History of American Farm Technology

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History of AmericanFarm Technology
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16th- 18th Centuries

• 18th. Century
• Oxen and horses for power,
• Crude wooden plows, all sowing by hand,
  cultivating by hoe,
• Hay and grain cutting with sickle, and threshing
  with flail

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1776-99

• 1790s- Cradle and scythe introduced.
• 1793-Invention of cotton gin.
• 1794-Thomas Jeffersons moldboard
• tested.
• 1797-Charles Newbold patented first cast-iron
  plow.

The scythe
Cotton Gin.
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1800-1829

• 1819-Jethro Wood patented iron plow with
  interchangeable parts.
• 1819-25-U.S. Food canning industry established.

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1830s

• 1830-About 250-300 labor hours required to
  produce 100 bushels (5 acres) of wheat.

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1830s

• 1834 McCormick reaper patented.
• 1834-McCormick reaper patented.
• John Lane began to manufacture plows faced with
  steel saw blades.

The McCormick Reaper.
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1830s

• 1837-John Deere and Leonard Andrus began
  manufacturing steel plows.
• Practical threshing machine patented

John Deere
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1840s

• 1840s-The growing use of factory-made
  agricultural machinery increased farmers need
  for cash and encouraged commercial farming.

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1840s

• 1841-Practical grain drill patented.
• 1842-First grain elevator, Buffalo, NY
• 1844-Practical mowing machine patented
• 1847-Irrigation begun in Utah
• 1849-Mixed chemical fertilizers sold commercially.

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1850s

• 1850-About 75-90 labor-hours required to produce
  100 bushels of corn (2 ½ acres)
• 1850-70 Expanded market for ag. Products brought
  adoption of improved technology and resulting
  increases in farm production.

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1850s

• 1854-Self-governing windmill perfected.
• 1856-2-horse straddle-row cultivator patented.

A windmill
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1860s

• Change from hand power to horse. The first Ag.
  Revolution.
• 1865-75 Gang plows and sulky plows came into use.
• 1868-Steam tractors were tried out.
• Spring-tooth harrow or seedbed preparation
  appeared.

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1870s

• 1870s -Silos came into use.
• 1870s-Deep-well drilling first widely used.
• 1874-Glidden barbed wire patented.
• Availability of barbed wire allowed fencing of
  rangeland, ending era of unrestricted open-range
  grazing.

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1880s

• 1880-William Deering put 3,000 twine binders on
  the market.
• 1884-90-Horse-drawn combine used in Pacific coast
  wheat areas.

A binder
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1890s

• 1890-95
• Cream separators came into wide use.
• 1890-99-Average annual consumption of commercial
  fertilizer1,845,900 tons.

Cream seperators
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1890s

• 1890s- Agriculture became increasingly
  mechanized and commercialized.
• 1890-35-40 labor-hours required to produce 100
  bushels of corn (2 ½ acres.)

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1900s

• 1900-1909-Average annual consumption of
  commercial fertilizer3,738,300 tons.
• 1900-1910-George Washington Carver, pioneered in
  new uses for peanuts, sweet potatoes, and
  soybeans, thus helping to diversify southern
  agriculture.

George Washington Carver
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1910s

• 1910-1915-Big open geared gas tractors came into
  use in areas of extensive farming.
• 1915-20 Enclosed gears developed for tractors.
• 1918-Small prairie-type combine with auxiliary
  engine introduced.

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1920s

• 1920-1929-Average annual consumption of
  commercial fertilizer6,845,800 tons.
• 1920-40 Gradual increase in farm production
  resulting from expanded use of mechanized power.
• 1926- Successful light tractor develop.

A Fordson Tractor
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1930s

• 1930-39 Average annual consumption of commercial
  fertilizer6,599,913 tons.
• All-purpose, rubber-tired tractor with
  complementary machinery came into wide use.

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1930s

• 1930-One farmer supplied 9.8 persons in the
  United States and abroad.
• 15-20 labor hours required to produce 100 bushels
  of corn.

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1940s

• One farmer supplied 10.7 persons in the United
  States and abroad.
• 1941-45 Frozen foods popularized.
• Spindle cotton produced commercially.

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1940s

• 1945-Change from horses to tractors-The second
  great ag. Revolution.
• 10-14 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels
  of corn.

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1950s

• 1950-59-Average annual consumption of commercial
  fertilizer 22,340,666 tons.
• 1950-One farmer supplied 15.5 persons in the U.S.
  and abroad.

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1950s

• 1954-Number of tractors on farmers exceeded the
  number of horses and mules for first time.
• 1955- 6 ½ labor hours required to produce 100
  acres of wheat.

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1960s

• 1960-One farmer supplied 25.8 persons in the
  United States and abroad.
• 1965-5 labor-hours required to produce 100
  bushels of wheat.
• 1965-Federal loans and grants for water/sewer
  systems began.

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1970s

• 1970s No-tillage ag. popularized.
• One farmer supplied 75.8 persons in the U.S. and
  abroad.
• 1975-3 ½ hours labor hours required to produce
  100 bushels of corn.

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1980-1990

• 1980s-More farmers use no-till or low till.
• 1987 2 ¾ hours required to produce 100 bushels of
  corn (1 1/8 ac.)
• 1989-More farmers began to use low-input
  sustainable agriculture, to decrease chemical
  applications.

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Special Thanks To the U.S.D.A.In the production
ofthis presentation