I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Greeley became Colorado’s first major agricultural settlement and they soon discovered there that irrigation was going to be the key to …
American Agriculture History Minute: Kansas Pioneer Farmers
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. At the close of the Civil War, the government offered homesteads in Kansas to Union Army veterans and more than 100,000 …
American Agriculture History Minute: First Mail Order Tractor Parts Business Begins
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. In 1938, Charles E. Schmidt began a mail order tractor parts business. The company got its start in Minot, North Dakota …
American Agriculture History Minute: Early Agriculture in Kansas Often Unsuccessful
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 …
American Agriculture History Minute: Early Agriculture Difficult 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. …
American Agriculture History Minute: Allis Chalmers Company Beginning
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Edward P. Allis was an entrepreneur who in 1860 bought a bankrupt firm at a sheriff’s auction, the Reliance Works of …
American Agriculture History Minute: Exports Boom Early Agriculture
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. In New York State, the fur pelt export trade to Europe flourished in the early 1700s and added additional wealth to …
American Agriculture History Minute: Wasteful Early Times of Agriculture
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Historian Lewis Hacker shows how wasteful, actually, early settlers were. From the 1770s to the 1830s, pioneers moved into new lands …
American Agriculture History Minute: Crop Insurance, Conservation Techniques Revive Great Plains Agriculture
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Early settlers discovered that the Great Plains were not all that great. They found very harsh climate with tornadoes, blizzards, drought, …
American Agriculture History Minute: Homestead Act of 1862
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. The federal government issued 160-acre tracts to about 400,000 families who settled a new land under the Homestead Act 1862. Even …
American Agriculture History Minute: Western Great Plains Becomes Open Cattle Range
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. The western Great Plains became open range country hosting cattle ranching. In the spring and fall ranchers held roundups where the …
American Agriculture History Minute: British Attempt Restriction of Westward Expansion
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. The British government attempted to restrict westward expansion with the ineffective proclamation line of 1763 that was abolished by the new …
American Agriculture History Minute-Northwest Territory Established
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Today, when we think of the Northwest territory, we think of Montana, Utah, Oregon, and Washington state. But in 1788, American …
American Agriculture History Minute: Mid-1800s Rapid Agriculture Growth
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. The history of agriculture in the United States, of course, goes back to the first English settlers. In colonial America, agriculture …