History of American Farm Technology

FOUNDATIONS OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

History of American Farm Technology

16th – 18th Centuries

Oxen and horses for powerCrude wooden plows, all sowing by hand,

Cultivating by a hoeHay and grain cutting with a sickle and

threshing with flail

1776-1799

1790 Cradle and Scythe Introduced1793 Invention of the cotton gin1794 Thomas Jefferson’s Moldboard plow

tested1797 Charles Newbold patented first cast-

iron plow

1800-1829

1819 Jethro wood patented iron plow with interchangeable parts

1819-1825 U.S. Food canning industry established

1830’s

1830 About 250-300 labor hours required to produce 100 bushels of wheat (Five Acres).

1834 McCormick reaper patented John Lane began to manufacture plows faced

with steel blades

1837 John Deere and Leonard Andrus began manufacturing steel plows

1840

1840’s the growing use of factory made agricultural machinery increased farmers’ need for cash and encouraged commercial farming

1840’s

1841 Practical grain drill patented 1842 First grain elevator, Buffalo, NY 1844 Practical mowing machine patented1847 Irrigation began in Utah1849 Mixed Chemical Fertilizers sold

commercially

1850’s

1850 about 75-90 labor hours required to produce 100 bushels of corn 2 ½ acres

1850-1870 Expanded market for ag products brought adoption of improved technology and resulting increase in farm production

1850’s

1854 Self governing windmill perfected1856 2 horse straddle row cultivator

patented

1860’s

Change from hand power to horse 1865-75 Gang plows and sulky plows came

into use 1868 Steam tractors were tried outSpring tooth harrow or seedbed preparation

appeared

1870’s

1870’s silos came into use 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

1880’s

William Deering put 3000 twine binders on the market

1884-90 Horse drawn combine used in Pacific coast wheat areas

1890’s

1890-95 Cream separators came into wide use 1890-99 Average annual consumption of commercial

fertilizer 1,845,900 tons

1890’s

Agriculture became increasingly mechanized and commercialized

1890 35-40 labor hours required to produce 100 bushels of corn 2 ½ acres

1900’s

1900-1909 Average annual consumption of commercial fertilizer 3,738,300 tons

1900-1910 George Washington Carver, pioneered in new uses for peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soybeans, thus helping to diversify southern agriculture

1910’s

1910-1915 Big open geared gas tractor came into use in areas of extensive farming

1915-20 Enclosed gears developed for tractors

1918 Small prairie-type combine with auxiliary engine introduced

1920’s

1920-1929 Average annual consumption of commercial fertilizer 6,845,800 tons

1920-40 Gradual increase in farm production resulting from expanded use of mechanized power

1926 Successful light tractor developed

1930’s

1930 One farmer supplied 9.8 persons in the United States and abroad

15-20 Labor hours required to produce 100 bushels of corn

1940’s

1945 Change from horses to tractors – The second great ag. Revolution

10-14 labor hours required to produce 100 bushels of corn

1950’s

1950-59 Average annual consumption of commercial fertilizer 22,340,666

1950 One farmer supplied 15.5 persons in the U.S. and abroad

1950’s

1954 Number of tractors on farms exceeded the number of horses and mules for the first time

1955 6½ labor hours required to produce 100 acres of wheat

1960’s

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

1970’s

1970 No tillage Ag. Popularized One farmer supplied 75.8 persons in the U.S.

and abroad 1975 3½ labor hours required to produce 100

bushels of corn

1980-1990

1980’s More farmers use no till or low till 1987 2 ¾ hours required to produce 100

bushels of corn 1 1/8th acre1989 More farmers began to use low input

sustainable agriculture to decrease chemical applications