitable. They also carried the foodstuffs and other products that the men and women living on the single-crop bonanza farms needed to live.

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Railroads helped farmers by shipping crops to new markets but hurt farmers by charging high shipping rates.

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The railroad opened the way for the settlement of the West, provided new economic opportunities, stimulated the development of town and communities, and generally tied the country together.

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Not only did the railroads transport raw materials used in industrial production, such as coal and iron ore, the railroads were also one of the largest consumers of raw materials in their own right. The growth of railroads thus led to growth in other industries, such as timber and coal.

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The developing railroads rapidly became huge businesses, imperative to the success of American enterprise. The material needs of the railroads helped create several other big industries, such as iron, steel, copper, glass, machine tools, and oil.

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In addition to the cycle of overproduction, tariffs were a serious problem for farmers. Rising tariffs on industrial products made purchased items more expensive, yet tariffs were not being used to keep farm prices artificially high as well. Therefore, farmers were paying inflated prices but not receiving them.

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Just as it opened the markets of the west coast and Asia to the east, it brought products of eastern industry to the growing populace beyond the Mississippi. The railroad ensured a production boom, as industry mined the vast resources of the middle and western continent for use in production.

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Railroads discriminated in the prices they charged to passengers and shippers in different localities by providing rebates to large shippers or buyers. These practices were especially harmful to American farmers, who lacked the shipment volume necessary to obtain more favorable rates.

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