"The advent of computers to farm management ... is already underway and seems likely to have a powerful influence," said USDA historian Wayne Rasmussen in 1982. "The computer should lead to more efficient management of machines and energy and should help in other farming operations such as cost accounting, mixing feed rations and applying fertilizers and other resources efficiently. Some farmers now have computers of their own, and many others have access to computer systems through their county agricultural agents," Rasmussen pointed out. The computer can be seen as the "third revolution" in American farming. The first revolution was the use of the horse, which added animal power to human power. The second was the switch from the horse to the tractor, which again expanded the power an individual could wield. But the computer is a different kind of technological advance because it adds to the farmer's power to manage. By 1990, the computer will probably be as important a part of a commercial farmer's operation as the pickup truck. Farmers may flip on their computers first thing in the morning--instead of their radios--to get the latest market prices. They can get a rundown on weather and growing conditions for major worldwide production areas; pertinent data on prices, market conditions, credit terms, transportation and storage rates, and related forecasts; and finally a list of priorities each day to take advantage of these conditions. Getting the right system--the combination of hardware (the physical equipment) and software (the computer programs)--is the problem farmers must solve before they can make the most of the computer revolution. =Strategies for Getting Into Computers= If you're interested in getting your farm's operations computerized, and you're just starting, you could choose various strategies for doing so. One way is to first buy the basic hardware and components you think you need, and then add memory and other components later. If you do that, be sure you can add additional disk drives, memory, and a printer to your computer, all at a reasonable cost. What can you do with a small computer once you outgrow it, and you want to get a bigger one? You might want to use your older computer in a small, specialized farm operation, or keep it to retrieve and analyze records that you stored on the old equipment. Other alternatives would be to trade it in on a larger computer, advertise to sell it through the local want-ads, trade or sell it to a friend or neighbor, keep the small computer for someone else in the family (perhaps a game-playing youngster), or donate it to a local school or religious or charitable group and take a tax write-off.