Objective 2.01
• Understand the history of global agriculture.
Agriscience defined:
• The application of scientific principles and new
technologies to agriculture
• Applied science
• applies knowledge of biology, chemistry and physics
• Agronomists use biology and chemistry
• develop new ways to control weeds
• Entomologists use biology and chemistry
• develop new ways to control insects
• Agricultural engineers use physics
• develop new, more efficient machinery
• Employs the scientific method
• to solve problems
Agriculture defined:
• The production, processing, marketing and distribution of all agricultural
products, related supplies and services
• Examples:
• Cattle
• Production
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farmer
cow-calf
feeder steers
• Processing
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slaughter facility
Rendering
Beef
Leather
• Marketing
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Butcher
Grocery
Steaks
• Transportation
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Plane
Rail
Truck
• Related supplies and services
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Veterinarian
feed dealer
Agriculture defined:
• Examples:
• Wheat
• Production
• Farmer
• Grain
• Processing
• Grain mills
• Flour
• Marketing
• Bakery
• Bread
• Transportation Wheat
• grain trucks
• Rail
• Related supplies and services
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fertilizer dealer
crop scouting
machinery dealer
GPS
Agriculture defined:
• Examples:
• Roses
• Production
• flower grower
• processing/marketing
• Harvesters
• wholesale
• retail florist
• Transportation
• Plane
• Truck
• floral delivery driver
• Related supplies and services
• glass vase sales
• greenhouse manufacturers
• floral designers
Agribusiness defined:
• Agribusiness refers to commercial firms (businesses) that
have developed with or stemmed out of agriculture
• Examples of Agribusiness:
• Farm related
• Chemical Company
• Tractor Manufacturer
• Pharmaceutical Company (veterinary medicines)
• Horticulture related
• Landscape or nursery business
• Seed company
• Mower Manufacturer
Renewable natural resources defined:
• Resources provided by nature that can replace or renew
themselves
• Examples
• Wildlife – deer, songbirds, birds of prey, fish, rabbits
• Forests – trees, grasses
Progress in US Agriculture
• Mechanization
• Helps 2% of America’s work force meet the food and fiber needs of
our nation
• Reduction of 90% in production farming in the last 200 years
Major
Inventions/Improvements
• 1701 – Jethro Tull credited with inventing first horse drawn
seed drill in England
Cotton Gin
• Invented in 1793
• Eli Whitney
• Transformed cotton to
a usable product
• Removed cotton seed
from cotton fiber
Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin
George Washington Carver
• Late 1890’s
• Developed crop rotations and the use of
legumes
• plants that “make” their own nitrogen
• Peanuts
• Significantly improve soil fertility in the
U.S. south
Grain Reaper
• Cyrus McCormick
• Invented in 1834
• Cut grains
• Cut wheat, oats, and other
crops
Cutting Grain
• With the sickle or
reaping hook one
man could cut from
one-half to one acre
in a hard day's work.
• The cut grain was
later bound by hand
The Reaper
Grain Reaper
McCormick Reaper
Cast Iron Plow
• Invented in the early
1800’s
• Thomas Jefferson along
with son-in-law Thomas
Mann Randolph
• Rough surface that dirt
stuck to
• Charles Newbold in
1797 patented first iron
plow
• Jethro Wood patented
iron plow with
interchangeable parts in
1819
Steel Moldboard Plow
• 1837
• John Deere
• Smoother surface
• Rich clay soil did not stick to
it
• Made plowing easier and
faster
Henry Blair
• Seed planter
• 1834
• Cotton planter
• 1836
Corn Picker
• Invented in 1850
• Edmund Quincy
• Helped speed up the
harvesting of corn
Corn Picker
Modern Corn Picker
Barbed Wire
• Joseph Glidden
• 1874
• dramatically changed
raising livestock
Milking Machine
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Invented in 1878
Anna Baldwin
Used vacuum suction
Replaced hand milking
Modern Milking Machine
Modern Milking Machine
Perishable food preservation
• 1879
• Thomas Elkins
• designed a device that
helped with the task of
preserving perishable
foods by way of
refrigeration
Tractor
• Invented in 1904
• Benjamin Holt
• Replaced the mule as a
source of power
• Horse power
• John Froelich in 1892 had
first gasoline powered
tractor
• 1954 was the year that the
number of tractors on
farms exceeded the
number of horses and
mules for first time
1849 - 1920
Steam powered Caterpillar tractor built by Holt in 1908.
