The Impact of John Deere
Nowadays more and more people are unaware of where their food comes from. Mankind now lives in an age where technology is the main focus and the rural way of life is becoming a thing of the past. The ability to produce food is so efficient and effective that some people do not even realize how their food gets to their plate. But that was not the case in the 19th century. In 1837, a man named John Deere changed farming forever.
In the coarse of human existence, civilizations have made farming their primary source for food. As long as farming has been around, agricultural implements have been used to farm the land. Scientists believe that the first plows that were used, date back to 4,000 B.C. These plows were simply pointed sticks but nonetheless, they were the pioneers of modern day plows. By 3,000 B.C. the Egyptians invented a plow with a wider, triangular share that turned more dirt in a wider furrow. As the population grew over time, more and more people moved into Europe. The soil contained much more moisture, and required a lot of power to be able to pull plows through it. The Dutch then invented an iron- covered moldboard that cut much better through the earth and greatly reduced the power needed (Drache 2-3).
When colonists from Europe began to settle in America, they quickly recognized that if they were going to survive they needed to farm and produce crops. By 1648 the Virginia colony had an estimated 150 plows. The plows were very expensive and required a lot of power to pull them. By 1780 an Englishman named Robert Ransome patented a cast-iron plowshare. The cast iron share was much better because as it moved through the soil, the share would get sharpened. This greatly improved the efficie...
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...50 there were about 5.9 million acres being farmed in Iowa and Illinois. By 1870 it had risen to 28.7 million acres (Deere). With advancements in technology, instigated by John Deere, the efficiency of the equipment allowed for more acres to be cultivated, and in much less time. And so Malthus was proven wrong in the fact that human population would outgrow man’s ability to grow food. But in his defense I’m sure he never imagined that an acre of land could be tilled with a 560 hp John Deere tractor in approximately 3 minutes. Never before has an acre of land been able to be worked in such a short amount of time. Agriculture has changed dramatically over the last century and surely will continue to improve. Precision farming is the way of the future and efficiency is the key. John Deere truly impacted agriculture and changed the lives of every human being on earth.
The nature of the Southern Plains soils and the periodic influence of drought could not be changed, but the technological abuse of the land could have been stopped. This is not to say that mechanized agriculture irreparably damaged the land-it did not. New and improved implements such as tractors, one-way disk plows, grain drills, and combines reduced plowing, planting, and harvesting costs and increased agricultural productivity. Increased productivity caused prices to fall, and farmers compensated by breaking more sod for wheat. At the same time, farmers gave little thought to using their new technology in ways to conserve the
In recent history, farming in America has changed dramatically, and Naylor’s farm is representative of many in the American Corn Belt. Though it began growing a variety of crops and keeping livestock too, Naylor now only plants corn and soybeans. In Naylor’s grandfather’s days, the farm fed the whole family with just enough left over for twelve others. Now, Naylor indirectly feeds an estimated 129 people, but this does not mean his farm is any more successful. In fact, Naylor’s farm cannot financially support his family.
The cast iron plough changed agriculture forever by speeding up, making ploughing more efficient and costs less. The cast iron tip plough was invented
When driving around the country, one sees hundreds and thousands of acres either planted or tilled. Sometimes one might wonder… “Who would be smart enough to think of something that can plant and till this land?” Also, who is the person that thought of pulling it behind an implement of that complexity? John Deere, the man, and the business, started out in Rutland, Vermont in 1804, He left a legacy that would change agriculture forever. When John Deere crafted his famous steel plow in his blacksmith shop in 1837, he also forged the beginning of Deere & Company “John”.
As the plows got more popular, John Deere moved his business to Moline, Illinois in 1848 (“John Deere Timeline” para. 5). John Deere’s headquarters is now located in Moline, Illinois (“Deere” para.1). After meeting Leonard Andrus, he became John Deere’s co-partner in plow- making (“John Deere Timeline” para. 4) In 1849, John Deere had built 2,136 plows with only 16 people (“John Deere Timeline” para. 6). The first Deere product was a steel plow that would go through the soil in the midwest prairie without clogging (“Deere” para.2). In 1869 Charles Deere and a guy by the name of Alcah Mansure branched off and made a company, Deere, Masur & Co, which was a distributor of Deere products (“John Deere TImeline” para. 14). John Deeres’ company had five branches off of it in 1889 (“John Deere Timeline” para. 26). John Deere combined their par...
The American culture was built upon farming and agriculture but since the end of the civil war and the abolition of slaves, things have changed dramatically to the American lifestyle. This time brought on the Industrial Revolution which sparked many factories and new ways of transportation across America. There were many acts passed to encourage the agricultural lifestyle still such as the Homestead Act of 1862, the Timber Culture Act of 1873, the Desert Land Act of 1877, and the Timber and Stone Act passed in 1878. As a result of these acts, farm income dropped and new machines and methods or systems to farm such as sharecropping and tenant farming became available and made it much easier to increase crop yields. The people who had the smaller farms, uncultivated land, or limited resources could not compete against the farms who were bigger, better, and more modernized with the new technology. After many people failed on the farms, they were seen heading to t...
