The Farm and Ranch Museum is an agricultural museum located in Western Nebraska. The museum, also known as FARM, was established in 1988 and founded by locals, volunteers and non-profit organizations with the goal of conserving and interpreting the agricultural heritage of the High Plains of Nebraska.
The 110 acre farm where the museum is currently located was purchased in 1997 with the initial museum exhibits developing slowly into what is now the features of the work shop building. An additional 12,000 square feet building was added into the complex which was completed in 2001. Visitors can check the various exhibits housed in the museum including an irrigation exhibit, potatoes, corn, small grains, dry edible beans, sugar beet industry exhibits.
A farmstead from the 1930s has also been transferred inside the museum with the hopes of the farm getting developed with the help of technology such as horse drawn machinery to tractor power as well as electricity.
Guests who take the tour of the Farm and Ranch Museum will first get treated to the view of the Kellet Video. The video uses historic 8mm film which was shot by Leo and Glen Kellet from 1938 all the way to 1945. Guests will then be treated to a look at the first exhibit in the farm museum in the form of the irrigation display which features equipment used by the United States Bureau of Reclamation Surveyor and Forman Shack used during the construction of the Gering Ft. Laramie and the Goshen Irrigation projects.
Another permanent exhibit in the Farm and Ranch Museum is a Valley Irrigation Company tower which is the center pivot for earlier irrigation systems. Other exhibits in the museum include those focusing on sheep, livestock, conservation tillage and a special crop exhibit. These crop exhibits include corn, potatoes, beans and sugar beets.
Guests can also be amazed by the miscellaneous displays including tractors, foundry, plows, cultivators, and planters.
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