I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Roswell Garst and Charlie Thomas founded the Garst and Thomas Hybrid Corn Company in Coon Rapids, Iowa in 1931. The company …
American Agriculture History Minute: Funk Brothers’ Advancement of Corn Seed
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Eugene Funk was the grandson of Isaac Funk, one of McLean County, Illinois’ earliest settlers and arguably the best livestock producer …
American Agriculture History Minute: Early Settlers Arrive in What’s Now Colorado
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. When early settlers arrived in what is now the state of Colorado, they found Native Americans growing what is called the …
American Agriculture History Minute: How the Butler Brothers Influenced Agriculture
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Brothers Charles and Newton Butler founded Butler Manufacturing Company in Kansas City, 1901. The two worked together on building an improved …
American Agriculture History Minute: First Land-Grant College Founded Under the Morrill Act
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Kansas State University, originally named Kansas State Agricultural College, was founded in Manhattan February 16, 1863, during the American Civil War. …
American Agriculture History Minute: Morrill Act of 1862 and Land-Grant Universities
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Land -grant universities exist in nearly every state as a result of the Morrill Act of 1862. And when we think …
American Agriculture History Minute: Agricultural College and Modern Farm Legislation Enacted
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. In 1856, the Iowa General Assembly enacted legislation to establish the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm. This institution is now …
American Agriculture History Minute: Creameries Merge in St. Paul, Minnesota
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. In July 1921, 320 cooperative creameries merged in St. Paul, Minnesota to become the Minnesota Cooperative Creameries Association. Their aim was …
American Agriculture History Minute: Dramatic Agricultural Expansion
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. The most dramatic expansion in American agriculture took place over a 50-year period from 1860 to 1910. The number of farms …
American Agriculture History Minute: Women’s Movement in Agriculture
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. In the 1860s, when many men marched off to the Civil War, many farms were left to the care of women, …
American Agriculture History Minute: The Economy and Agriculture’s Move West
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. No surprise, the U.S. economy was primarily agriculturally based in the early 19th century. Westward expansion, including the Louisiana Purchase and …
American Agriculture History Minute: Learning the Laws of Supply and Demand
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Farmers and ranchers in early American agriculture quickly learned about the laws of supply and demand. The cotton gin made it …
American Agriculture History Minute: Agriculture Differences Across America
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Agriculture in the South was much different than that in the Midwest and in New England. In the Southern states, the …
American Agriculture History Minute: Railroads Part in Agriculture Expansion
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Railroads played an important part in the expansion of American agriculture in the mid-1860s. The federal government issued 160-acre tracts for …