In the 1920s the American agricultural complex embraced the new technologies being developed. The internal combustion engine brought about new tractors and more sophisticated combines and harvesters. These new machines made it possible for
The 1920’s were the singularly most influential years of farming in our country. The loss of farms following the war, and new agricultural practices resulted in the dawn of modern agriculture in our country. The shift from small family to big corporation during this time is now the basis for how our society deals with food today. Traditional farming in the 1920’s underwent a series of massive transitions following WWI as the number of farms decreased and the size of farms increased.
Wrought iron was a very popular material during the Industrial Revolution, but by the Second Industrial Revolution, steel had taken its place. Iron was then improved to be malleable and has been steel’s runner up ever since. Rubber and plastic were also created in this time frame, as scientists began to research macromolecular chemicals and synthetic materials. Electricity was still being explored during these years, as minor improvements were made increasing the quality and reliability while reducing the cost. One of the most important inventions to come out of the Second Industrial Revolution was the airplane. In 1903 the Wright brothers used their knowledge of mechanics and aerodynamics to create the first airplane, by 1914 the end of the Revolution the autopilot system was developed, and just thirty years after the Wright brother’s first flight, the first commercial airline business was created. Revolutionizing the system of production in agriculture had a slow start, because most of the work in agriculture was performed by human hands, such as tending to the crops or weeding. Once internal combustion engines were created they were applied to this problem. Right before WWI, tractors and combines began surfacing in the agriculture industry, changing it forever.
...o. “The Great Agricultural Transition: Crisis, Change, and Social Consequence of the Twentieth Century US Farming”. Annual Review of Sociology 27 (2001): 103-124.
John Deere was an American blacksmith and manufacturer who founded Deere and Company. Deere and Company has become one of the largest and leading agricultural and construction equipment manufacturers in the world. John Deere invented the first commercially successful steel plow in 1837, which began his timeline of success. I selected this individual because I am amazed by his accomplishments that changed “the face of agriculture for all time” (Our Company). “In 1837, John Deere, blacksmith and inventor, had little more than a blacksmith shop, a piece of discarded polished steel, and an idea that would help farmers, changing the face of agriculture for all time” (Our Company).
John Deere was born in Vermont in 1804. His father went to England to find a job in 1808 and never came back, so he was primarily raised by his mother with his three brothers and his one sister. He was an educated man, and had always been fascinated with blacksmithing. At the age of 17, Deere got his first apprenticeship as a blacksmith in Middlebury. He was so talented, that with just a three year apprenticeship he was able to gain so much knowledge and start his own blacksmith company in 1825. Blacksmithing in Vermont wasn’t as substantial as in the West because the soil wasn’t as hard, so when Deere’s business wasn’t flourishing he packed up and moved to the West.
...ntroduced. Tools in agriculture plays an important role, nothing could be done without tools. Better tools can be more efficient, such as iron plow; it is stronger than the wooden one and the usage were much longer. Also an “Englishman named Jethro Tull, who introduced an improved seed drill in 1701.”(Agriculture) The seed drill could sow seeds in a straight line, so the space between those seeds will be much likely equal and the plants could grow better.
Since their founding in 1837, John Deere has led the agriculture industry around the world. For over 135 years the John Deere leaping deer logo is one of the most recognized logos in existence today, it represents a symbol of quality products (Our History, 2017). As of May 2017, John Deere has over 56,800 employees in factories, facilities, and offices located in 30 countries and they are listed as number 260 on the world’s largest public companies (Deere and Company, 2017). The John Deere name is linked to designing and engineering products and services that are committed to the land. With product lines that range from balers, tractors, and lawn mowers, they also have product lines for forestry services, government support, and construction.
Farming has been an occupation since 8,500 B.C. On that year in the Fertile Crescent farming first began when people grew plants instead of picking them in the wild. Then nearly 5,000 years later oxen, horses, pigs, and dogs were domesticated. During the middle ages, the nobles divide their land into three fields. The reasoning for this was to plant two and leave one to recover. This was the start of crop rotation which is a big part of farming today. Burning down forest and then moving to another area is a farming technique used by the Mayans called Slash and burn. Mayan farmers also were able to drain swampy areas to farm them buy building canals. In 1701 Jethro Tull invented the seed drill and a horse drawn how that tilled the land. In Denmark they would plant turnips in the previously unplanted field. The turnips help restore the nutrients in the ground thus crop rotation is born. In England people began moving there fields closer to each other for a more efficient way of planting. Later in the 18th century selective breeding was introduce which made bigger, stronger, and more milk producing livestock. In the mid 1800’s a steam plough was invented. By the 1950 tractors, milking machines, and combines were used by almost farmers. The latest f...