I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Early agriculture in the state of Kansas was not always successful. Settlers began increasing in numbers when Kansas was opened to settlement in 1854. Many settlers brought seeds from the east or from their homeland. They planted mostly corn but experimented with crops like oats, cotton, even tobacco. Most did not …
American Agriculture History Minute: Development of Agriculture in Kansas
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Early agriculture in what is now the state of Kansas was not easy. The government sent a young frontiersman to help. His name? Daniel Morgan Boone, indeed the son of the famous frontiersman from Kentucky. Now, Boone worked primarily in what is now northeast Kansas, present-day Jefferson County. His work did …
American Agriculture History Minute: Beginning of Allis-Chalmers
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Edward P. Alice was an entrepreneur who, in 1860, bought a bankrupt firm at a sheriff’s auction, the Reliance Works of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Under his leadership, began producing steam engines and other mill equipment. Thomas Chalmers was a Scottish immigrant to America. He came to the United States about 1842, and …
American Agriculture History Minute: The Ralston Purina Checkerboard Logo Beginning
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. The Ralston Purina checkerboard logo is one of the most identifiable logos in American agriculture. It has its history dating back to 1904. The logo came from the company’s founder, William Danforth, who as a child often dressed in checkerboard cloth. We’re not sure this happened out of necessity or by …
American Agriculture History Minute: Agronomist Played a Key Role in the Green Revolution
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. He was an agronomist who played a key role in what’s known as the Green Revolution. His work won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, later the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor and, later, Presidential Medal of Freedom, all for his work in increasing agricultural production as America continued to …
American Agriculture History Minute: Learning from the Squanto Indians in Plymouth Colony
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. The first settlers in Plymouth Colony primarily planted barley and peas brought with them from England. But soon their most important crop would become Indian corn, or maize, as they were shown cultivating and fertilizer techniques from the Squanto Indians. Fertilizer came in the form of small fish. Plantation agriculture would …
American Agriculture History Minute: The Beginning of the Grain Elevator
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Conveyor-type grain elevators can be traced back to Buffalo, New York in the early 1840s. Buffalo enjoyed a geographic advantage of being at the intersection of two great water routes, one to the east and New York Harbor, and to the west in the Great Lakes. It wouldn’t be long until …
American Agriculture History Minute: He Taught and Began to Perfect Agricultural Practices
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Franklin King is part of American agriculture history, not well known. Born in 1848 in Whitewater, Wisconsin, King was an agricultural scientist. From 1888 to 1902, he was a professor of agricultural physics at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. And it was there that King taught and began to perfect …
American Agriculture History Minute: What the First Europeans Saw When Landing in the New World
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Contrary to what many believe or were taught, the land the first Europeans saw when landing in the New World did not consist entirely of untouched land and pristine forests. Native American Indians had been skillfully changing the landscape primarily by fire. In addition, since there were no hand tools or …
American Agriculture History Minute: Best Remembered for Producing Louisiana’s First Granular Sugar
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Etienne DeBorre is a little-known figure in American agriculture. Born in 1741 in a small village along the Mississippi River in Illinois. Etienne spent most of his life in Louisiana, and it was there that he’s best remembered for producing Louisiana’s first granulated sugar. His innovation encouraged producers there to plant …
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