Agricultural Inventions

  • Cotton Gin

    Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin to transform cotton to a usable product by removing the cottonseed from the cotton fiber.
  • Iron Plow

    Thomas Jefferson inventor of first iron plow.
  • Grain Reaper

    Cyrus McCormick invented the Grain Reaper to save labor in cutting, weat, oats, and similar crops.
  • Seed Planter and Cotton Planter (1836)

    Henry Blair
  • Steel Moldboard Plow

    John Deere improved the iron plow by inventing the steel moldboard plow.
  • Corn Picker

    Edmund Quincey
  • Barbed Wire

    Joseph Glidden dramatically changed raising livestock. Barbed wire tatoos came much later.
  • Milking Machine

    Anna Baldwin changed the dairy industry by inventing a machine to replace hand milking.
  • Perishable Food preservation

    Thomas Elkins designed a device that helped with the task of preserving perishable foods by way of refrigeration.
  • Soil Improvement and Crop Rotation

    George Washington Carver developed crop rotations and the use of legumes (plants that "make" their own nitrogen, ie, peanuts) to significantaly improve soil fertility in the U.S. south.
  • Tractor

    Ben Holt invented the tractor which came to replace the mule as the sources of power (horse power)
  • Smith Hughes Act

  • Virgina Future Farmers clubs for boys

  • FFA became National Organization

  • NFA was formed

  • FFA- Federal Charter from Congress

  • FFA and NFA merged

  • FFA allowed girls

  • Gene gun

    John Sanford developed a devicefor injecting cells with genetic information.
  • Name change

  • GPS technology

    Tractor based GPS systems together with sophisticated GIS (Geographic Infromation Systems) uses a wide variety of techniques to gather data such things as intensity planting, application fertilizer and pestisides, watering schedules, etc.
  • Robotic Milking Machine

    First used in Ontario, Canada. Many benefits one of which is reduction in labor. Initial cost is primary disadventage especially to small producer.