Technology and Farming
Introduction
Many advances in farming have helped the world grow and prosper, for example, technology has changed farming drastically by enabling farm equipment to be motorized, allowing farmers to be able to farm more land and more crops, and by allowing scientists to experiment and make hybrid crops. Advances in science has enabled a massive growth in animal care and how animals are raised.
Motorized Equipment To begin with, the equipment used for farming has dramatically changed from horses pulling plows to tractors being computerized and automatically created to do the all the work. “Agricultural technology is among of the most revolutionary and impactful areas of modern technology” (Agricultural
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Around 1700, Jethro Tull invented a horse-drawn seed drill, this allowed farmers to stop hand sowing (How Modern Farming Has Changed the World, 2016).
“Farmers cut crops with scythes and manually removed the seeds before bundling the stalks”(Dove, 2016, p.1). “Through the use of technology, each farmer is able to feed 155 people today, compared to 1940, when one farmer could feed only 19 people”(Comparing Agriculture of the Past with Today, 2016, p.1). Automatic milkers and computerized feeders allow dairy farmers to take care of up to 200 cows (How Modern Farming Has Changed the World). Even the simplest of inventions made the biggest impact, barbed wired made it easy for farmers to keep their cattle in their land (The Science and Technology of Agriculture, 2016), barbed wire allowed cows to transition from grazing to cattle raising (The Science and Technology of Agriculture, 2016). Advances in technology made the industrial revolution possible by farmers being able to provide cheap food for towns (How Modern Farming Has Changed the World, 2016).
Advances in Science and Animal Care “Commercial fertilizer, a blend of nitrogen, phosphate, and potash, allows farmers to realize high yields on their crops and to use the same plot of land year upon year for their crops” (Dove, 2016, p.1). “Between 1890 and 1899, American farmers
Modern day farming has transformed from the farming process of last century. Instead of farmers producing for their families, farmers are now similar to input/output managers supplying massive manufacturers that feed the country.
The supply of food had to be able to feed more people and ensure stability. The traditional method would often see poor harvest or shortages of land, the new methods the Agricultural Revolution provided ensured the stability that was needed in Europe. Dikes and drain land was developed so farmers and landlords could farm larger areas. They also experimented with new crops that would restore the soil and supply more animal food. The iron plow was another great agricultural innovation because it allowed land to be cultivated longer without having to be left unplanted. Crop rotation and a new method of animal breeding also contributed to the success of the Agricultural Revolution. However, these new methods caused peasant revolts because it challenged the traditional peasant ways of production. The increased production of food with the new and efficient production methods allowed death rates to fall and children to grow because people were more nouritoused. The increase in food production allowed Europeans to grow without the fear of
The replacement of the idle fallow with crops constituted the Agricultural Revolution. It was important because the new types of crops made allowed farmers to feed their animals more, which led to a greater amount of meat and improved diets. It had the greatest effect in England and the Low Countries.
Inventions like the plow and combine had many positive effects, however the use of commercial farming has played a big role in overpopulation, and
In addition to agriculture success, new technological advancements came from crop exchangement. New farming equipment , such as the plow, improved the New World’s economy and health. This technology advancement is important because it allowed a large area of land to be cultivated at a time, speeding up the farming process. This enabled towns to be developed around farms from crops being grown at a faster rate and land that could now be cultivated.
Economically, the Agricultural Revolution majorly impacted the way of life in the Europe, through new technological farming advancements and improved land efficiency, ultimately leading to a greater abundance of food. Compared to feudal society when people depended on small individual crop yields, many fields were combined in order to produce much larger harvests, increasing the bounty of food overall. Improved land efficiency came with new innovative ideas, including crop rotation. Allowing nutrients such as nitrogen to return to the soil, crop rotation along with fodder crops rotated the fields of crops every few years, leading to more successful yields of crops. Additional advancements in farming technology, such as the seed drill, helped
Technology greatly transformed American agriculture from just plain farming to commercial farming. The mechanization of farming made farming easier and more profitable. As shown in Document D technology was helping farmers, making farming more easier and they were able to do many jobs quicker. But, Farmers couldn’t afford to send crops to other places At the beginning of the 1840s the railroad began to transform American agriculture, by the 1860’s all states east of the Mississippi had rail service. As shown in Document B there were multiple railroads all around the country. The farmers were ecstatic about this new technology because they could send their crops to other areas, when before they didn’t have the money to be able to do so. Other new technologies were arriving such as the mechanical reaper and the steel plow.
Jethro Tull invented the seed drill that replaced to old method of scattering seeds by hand on the surface of the soil.
Jethro Tull (1674-1741) taught the importance of root crops. His most famous inventions were the seed drill (allowed for better germination of the seeds by planting underground -- away from animals and weather) and the horse hoe.
Brilliant farming ideas came out of the Agricultural Revolution, but there were also negative effects. One negative effect would have to be that farmers would need larger amounts of raw goods in order to maintain their increasing outputs.
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
Modern agricultural technologies goals is to obtain the highest yields and get the highest economic profit as possible
Agriculture has changed dramatically, especially since the end of World War II. Food and fibre productivity rose due to new technologies, mechanization, increased chemical use, specialization and government policies that favoured maximizing production. These changes allowed fewer farmers with reduced labour demands to produce the majority of the food and fibre.
Without the rise of agriculture, numerous societies may not have been able to feed their people, and therefore may have died out before reaching modern times. The rise of agriculture not only increased the life expectancy of societies, it also increased the volume of food produced, necessitating the development of food storage.
Agriculture is a vital part of society, and Agribusiness is of course the business behind it. While agricultural needs were different in ancient times, farming was always necessary. With agriculture came the domestication of plants and animals. This domestication allowed the human civilization to flourish. With time, new technologies and lifestyles changed the course of agriculture.