History of Agriculture
AGR 199
The Question of FOREVER
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OR
Agriculture & Food
 Which came first??
 Food NOT agriculture
- hunter / gatherers
- small food plots
- larger food production for subsistence
- “sellable food”
Agriculture over past 10,000 years
Usable Land Area
 Oceans ¾ of earth (1/4 land mass)
 1/8 is desert, swamp, artic, etc and cant be
used
 Remaining 1/8 is where people live
 Slice this remaining 8th into 4 pieces, 3 of
them are cities and unusable soil,
 The remainder is what we have left to farm.
Early Civilizations
 Egypt – Nile River agriculture
 Iraq – Tigris-Euphrates Rivers
 Mexico – Ancient Indian civilizations
 Europe – Roman Empire
Era’s
 1). Agriculture Era’s (1600-1900’s)
 2). Industrial Era (1900 – 1970’s)
 3). Computer Era (1980 – 2000)
 4). Biotechnology Era (2000 - ?)
 5). Space ? ? ?
Crop Origins
 Broad beans – Europe
 Soybeans – China – Ben Franklin
 Corn – North American/Central American
Indians (Maize) Most common
 Squash – Central – So. America
 Tobacco – So. America (Brazil area)
 Potato – Andean Highlands (Peru/Ecuador)
Crop Origins
 Tomato – South and Central America
 Cotton – Mexico area
 Peanuts – Brazil (soil like Georgia)
Temp, humidity, soil conditions
 Chocolate – Aztecs, Used seed for currency
Origins
 1/3 of all crops originated in America’s
 Cattle Came to US in 1525
 1609 – First corn grown
 1611 –First wheat planted in Va.
 1612 – First tobacco by English Settlers
Early Ag Developments
 Indians used fish and shells as fertilizer
 Grass, roots, ashes, etc as well
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Other forms of Fertilizer:
Yummy!
4 Principal Food Crops
 These 4 feed the world in order of greatest to
least:
 1.) Rice
 2). Wheat
 3). Potatoes
 4). Corn (Maize)
6 Breadbaskets to the World
 1). Central North America (Iowa, etc)
 2). Middle East (Syria)
 3). Asia (Manchuria)
 4). South America (Argentina)
 5). Eastern Europe (Ukraine – old USSR)
 6). Asia (Mongolia)
AGR Developments
 1701- Seed Drill
 1786 – Thresher (Wheat)
 1793 – Cotton Gin Invented
 1797 – Cast Iron Plow
 1804 – Canning
 1831 – McCormick Reaper invented
AGR Developments
 1837 – John Deere Plow built (steel plow)
 1839 – Congress made 1st agricultural
appropriation
 1858 - Harvester
 1874 – Barbed wire invented
 1892- Gasoline tractor produced
Land in the 1700-1800’s
 Land was sold for $1.00-1.25 per acre by the
government to individuals
 40-80 acres was sold at first
 Then determined that one needed 150 to stay
profitable in the mid-west
 Late 1700’s – 96% of pop. Involved in
agriculture
An acre was / is ?
 The amount of land a man or Beast of
Burden could plow in the late 1700’s
 About the size of a football field
 43,560 sq. ft.
 Cost $10.65 ac, in 1900 in Calloway Co.
 Cost $2,500 ac. in 2000 in Calloway Co.
Land Distribution Theories
 1) . Alexander Hamilton –
- Large tracts of land (European)
- Wealthy to have land, others to work for
them
- Maximize profit for Government at sale
- Southern plantation style (European)
Land Theories
 Thomas Jefferson –
- Small tracts of land (60-80 acres)
- Everybody (family) gets a chance to
own
- Sold at reasonable prices (cheap)
- Promote subsistence farming and
more democratic state in U.S.
- Eventually won out
Land Development
 Hamlet – Township – 5000 acre pie shaped
structure in North East – Did not last long
 Plantations – South – large tracts owned by
few families, slavery, commodity based
on cotton, corn, tobacco
 Western U.S. – 640 ac. Perfect squares
Other Characteristics of Early
Ag.
 Subsistence Farming
 Surveying became more common
 Recording of deeds of land
description/ownership
 Fight for water rights in west
 Barbed Wire
 Cattle Barons
History of Food &
Agriculture1800’s
Much of country on subsistence farms
Robert Reid – 1846, crossbred two
different types of Indian Corn,
Guordseed and Flint Corn and
developed field corn.
Heredity – Gregor Mendel – father
of genetics, laws of heredity
Robert Reid
 Utilized principles of heredity from his
knowledge of Gregor Mendel – father of
genetics.
 One of the first agriculture and science
integrators!
U.S. Department of Agriculture
 1862 – The Department of Agriculture was
established by President Lincoln.
 Washington wanted one even earlier
 Was called the “Peoples Department”
 Two Objectives in the beginning:
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Distribute Seeds
Gather, disseminate and distribute information
Agriculture Higher Education
 1862- Morrill Land Grant Act
 Established Land Grant Universities in States
 Primarily for Agriculture and Mechanics
 Texas A & M, etc.
 Huge sums of land were granted to the states
 This was the “study” aspect of agriculture ed.
 1890- Land Grants for African Americans
Research
 1887 – Hatch Act
 Created the Agricultural Experiment Stations
 These were a research component attached to Land
Grant Universities
 Modeled after German research stations
 Practical research for farmers and students- This
was the “research aspect” of education
 Started with research on commercial fertilizers.