Gene Gun
• 1987
• John Sanford
• A device for injecting cells
with genetic information
GPS technology
• 1993
• tractor based GPS systems
together with GIS
(Geographic Information
Systems)
• Used to gather data such as
soil condition, humidity,
temperature and other
variables
• Used to control
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intensity of planting
application of fertilizer
application of pesticides
watering schedules
Robotic Milking Machines
• Late 1990’s
• First used in Ontario, Canada
• Benefits by a reduction in labor
• Initial cost is primary disadvantage
especially to small producer
Land Grant Institutions
• An institution designated by its state legislature to
receive funding (Morrill Acts of 1862 &1890) to teach
agriculture, military tactics and the mechanical arts.
• Agricultural experiment stations (Hatch Act 1887).
Examples:
• North Carolina A&T (1890) Greensboro, NC
• North Carolina State University (1887) Raleigh, NC
• Clemson University (1889) Clemson, SC
• University of Georgia (1785) Athens, GA
• University of Tennessee (1794) Knoxville, TN
• Virginia Tech. University (1872) Blacksburg, VA
Agriculture related Government Agencies
• Established to assist farmers, ranchers and the general
public
• Information
• professional assistance
• funding
Examples of some of the agencies we now have:
• (USDA) United States Department of Agriculture
• 1862
• Provides leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources,
rural development, nutrition, and related issues based on
sound public policy, the best available science, and efficient
management.
• Examples of branches/agencies of USDA:
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NRCS (1935) - Natural Resource Conservation Service
APHIS (1972) – Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
NASS (1863) – National Agricultural Statistics Service
USFS (1905) –United States Forest Service
• Mmission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the
nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and
future generations.
Examples of some of the agencies we now have:
• NCCES North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service
• 1914
• To put research –based knowledge to work for economic
prosperity, environmental stewardship and an improved
quality of life
• North Carolina Department of Agriculture and
Consumer Services (NCDA&CS)
• Services that promote and improve agriculture…..
Origins of Major Food Crops
1. Fruits and Vegetables
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Peaches - China
Tomato – South America
Peanut – Peru, South America
Sweet potato – Central America
Origins of Major Food Crops
2. Grain, Oil and Fiber Crops
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Corn – Cuba, Mexico
Soybeans – Southeast Asia
Cotton – Mexico, Africa, Pakistan
Wheat – Southwest Asia (Syria, Jordan, Turkey, India)
• Note: Sources vary on actual country of origin but
generally agree on region of the world.
Major US Agricultural Production Regions for
Selected Crops and Livestock
• Regions develop based on a variety of factors:
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Soils
Weather
market development
Feed availability
Examples of agricultural production regions and/ or
states that generally rank high in U.S. production.
• Citrus fruit
• Florida
• Texas
• California
• Corn belt
• Includes all or parts of these Midwestern states
• Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Missouri, Kansas
and Nebraska,
Examples of agricultural production regions and/ or
states that generally rank high in U.S. production.
• Wheat
• Hard Red Spring Wheat – (highest protein content, excellent
bread wheat, superior milling and baking characteristics)
• Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, (also Oregon,
Washington, California)
• Soft Red Winter Wheat – (high yielding, low protein, used for
cakes, biscuits, pastries)
• Southeastern states including North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky,
Georgia and others, as well as Midwestern states including Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, Missouri.
• Spearmint
• Washington, Oregon, Idaho
• Floriculture crops
• California, Florida, Michigan, Texas, North Carolina
Examples of agricultural production regions and/ or
states that generally rank high in U.S. production.
• Beef cattle
• Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado, Oklahoma, Missouri,
South Dakota (corn belt area)
• Dairy
• Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York,
Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine,
• California, Idaho and Texas are leading producers but are not
located in this region
Examples of agricultural production regions and/ or
states that generally rank high in U.S. production.
• Hogs
• North Carolina and Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota
• Corn belt area
• Poultry (broilers)
• Southern and southeastern states
• North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas
North Carolina Agriculture
• NC is divided into three basic geographic and agricultural
regions
• Mountains
• Piedmont
• Coastal plains
North Carolina Agriculture
• Mountain counties
• Christmas trees
• Apples
• Trout
North Carolina Agriculture
• Piedmont counties
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Greenhouse and Nursery crops
Broilers
Turkeys
Dairy cattle
North Carolina Agriculture
• Eastern counties
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Hogs
Turkeys
Broilers
Tobacco- flue-cured
Sweet potatoes
Vegetables
Peanuts
Cotton
Corn
Soybeans
• world’s most important source of vegetable oil
Farm Cash Receipts (2011)
• Statewide exceeds $10,000,000,000 ($10B) annually
• Livestock, Dairy and Poultry
• Approximately 2/3 of all farm cash receipts
• Broilers and hogs account for nearly half of this amount
• Crops
• Approximately 1/3 of all farm cash receipts
• greenhouse, nursery, floriculture and Christmas trees