Assignment on Economic - Farming

RUNNING HEAD: ECONOMICS 0
Economic history of North
America since 1865
March 20
2020

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Introduction
Farming is the procedure of generating foods through cultivation, feed people, and
provide many more products that are used in making foods. Agriculture in simple words is
cultivating plants and nurturing domesticated animals that are livestock. The drill of agriculture
is also known as farming. Farmers keep on trying to improve their techniques of farming to give
the best outcome to their families and consumers. The procedure of farming requires large felids
or farms. Early agriculture activities were performed by the human workforce and animals. From
1980 to 1990 North American government made efforts to help the farmers and agriculture
sector through making policies, requesting international help, and making farmers aware of the
positive impacts of it (Moyer & Josling, 2017). The government educated farmers about one-
time investment and long term benefits of machinery. In 1990 farmers showed huge interest in
machinery and recorded a rapid adaptation of machinery in the farms (Olmstead & Rhode,
2011). North American farming technology changed from 1776 to 1990 (Eastwood, Lipton, &
Newell, 2010). This report will highlight the history of agriculture in North America and will try
to develop an understanding of why the farmers adapted machinery for farming. This report will
discuss the tractors' adaptations by the North American farmers. This discussion will evaluate the
factors that affected farmers and they adapted machinery as their prime source of performing
farming activities. These reports will also highlight the negative effects of machinery adaptation
by the farmers. In the end, this report will highlight the economic factors that influenced farmers
to adopt machinery. There is a detailed analysis present in the discussion on economic factors
such as population growth and labor costs. While concluding the discussion this report will
express modern or present agriculture in North America.
History of agriculture transformation
Farming or agriculture was very different and only little technology was used in
performing the daily farming jobs. In early-stage animals such as oxen and horses were used to
perform jobs that required power. Crude wooden plows were used to practice farming. All the
sowing jobs were done by human hands. The cultivation procedure was done by hoe and
threshing of wheat was done by flail. The agriculture sector was rapidly transforming in second
half of the 20th century. The transformation came with the change of raised capital-labor ratio in

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the agriculture sector. A representative of the capital-labor introduced tractors as the main source
of motor power. Tractors helped the cultivators to increase their productivity (Takeshima, 2017).
They were able to enhance their efficiency because tractors allowed them to cultivate more land
in less time. After the use of tractors, the average size of North American farms increased from
140 acres to 1910 to over 400 acres later (MacDonald, Korb, & Hoppe, 2017). This encouraged
the population to work in the agriculture field. The number of farmers increased in the U.S. in
1910. In late 1941 one-third of the male workers of Canada were directly engaged in agriculture
(Feeny, 2011). On comparing today's ratio from the old ratio only 3% of the labor force of
Canada and the US is working in the agriculture sector. The introduction of new technology
affected market forces, resource prices, and political forces. Tractors got adapted in great
numbers by the farmers of North America. From world war one too until the mid-1920 the
farmers adopted tractors more speedily in the Northern Great Plains.
Understanding the machines
Before and after world war people were unaware of the positive impacts of the use of
machinery. Agriculture was least developed in that era because of the lack of knowledge in the
farmers. After getting knowledge and education about the machinery used in farms, the use of
tractors increased rapidly. In early life, only human power was used to work in the farms, after
the machinery introduction farmers understood that use of machinery will let them increase their
efficiency and effectiveness in the farms. Also, it will reduce the efforts they were making before
machinery introduction.
Tractor Adoption
The internal combustion engine was presented into tractors at the starting of the twentieth
century (Haycraft, 2011). In the beginning, tractors were not widespread with the farmers. It is
very normal, humans need time to adapt changes and accept the changes. Slowly and steadily
when people started recognizing the positive affects they stared adapting tractors in their farms.
This transformation took place from world war one to the great depression. Tractor adaptation
ratio increased rapidly from twenty-five thousand in 1915 to approximately one million in 1930
(Meinig, 2010). The northern American farms were Great Plains and tracts were well suited in
the farms. The use of improved technology increased the area of farms.

