Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “American Agriculture History Minute”
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. When one thinks of inventions that change the face of American agriculture, things like the steam engine, threshing machine, the cotton gin, and moldboard plow come to mind. But high on that list, and one that many times slips by our memories, fertilizer. The actual history of fertilizer likely goes back …
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Once early settlers navigated the rough Appalachian Mountains, they found vast stretches of undeveloped land in what is now central and western Tennessee. The early settlers often received land grants for military service. Standard grants came in the form of 640-acre blocks. Even today, a gift of 640 acres seems generous, …
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Early settlers relied on friends and close neighbors for information on practices that would improve their production. Neighbors of course provided the most immediate information as letters from the east took weeks or longer to reach what is now the Midwest and Plains. Congressional passage of the Morrill Act in 1862 …
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. French settlers arrived at what is now St. Louis in the early 1700s. They remained on the east bank of the Mississippi until about 1750 when a new settlement, Ste. Geneviève, Missouri, across the river was constructed. Though in present day Missouri, the settlement at the time was still thought to …
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Missouri was nationally known for the quality and quantity of its mules. The state produced a superior breed of mules. Some were used on the western trails. Larger number were used on southern plantations. The industry provided a full-time livelihood for a few traders and feeders, but it supplemented the income …
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Missouri has a proud agricultural tradition. In fact, the statue adorning the dome of the state capitol in Jefferson City, often mistaken as Lady Liberty, is actually Ceres, goddess of growing vegetation. The first farms in Missouri were established around 1725 by French settlers near St. Louis and of course the …
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Between the Civil War and the end of World War II, the Midwest transitioned from a rural economy to an industrial agricultural economy as the Midwest rapidly industrialized. The expansion of railroads to the west transformed Kansas City into a major transportation hub. The growth of the Texas cattle industry along …
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Robert Thomas is part of American agriculture history. He was born in 1766 near Boston. He took to writing in those early years and became a school teacher, teaching English writing and literature. He eventually became a seller of books and also an amateur astronomer, and it would be a combination …
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. The importance of St. Louis when looking at the history of American agriculture cannot be overstated. With railroads just beginning to be important in the late 1850s, the riverboat traffic dominated transportation and trade, and St. Louis flourished as the center, connections east along the Illinois, Ohio, Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, …
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Henry C. Groseclose is an important part of American agricultural history. Groseclose was an ag education teacher at Blacksburg Virginia High School. In March of 1920, he organized a club for any high school boy who was interested in making agriculture a career. Word spread across the state to other high …
