Life in Colorado was changed overnight by the goal rush of 1859. Miners needed supplies and, at first, depended upon the foodstuffs imported from the Midwest. Flour cost as much as much as $50 a barrel, but hungry miners were willing to pay these inflated prices. Further, because many of these miners had farming backgrounds, they turned to agriculture after they were unable to survive in the mines. These people found the land fertile and began to farm the land. They did not plant crops for survival but rather to sell. At this point agriculture in Colorado changed from subsistence to commercial farming.