Whether you are new to farming or an old hand, we can all learn something from the past. To learn about the Anasazi people, for example, is to learn how to sustain yourself under harsher than normal conditions.
Nothing that old, to answer your question. They go WAYYY back.
I have learned that it's always best to fix equipment yourself. You are the one using it every day, so it's in your best interest to know it inside and out.
I have learned not to rely on anyone but yourself to get the job done! Rather it be moving cows or work in the garden or gathering the eggs! My friends say slow down you are getting older and I say no to speed up and not sit down!?
If I have learned something, I have learned that farming is something you have to do with passion. As everything, if you do it with passion it will be the best thing you have ever done. I also have learned to see the beautifulness in nature.
I have learned to respect the weather and pay close attention to patterns. My grandfather drove that hard. He was a big proponent of "If you don't know the weather, you don't know s**t".