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Immigration Policy
In 1920 the U.S. and Canada’s immigration policy differed. Canadian policy loosened up
the restrictions whereas the U.S. Immigration policy tightened a bit (Thomas & Biette, 2014).
These changes in policy impacted farmer's evaluation of labor supply. Canadian farmers
predicted continued inflow of the labor whereas the U.S. farmers recognized that labor rates
would develop increasingly inflexible. The U.S. farmers started expecting a rise in their wages
whereas Canadian farmers still didn't expect any rise in labor wages. In the middle of 1920 labor
rates were increased rapidly because of the unavailability of laborers (Rodgers, 2014). This led to
more and more farmers to reach out and get to know about the new technology in the market.
North America stared adopting machinery slowly instead of the human workforce.
Agriculture in North America
In colonial America the prime factor of livelihood was agriculture, 90 % of the
population and most of the towns were practicing agriculture for their living (Fogleman, 2014).
Most of the population practiced agriculture for their family and not for other people. After 1800
cotton became the main crop of southern plantations. The ratio of farms increased from 1.4
million to 6.4 million in 1910 (Hoppe, 2014).
Factors affected the increase in the farms
Whenever there is a rapid change in the market or environment there are certain factors
that were involved in bringing the change. Few factors that affected the increase of machinery in
agriculture are growing interdependence, international support, framing as big business, and
machinery introduction.
Growing interdependence
From the 1980s to 1990s world leaders attempted a more systematic process to regulate
agriculture trade (Moyer & Josling, 2017). Every country's government attempted to show some
kind of support in the agriculture sector. The government showed support through introducing
new policies in the agriculture sector that would benefit farmers. After this support, the
agriculture market conditions became increasingly variable. Farmers were purely dependent on
the human workforce after machinery introduction; farmers started adopting machinery as their
main method of production.

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International support
The United States requested 90 countries that were already associated with the world's
international trade agreement for support (Service, 2019). The United States particularly targeted
for assurance for the eventual exclusion of European farm subsidies and the end of Japanese bans
on the rice imports. Most of the countries or groups of countries agreed on the idea of moving
away from trade-distorting subsidies and lookup for freer markets. International support allowed
the United States to grow in the agriculture sector as well as in the business sector.
Agricultural as Big Business
In 20th century, American farmers were facing a problem of overproduction and they
entered the 21st century with the same problem. After the issue was recognized farmers attempted
to start making improvements in their methods. Since then farmers started using better fertilizers,
better seeds and proper calculations on stock needed. Farmers started to cut down their
production to control the wastage. Farmers realized that farm production can also become a
business. After a point of time, extra production was exported with a business perspective.
Machinery introduction
From 1980 to 1990 the agriculture sector noted rapid changes (Trostle, 2010). In that
phase, farmers got the knowledge of the positive impacts of the machinery used. Later in the
phase, the human workforce started disappearing that also led the farmers to take machinery as
their main method of production. After the introduction of machinery to the farmers, the farms
recorded a rapid increase in the field and production. Farmers were always dependent on the
human workforce or laborers for the work but after machinery establishment, they noticed the
same work can be done in less time with even fewer efforts and with satisfactory results.
Mechanized agriculture
Mechanized agriculture is a procedure that involves the use of machinery to perform
agriculture activities (Schmitz & Moss, 2015). The use of machinery in agriculture sector highly
increases the productivity of the farmworker and farms. In modern days machinery has replaced
many farm jobs that were before performed by the human workforce. In early 1980 the farm jobs
were done by animals such as oxen, horses, and mules that were led by humans (Chanie,
Fentahun, Mitiku, & Berhan, 2012). Few jobs were solely done by human power. The history of

