A Half-Century That Transformed American Agriculture From the Civil War era to the early 20th century, the United States experienced the most dramatic growth in agricultural development in its history. As Mark Oppold explains in his American Agriculture History Minute, the 50-year span between 1860 and 1910 reshaped the nation’s farming economy, population distribution, and land value in profound ways. …
How Settlers Transformed the Heart of American Agriculture
Where Forest Meets Prairie: Iowa’s Agricultural Crossroads Iowa sits at one of North America’s most remarkable natural boundaries — the meeting point of the great eastern forests and the vast western prairies. This was no sharp dividing line, but a gradual shift in the landscape. In Iowa, however, trees finally gave way to endless miles of tallgrass prairie, marking the …
How Immigrant Farmers Shaped Early American Agriculture
Ethnic Traditions and the Roots of American Farming In the early days of the United States, immigrant farmers played a defining role in shaping American agriculture. As Mark Oppold explains in An American Agriculture History Minute, ethnicity influenced how settlers worked the land, managed livestock, and produced food in the New World. Farmers from Germany, England, Scotland, and Ireland each …



