The Nielsen Family Farm was a dairy farm located in Rice Lake, WI. It was originally owned by Henry Nielsen, who acquired the land in 1900. He died in 1936, and his wife, Sophia Nielsen, inherited the farm. After Sophia Nielsen’s death in 1953, her estate was divided amongst her six children and one of her sons, Henry Gordon Nielsen, took over the operation of the farm. During the latter years of the 20th century, agriculture in Wisconsin was in a tumultuous state. The rise of agribusiness coincided with the decline of family farms as the market for food shifted into vertically integrated supply chains. Farm income was rising to a record height, with income tripling from 1971 to 1973. (Gill, Rise and Decline of the Family Farm in Central Southern Wisconsin… p. 15) This was due to the farm bubble of the early 1970s, which was caused by Nixon changing the dollar to a floating exchange rate system, as well as a wheat and grain deal with the Soviet Union having dramatic effects for prices across the entirety of the US agricultural market. Yet, at the same time, the Nielsen farm lost around $3,000 in income from 1970 to 1971. Their income continued to dwindle in the years following due to less dairy and cattle sales, even as farm income was rising nationwide. The records show that Gordon Nielsen attempted to mitigate this through investment in capital gains such as securities, which he would receive annual dividends for. Around 1973, Gordon Nielsen chose to retire. He spent his later years living off securities and other capital gains which he had invested in during his time as a farmer. The 1976-1977 notebooks show rent income rather than cattle/milk income. After that, his only income is miscellaneous income.