Recognizing The Role Of
Agriculture In Society

Determining The History
Of Agriculture

Student Learning Objectives
 Define agriculture and the agriculture industry
 Identify important historical developments in agriculture
 Explain major technological developments in agriculture

 Agriculture industry
 Agriculture
 Agribusiness
 Aquaculture
 Biotechnology
 Domestication
 Farming
 Forestry
 Inventions
 Natural
Resources

 Ornamental
Horticulture
 Suburban
Farming
 Technology

Define Agriculture and The
Agriculture Industry


is the science of growing crops and raising animals to meet the needs of humans

 Involves all activities involved with providing people with food, clothing, and shelter
 Includes farm operations, and
 Nonfarm operations
 Largest industry in America

 Uses land and other resources to grow crops and raise animals
 Includes conventional farming, suburban farming, aquaculture, and forestry

 Larger acreage of land growing typical grains of corn, soybeans, wheat, and other similar crops
 Producing larger numbers of animals like swine, beef and dairy cattle, and sheep

 Normally involves smaller areas of land
 Normally found in residential or business locations
 Typical products would include vegetable crops and small animals


“Farming the Water”
 Involves raising fish or similar aquatic animals
 Also includes producing aquatic plants like water cress or water chestnuts

 Involves the production and use of trees

 Normally referred to as
Agribusiness
 Agribusiness is nonfarm work in areas such as ag supplies, services, marketing, and product processing

Agriculture Also Makes the
Lives of People Better
 Ornamental Horticulture produces flowers and plants for their beauty
 Natural Resources involve working with things found in nature like soil, water, and air

Identify Important Historical
Developments in
Agriculture

Two Important Groups of
People That Affected Early
Agriculture
 Native
Americans
 Colonists

 Includes Indians, Hawaiians, and
Eskimos
 Hunting and gathering met their food and fiber needs
 Indians first began simple farming
 By 1000 AD, corn is being grown in large plots

 Learned many successful ag practices from Native Americans
 Credited with early domestication of animals, which is the taming, confinement, and breeding of animals for human use

 Explain major technological developments in agriculture

 Technology is the application of knowledge to practical use
 Uses inventions (new devices, products, or ways of doing work) for easier work and better living

History of American Agriculture
1776-1990
Farm Machinery and
Technology

 Oxen and Horses used for power
 Crude wooden plows
 Sowing and cultivating by hand
 Harvested grain with sickle
 Threshing grain with flail

 Cradle and scythe introduced
 1793--Cotton Gin invented
 1794-Thomas Jefferson’s moldboard of least resistance tested
 1797--Charles Newbold patented first cast iron plow
 Charles Townsend develops crop rotation systems

 1819--Jethro Wood patented iron plow with interchangeable parts
 US food canning industry was established
 Gregor Mendel discovers basic principles of heredity

 250 hours needed to produce 100 bushels (five acres) of wheat
 1834--McCormick Reaper patented
 1837--John Deere began making steel plows
 1837--Practical Threshing machine patented

 1841--Practical grain drill patented
 1842--First grain elevator in
Buffalo, New York
 1844--Practical mower patented
 1847--Irrigation begun in Utah
 1849--Mixed chemical fertilizers sold commercially

 75 hours needed to produce 100 bushels (2.5 acres) of wheat
 1854--Self-governing windmill perfected
 1856--2 horse straddle-row cultivator patented

 Use of horses keys first American ag revolution
 Gang and sulky plows came into use
 1868--Steam tractors tried out
 1869--Spring-tooth harrow appears
 USDA established

 Silos came into use
 Deep well drilling first widely used
 1874--Joseph Glidden patents barbed wire. Era of open range grazing ends

 1880--William Deering put 3000 twine binders on the market
 1884--Horse drawn combine used in Pacific Coast wheat areas

 1890--Cream separators came into wide use
 50 labor hours required to produce
100 bushels (5 acres) wheat
 40 labor hours required to produce
100 bushels (2.5 acres) corn

 Annual commercial fertilizer consumption 3.7 million tons
 George Washington Carver finds new uses for peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soybeans. Ag in southern United States diversifies
 First successful gas tractor is built

 Annual commercial fertilizer consumption 6.1 million tons
 Big open-geared gas tractors came into use
 1919--Small prairie type combine with auxiliary engine introduced

 1926--Successful light tractor developed
 1926--Cotton stripper developed
 Increased ag production results from expanded use of mechanized power

 Annual commercial fertilizer consumption 6.5 million tons
 Rubber tired tractor with complementary machinery came into use
 20 labor hours required to produce
100 bushels (2.5 acres) corn

 One farmer supplies 10.7 other people
 Change from horses to tractors leads to second American ag revolution
 Frozen foods popularized
 Annual commercial fertilizer consumption 13.6 million tons

 One farmer supplies 15.5 others
 1954--Number of tractors on farms exceeds number of horses for first time
 Anhydrous ammonia use increases, spurring higher yields

 One farmer supplies 25.8 others
 Annual commercial fertilizer consumption 32.3 million tons
 5 labor hours required to produce
100 bushels (3.3 acres) wheat using 14 ft. drill and 14 ft. self propelled combine

 No-till agriculture popularized
 One farmer supplies 75.8 others
 3 hours labor required to produce
100 bushels (1 1/8 acres) corn using tractor, 5 bottom plow, 20 ft. disk, 12 ft. self propelled combine

 More farmers using low-till methods to reduce erosion
 Farmers using low-input sustainable agriculture (LISA) techniques to reduce chemical applications

Other 20th Century
Advancements
 Improved varieties of crop seeds
 Development of chemicals to control weeds, insects and other pests
 Genetic engineering implemented to improve crops and livestock
 Widespread application of computers

Other 20th Century
Advancements
 Biotechnology --putting our scientific knowledge of biology
(plants and animals) to practical use
 BT corn and Roundup Ready
Soybeans for example