mid-Atlantic

How Wheat Transformed Mid-Atlantic Farming Before the American Revolution

DanAmerican Agriculture History Minute, Field & Row Crops, Grain, This Land of Ours, Wheat

Early Colonial Agriculture and Trade Before 1720, most colonists in the mid-Atlantic region lived through small-scale farming operations that provided both sustenance and a modest income. These family farms were …

early 19th-century

Early 19th-Century American Farming and Westward Expansion

DanAgri-Business, American Agriculture History Minute, This Land of Ours

America’s Agricultural Roots In the early 1800s, American agriculture was the backbone of the national economy. As Mark Oppold explains in An American Agriculture History Minute, most citizens relied on …

railroads

How Railroads Transformed American Agriculture

DanAgri-Business, American Agriculture History Minute, This Land of Ours

The Iron Tracks That Changed Rural America I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Railroads dramatically changed the face of agriculture and rural America as the nation expanded …

Smith-Lever Act

How the Smith-Lever Act Created 4-H and Transformed Rural America

DanAgri-Business, American Agriculture History Minute, Education, This Land of Ours

A Turning Point in Agricultural Education In 1914, the United States Congress passed the Smith-Lever Act, establishing the Cooperative Extension Service—a transformative program that reshaped how Americans learned about farming, …

Rural Electrification

How Rural Electrification Transformed U.S. Farms

DanAgri-Business, American Agriculture History Minute, Biofuels/Energy, This Land of Ours

Life Before Electricity on the Farm In the early 1930s, life in rural America looked vastly different from city living. Roughly nine out of ten rural homes were without electric …

Ohio River

Ohio River: A Lifeline of American Agriculture

DanAgri-Business, American Agriculture History Minute, This Land of Ours

Introduction The Ohio River has played a crucial role in shaping American agriculture and commerce. Stretching nearly a thousand miles, this historic waterway has been central to trade, transportation, and …

Iowa farmer

Iowa Farmer Unearths Rare Treasure from the 1850s

DanAmerican Agriculture History Minute, This Land of Ours

A Remarkable Discovery in Iowa Agriculture In March 2017, history surfaced in an Iowa farm field when farmer Robert Ellis made an extraordinary discovery. While plowing near the Missouri River, …