The Advancement of Farm Equipment No one will ever say farming is easy but with the advances in agriculture equipment over the last 75 years it has become easier for farmers to produce their crops. When one thinks of agriculture today one thinks of tractors and large implements, though in the early 1940s much of the farming was still done by horses and mules with small pull-type implements. The demand for farmers to feed more people has increased in turn increasing the need for the development of farm machinery grew. According to the Agriculture Council of America, a farmer in 1940 was expected to provide for 10 persons, but this number has swelled to 144 persons in the year 2016 (Spielmaker). It is evident the need for continued progress
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They were limited to one 12’’ plow, a single gang 6-foot disk, and only a two row corn planter. The corn was harvested in two ways at the time; picking each ear by hand or by turning in butcher hogs to knock down the stalks and eat the corn ears. The National Institute of Food and Agriculture estimates that it took 42 labor-hours to work about a half-acre of land (Spielmaker). It was not until 1945 that most farmers finally converted to tractors to power their farms.
By the 1950s almost all farmers owned a tractor, this increased the size of implement that could be used. These tractors could pull a three bottom plow, a ten-foot tandem gang disk and a four row corn planter. The harvest of corn was simplified when the two row corn picker was introduced. These pickers were mounted onto the frame of the tractor, which took about a day to set up, and made the tractor useless for any other task until removed. These new and larger implements allowed farm work to be done in only a fourth of the time that it did …show more content…
It was developed to help decrease erosion and save the farmer time planting crops. This new method began to drive down the time spent planting one acre as it could be done in just a little over an hour and a half. Another advancement during this time was evident in how tractor manufacturers began to spend more time on making the operator comfortable. Air conditioning and radio were only a few major improvements that were made. Combines continued to become more efficient and by the end of the 80s they were running 22 foot
They were limited to one 12’’ plow, a single gang 6-foot disk, and only a two row corn planter. The corn was harvested in two ways at the time; picking each ear by hand or by turning in butcher hogs to knock down the stalks and eat the corn ears. The National Institute of Food and Agriculture estimates that it took 42 labor-hours to work about a half-acre of land (Spielmaker). It was not until 1945 that most farmers finally converted to tractors to power their farms.
By the 1950s almost all farmers owned a tractor, this increased the size of implement that could be used. These tractors could pull a three bottom plow, a ten-foot tandem gang disk and a four row corn planter. The harvest of corn was simplified when the two row corn picker was introduced. These pickers were mounted onto the frame of the tractor, which took about a day to set up, and made the tractor useless for any other task until removed. These new and larger implements allowed farm work to be done in only a fourth of the time that it did …show more content…
It was developed to help decrease erosion and save the farmer time planting crops. This new method began to drive down the time spent planting one acre as it could be done in just a little over an hour and a half. Another advancement during this time was evident in how tractor manufacturers began to spend more time on making the operator comfortable. Air conditioning and radio were only a few major improvements that were made. Combines continued to become more efficient and by the end of the 80s they were running 22 foot