American Agriculture History Minute: Deere and Mansour’s Breakthrough in the 1800s
In the mid-1800s, the American agricultural industry faced a critical need: a more accurate corn planting solution. Rising to meet this challenge, Charles Deere—son of the legendary John Deere—and Alva Mansour, a family business partner, joined forces to form the Deere and Mansour Company.
Operating out of a modest two-story building in Moline, Illinois, the duo established a separate enterprise from the already successful Deere Plow Company. Their focus was singular: to innovate the corn planter.
Their pioneering efforts quickly paid off with the release of the Deere Rotary Adjustable Corn Planter. Featuring a groundbreaking rotary mechanism, the planter revolutionized row crop farming and was immediately embraced by farmers for its accuracy and efficiency.
This invention marked a turning point in the mechanization of American agriculture and solidified Deere’s legacy not just in plows, but in precision planting technology.
— Mark Oppold, American Agriculture History Minute