 17th-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
1790s
Cradle and scythe introduced; invention of cotton gin (1793); Thomas
Jefferson's plow with moldboard of least resistance tested (1794)
1797
Charles Newbold patents first cast-iron plow |
1800
|
1819
Jethro Wood patents iron plow with interchangeable parts
1819-25
U.S. food canning industry established |
1820
|
1830
About 250-300 labor-hours
required to produce 100 bushels (5 acres) of wheat with walking
plow, brush harrow, hand broadcast of seed, sickle, and flail
1834
McCormick reaper patented; John Lane manufactures plows faced with
steel saw blades
1837
John Deere and Leonard Andrus begin manufacturing steel plows; practical
threshing machine patented |
1840
|
1840s
Factory-made agricultural machinery increases farmers' need for cash
and encourages commercial farming
1841
Practical grain drill patented
1842
First grain elevator, Buffalo, NY
1843
Sir John Lawes founded the commercial fertilizer industry by developing
a process for making superphosphate
1844
Practical mowing machine patented
1847
Irrigation begun in Utah
1849
Mixed chemical fertilizers sold commercially
1850
About
75-90 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (2 ½ acres)
of corn with walking plow, harrow, and hand planting
1850-70
Expanded market for agricultural products spurs adoption of improved
technology resulting increases in farm production
1854
Self-governing windmill perfected
1856
Two-horse straddle-row cultivator patented
1858
Mason jars, used for home canning, were invented |
1860
|
1862-75
Change from hand power to horses characterizes the first American
agricultural revolution
1865-75
Gang plows and sulky plows come into use
1868
Steam tractors are tried out
1869
Spring-tooth harrow for seedbed preparation appears
1870s
Silos and deep-well drilling come into use
1874
Glidden barbed wire patented; fencing of rangeland ends era of unrestricted,
open-range grazing |
1880
|
1880
William Deering puts 3,000 twine binders on the market
1881
Hybridized corn produced
1884-90
Horse-drawn combine used in Pacific coast wheat areas
1888
The first long haul shipment of a refrigerated freight car was made
from California to New York
1890-95
Cream separators come into wide use
1890-99
Average
annual consumption of commercial fertilizer; 1,845,900 tons
1890s
Agriculture becomes increasingly mechanized and commercialized
1890
40-50 labor-hours required to
produce 100 bushels (5 acres) of wheat with gang plow, seeder,
harrow, binder, thresher, wagons, and horses; 35-40
labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (2 1/2 acres) of corn with 2-bottom gang plow, disk and peg-tooth harrow, and 2-row planter
1892
The first gasoline tractor was built by John Froelich |
1900
|
1900-09
Average annual consumption
of commercial fertilizer 3,738,300 tons
1900-10
George Washington Carver of Tuskegee Institute finds new uses for
peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soybeans, helping to diversify southern
agriculture |
1910
|
1910-19
Commercial fertilizer use:
6,116,700 tons/year
1910-15
Big open-geared gas tractors introduced in areas of extensive farming
1915-20
Enclosed gears developed for tractor
1918
Small prairie-type combine with auxiliary engine introduced |
1920
|
1920-29
Commercial fertilizer use:
6,845,800 tons/year
1920-40
Farm production gradually grows from expanded use of mechanized power
1926
Cotton-stripper developed for High Plains; successful light tractor
developed
1928
Otto Rohwedder introduced his bread-slicing machine
|
1930
|
1930-39
Commercial fertilizer use:
6,599,913 tons/year
1930s
All-purpose, rubber-tired tractor with complementary machinery popularized
1930
One farmer supplies, on average,
9.8 in the United States and abroad; 15-20 labor-hours required to
produce 100 bushels (2 1/2 acres) of corn with 2-bottom gang
plow, 7-foot tandem disk, 4-section harrow, 2-row planters, cultivators,
and pickers; 15-20 labor-hours required to produce
100 bushels (5 acres) of wheat with 3-bottom gang plow, tractor,
10-foot tandem disk, harrow, 12-foot combine, and trucks |
1940
|
1940-49
Commercial fertilizer use:
13,590,466 tons/year
1940
One
farmer supplies 10.7 persons (est.)
