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 1819 Jethro Wood patents iron plow with interchangeable parts 1819-25 U.S. food canning industry established 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 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 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 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 1900-09 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 1910-19 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 1920-29 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 tractors developed 1928 Otto Rohwedder introduced his bread-slicing machine 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 1940-49 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 1950-59 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 1960-69 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 1970-79 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 1980-89 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 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   Next Category >>
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