Farming of the past has brought us to the agricultural innovations we have today — Agfinity is the co-op that moves with history!
In part one of Farming Through History, we explored the role of ancient farming around the world. From growing crops to farming techniques, each step forward has brought us to where we are today. Don’t miss out on this valuable history and go read the article for yourself!
As farming has been rooted in innovation, so has Agfinity. We began as a small co-op serving Eaton’s potato farmers and have expanded to a collection of businesses including agronomy, energy, feed and grain and retail, to support local Colorado farmers and the community at large.
Farming In The Modern Era
Modern-day agriculture harnesses the best technological advancements that support farmers and promote healthy, high-yielding crops. So, how did we get here? Let’s look to the past!
16th-18th Century: Horse-Powered Farming
Between the 16th and 18th centuries, we saw the transition of growing small plots of crops and animal domestication transform to the emergence of using these domesticated animals — horses — and wooden plows as an early introduction to farm equipment.
While grain was still harvested by sickle and sowing seeds was all done by hand, farmers were able to produce larger yields thanks to the invention of the horse-drawn plow.
The 1700s: Prime Era of Farm Equipment Development
The 1700s brought a collection of farming advancements to elevate crop production including the cradle and scythe, the cotton gin, and the cast-iron plow.
Farming was still relatively small-scale, but with these new inventions, crops could be harvested in record time boosting their availability and leading to more farming innovations.
The 1800s: The Agricultural Revolution & Commercial Farming
Farming equipment really began to gain momentum in the 1800s. Not only did the cast-iron plow innovate with interchangeable parts, but with the evolution of the US food canning industry in its infancy, food could now be safely stored, so as more food was produced, less was wasted.
The McCormick reaper was invented in 1834 which drastically reduced the number of labor hours it took to work roughly five acres of wheat. By 1837, John Deere and Leonard Andrus entered the agricultural industry and protected steel plows.
As agricultural machinery expanded, commercial farming shortly followed. In the latter half of the 1800s, a grain drill was patented, the first grain elevator was created, and chemical fertilizers were produced and sold commercially.
The 1900s – Crop Diversity
With commercial fertilizer widely available, the beginning of the 1900s saw an uptick in finding a new use for crops such as sweet potatoes, peanuts, soybeans, etc, which led to agricultural research in crop diversity.
Later around 1910, tractors became gas-operated, so naturally, farm production increased and labor hours to work the fields began to decrease — farming was becoming exceedingly more and more efficient with technology advancements.
Towards the 1960s, federal aid for farming irrigation became available, and roughly 99% of sugar beets and 96% of the cotton was harvested mechanically with farm equipment.
In the 1970s and 1980s, no-tillage agriculture was catching on, and crop production continued to rapidly increase. This practice not only improved soil fertility, but also created resilient fields that yielded abundant harvest sizes with less impact to the nutrients in the soil.
Up until the first half of the 20th-century, farm technology was solely focused on the equipment that was being invented. And while innovations still to this day are being made, the biggest change in the 1990s and now is not only in the biotechnology sector of agriculture, but also the crop technologies that promote crop surveillance providing solutions to a healthy and fruitful harvest every season.
The Commitment Of Agfinity
What started as a small co-op in 1905 to ensure the potato farmers in Eaton were paid a living wage, has transformed and paralleled agriculture throughout the century, accommodating each decade of evolution.
From seed and crop solutions to energy and retail avenues, Agfininty supported farming in its past, the present, and in its future.
Become a member of the Agfinity co-op and connect with us today!