1870’s
 53% of U.S. population involved in
agriculture
 Average farm was 153 acres
Agricultural Extension
 1914 – Smith Lever Act
 Created Agricultural Extension Service
 Attached to Land Grant Universities
 Carry information and research to the farmer
 “Outreach aspect” of education in agriculture
1800’s Transportation
 Turnpikes
 Canals
 Steamboats
 Railroads – fast & cheap
 Refrigeration – beef industry
 Interstates – Military,Germany, after WWII
1900’s
1890-1920
 Called Golden Age of American Farmer
 1910 – Agriculture was 31% of labor
 Good production for the most part
 Farmers were “labor” and “management”
What are they now?
Early 1900’s in Agriculture
 1916- Federal Farm Loan Act – land banks
 1926- Commercial hybrid seed corn
 1920’s – Overproduction in agriculture
 1929 – Stock Market Crash
 Early 1930’s- Dust Bowl
 1933 – Soil Erosion (Conservation) Service
Prior to Depression
 “Food will Win the
War!”
 Wheat acreage up 42%
within 6 years.
 Wheat production up
27%
 Wheat prices tripled!
 1919 – 33 million more
acres than 5 years earlier.
 Livestock were up 29
million head.
 Land was 5 times greater
than 1900.
Dust Bowl
Aftermath of the Depression
 Diversified Farming
 Federal Farm Loan Act
 Marketing Acts
 Farm Credit Administration
 Soil Conservation
 The Beginning of Urban Sprawl
American Farm Bureau
 1919 – American Farm Bureau Federation
 Founded to help formulate a national farm
policy
 Conservative
 Believes in free trade among countries
 Supports all aspects of agriculture
1920-30’s
 WPA – Works Projects Administration
 CCC – Civilian Conservation Corps – improving
soil conditions
 1920’s – Food, Drug and Insecticide
Administration – protected farmers from false
labeling of chemicals, and consumers from false
labeling
 Start of Social Programs and Work Programs
Structured Ag Policy
The three beginnings of organized farm policy:
 American Farm Bureau – producer side
 Agricultural Adjustment Act – gov. side
 Farm Credit Administration – financial side
Ag Adjustment Act of 1933
 1933- Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)
 Roosevelt Administration
 Raised money from taxes on commodities
bought by processors and consumers
 Cash relief payments to farmers for debt,
farmers had to limit their production
 Goal was to raise prices by making commodities
scarce
 Beginnings of modern day agricultural policy
Mid 1900’s in Agriculture
 Labor and Credit were scarce during WWII
 Women helped fill the gaps in agriculture
WWII
 GI’s did not return to the farm (suburbs)
 1947- General Agreement on Tariffs/Trade
(GATT)
 1950’s- Massive farm subsidies
1950-1960’s
 1950 – Farmers were 12.2% of labor force
 1956- Food Stamp Program (social program)
 1957 – 4 wheel drive vehicles
 1960’s – Chemicals and fertilizers cause
explosion in crop production
Malthus Theory
 Thomas Malthus
 Predicted large scale starvation as the population
grew faster than the food supply.
 Malthus was wrong!
 The advances in agriculture allowed food
production to outpace the population explosion.
Green Revolution
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1950-1960’s
Norman Borlaug
Creation of new varieties, higher yields
Boosted by: GENETICS, fertilizers, pesticides,
technology and early biotech
 World wide boom in agriculture production
 Targeted Mexico, Brazil
 Thanks Norman!
1960’s
 Chemicals, fertilizers and genetics cause an
explosion in crop productivity
 Known as “The Green Revolution”
 Agriculture was good
 Good access to capital ($)
 Expansion mentality
1970’s Agriculture
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Farmers were 4.6% of labor force
Large scale production-industrial agriculture
Corporations
Modest profits – high commodity prices
Large scale expansion
Fence Row to Fence Row Philosophy (Its Back)
Land prices soared!
Late 70’s interests rates soared (18% +)
1980’s Agriculture
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CRASH! Did we not learn our lesson?
1981-82 – Ag Economy Plunged
Bankruptcy, foreclosures, auctions
Land was to high, commodity prices plunged due to
overproduction of the 1950, 60 & 70’s
 People expanded too fast
 Rest of the 80’s spent digging out of debt, for those
left
 No-till farming became widely used
1990’s Agriculture
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1993 – NAFTA
1993- GPS adapted to agriculture
Lots of mergers and integration after 1980’s
Agriculture was up and down for most commodities
It depended on which commodity as to how
profitable. Hogs 10c lb., cattle plummeted
poultry rose, tobacco steady
Agriculture Today
 2% (1.8%) involved in Production Agr.
(U.S.)
 20% involved in Agriculture/Agribusiness
(U.S.)
 Food and Fiber ------ 1 U.S. Farmer Feeds
155 people + worldwide
Modern Definitions
 Definition of Agriculture: Biological Control
of Plants and Animals for Human and Food
Production
 Definition of a Farm: (IRS) any entity that
produces and sells $1,000 of commodities
(no limits on land acreage)
 How has Norman Borlaug’s impact played a key
role in the issues that the agriculture sector is
currently facing?
 How has Agricultural Education from the 1700’s
until now, advanced the society?
 Why should we study and be aware of history?
1920’s? 1970’s?
 Will there be more of this pattern in Agriculture?