Bonanza farms were very large farms established in the western United States during the late nineteenth century. They conducted large-scale operations, mostly cultivating and harvesting wheat. Bonanza farms developed as a result of a number of factors, including the efficient new farming machinery of the 1870s, cheap abundant land available during that period, the growth of eastern markets in the U.S., and completion of most major railroads between the farming areas and markets. Many bonanza farms were established in this period in North Dakota; a number have been preserved.