1941-45
Frozen foods popularized
1942
Spindle cottonpicker produced commercially
1945-70
Change from horses to tractors and increasing technological practices
characterize the second American agricultural revolution; productivity
per acre begins sharp rise
1945
10-14
labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (2 acres) of corn with tractor, 3-bottom plow, 10-foot tandem disk, 4-section harrow,
4-row planters and cultivators, and 2-row picker; 42
labor-hours required to produce 100 pounds (2/5 acre) of lint cotton with 2 mules, 1-row plow, 1-row cultivator, hand hoe, and hand pick |
1950
|
1950-59
Commercial fertilizer use:
22,340,666 tons/year
1950
One
farmer supplies 15.5 persons (est.)
1954
Number of tractors on farms exceeds the number horses and mules for
the first time
1955
6 1/2 labor-hours
required to produce 100 pounds (4 acres) of wheat with tractor,
10- foot plow, 12-foot row weeder, harrow, 14-foot drill, self-propelled
combine and trucks.
Late 1950s
Anhydrous ammonia increasingly used as cheap source of nitrogen, boosting
yields
1959
Mechanical tomato harvester developed |
1960
|
1960-69
Commercial fertilizer use:
32,373,713 tons/year
1960
One
farmer supplies 25.8 persons (est.)
1965
5
labor-hours required to produce 100 pounds (1/5 acre) of lint cotton with tractor, 2-row stalk cutter, 14-foot disk, 4-row bedder, planter,
cultivator, and 2-row harvester
5 labor-hours
required to produce 100 bushels (3 acres) of wheat with tractor,
12- foot plow, 14-foot drill, 14-foot self-propelled combine, and
trucks; 99% of sugar beets harvested mechanically; Federal loans and
grants for water/sewer systems
1968
96% of cotton harvested mechanically |
1970
|
1970-79
Commercial fertilizer use:
43,643,700 tons/year
1970s
No-tillage agriculture popularized
1970
One
farmer supplies 47.7 persons (est.)
1975
2-3
labor-hours required to produce 100 pounds (1/5 acre) of lint cotton with tractor, 2-row stalk cutter, 20-foot disk, 4-row bedder and planter,
4-row cultivator with herbicide applicator, and 2-row harvester
3-3/4 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels
(3 acres) of wheat with tractor, 30-foot sweep disk, 27-foot
drill, 22-foot self-propelled combine, and trucks; 3-1/3
labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (1 1/8 acres) of corn with tractor, 5-bottom plow, 20-foot tandem disk, planter, 20-foot
herbicide applicator, 12-foot self-propelled combine, and trucks |
1980
|
1980-89
Commercial fertilizer use:
47,411,166 tons/year
1980s
More farmers use no-till or low-till methods to curb erosion
1980
One farmer supplies 75.7 persons (est.)
1987
1-1/2 to 2 labor-hours
required to produce 100 pounds (1/5 acre) of lint cotton with
tractor, 4-row stalk cutter, 20-foot disk, 6-row bedder and planter,
6-row cultivator with herbicide applicator, and 4-row harvester
3 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels
(3 acres) of wheat with tractor, 35-foot sweep disk, 30-foot
drill, 25-foot self-propelled combine, and trucks; 2-3/4
labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (1 1/8 acres) of corn with tractor, 5-bottom plow, 20-foot tandem disk, planter, 20-foot
herbicide applicator, 12-foot self-propelled combine, and trucks
1989
After several slow years, the sale of farm equipment rebounds; more
farmers begin to use low-input sustainable agriculture (LISA) techniques
to reduce chemical applications |
1990-2000
|
1990
One farmer supplies 100 persons
(est.)
1990s
Information technology and precision techniques increasingly used
in agriculture
1994
Farmers begin using satellite technology to track and plan their farming
practices. The user of conservation tillage methods, which leave crop
residues in the field to combat erosion, continues to rise. FDA grants
first approval for a whole food produced through biotechnology, the
FLAVRSAVR™ tomato. Farm Bureau celebrates its 75th anniversary.
U.S. Congress approves General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT),
helping liberalize world trade
1997
The first weed and insect—resistant biotech crops-soybeans and
cotton—are available commercially |
|