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agriculture includes many illustrations that involve the use of tools by the human workforce.
Tools such as hoe and plow were used by a human while working in the fields or farms. After the
industrial revolution farming or agriculture has become less labor-intensive.
In the context of economics, mechanization was one of the main reasons for urbanization
and industrial growth. Machinery use improved production in the farms and farmers got
encouraged for large scale production. Machinery use also improved the quantity of farm
production. Since the very starting agriculture farm jobs were done by human hand with animal
help. For example, humans used flail as a tool for threshing, the procedure of separating grains
from their husks were done by this tool. Performing this activity with human hands required a lot
of effort and hard work. One more example is the threshing machines and reaper was shared into
combine harvester that required groups of horses or mules to pull it. This procedure of harvesting
required a lot of animal and human power as controlling large groups of animals was not an easy
job. In 1990 the population of horses started to decline afterwards the change of farming and
transportation to internal combustion. Farmers started to use tractors for farming jobs. In 1950
the sale of tractors showed rapid growth in the agriculture sector.
According to the 1997 report of the California agrarian action project, many harvesting
machines had been well-appointed with a photoelectric scanner that separated out green tomatoes
among the red ones using infrared lights and color sensors. This technology replaced 5000 hand
harvesters. This led to a focused tomato industry in California that started delivering 85 % of the
nation's tomato products. The monoculture fields fostered rapid pest growth; this led to the usage
of more than 4 million pounds of pesticides every year that hugely unnatural the health of the
soil, farm workers, and consumers.
Negative effects of machinery adaptation
In context to Field farmers
The field farmers are those who do not have their land and they work on daily wages on
other’s farms. After the machinery introduction, many lost their jobs as laborers. In industrial
growth, many harvesters lost their job because the use of machinery reduced the need of human
in farms. The need for the human workforce decreased because of machinery use.

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In context to the environment
The rapid increase in machinery use increased pollution levels as well. The machinery
use also affected the health of soil and farmers started using pesticides. The use of pesticides
kept on increasing as machinery use kept on increasing. This rapid growth affected the
consumers as well. The consumers had to consume products that were produced with pesticides.
The machinery growth increased pollution as well. The environment had to deal with negative
effects.
Heavy machinery
Heavy machinery can affect soil fertility and affect the farm negatively. A normal and
everyday useable machine such as a tractor is heavy and can affect the soil fertility and harm the
production. The machinery affects the soil and farms it is one of the main reasons for farmers to
use pesticides in the cultivation process. Also, heavy machinery requires petrol and diesel to
work in the felids that created pollution in the air as well. Every aspect or situation has some bad
effects and good effects. Likewise, machinery adaptation had good effects and bad effects on it.
Agriculture and machinery
Agriculture is the art and science of cultivating eatables. In early 1990 agriculture
recorded development in sedentary human civilization. Agriculture provides basic products that
are used in making final eatables such as bread. Early agriculture activities were purely
performed by the human workforce but after some time the human workforce started
disappearing and farmers started adopting machinery for farm jobs. The major agriculture
products can be gathered into foods such as fibers, fuels, and raw materials. Modern agriculture
activities are performed with machines. Agriculture machinery is a kind of equipment that
requires less manpower and fewer efforts to perform any farm job. Agriculture machinery has
recorded a fast change from hands to power tools and then to tractors. Countless changes were
made in farming techniques. Since then machinery use in farming is indispensable because the
world is fed.
The industrial revolution brought even more developed farming methods. The new farming
methods were accepted well by the farmers. For example, harvesting of grain was first done by
human hands. After the machinery introduction wheat harvesting was done by sharp blades and

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wheeled machines. Instead of threshing grains by human power, threshing machines were used
to separate the seeds from the stalks. The first internal ignition engine, petrol engine, and later
diesel engines developed the key source of power. Instead of cutting the grains and transporting
those for threshing, the threshing machine was used in fields.
Farmers to adapt machinery
In 1980 farmers faced major changes in the environment and market that influenced the
farmers to adapt the machinery for agriculture. The first time tractors were introduced was in the
19th century. Innovations are considered as the main source of economic growth. The
improvements in technology help the country to develop as a whole. In the majority of research
papers or journals, it is mentioned that innovation positively helps the country. Factors such as
unavailability of the human workforce, delay in work, and unavailability of animals to pull
traditional carts used for harvesting. The farmers adapted machinery for agriculture jobs because
of a few factors.
Factors affected farmers to adapt machinery
Mechanized agriculture increases agriculture work efficiency. In comparison to the
human workforce, machinery increased farm productivity. Farmers went through many tough
situations where farm production got affected that made them to shift from human workforce to
machinery use. Also, the machinery shift was essential for the economic development of the
country. The human workforce in the farms wouldn't have last for forever. As time was passing
it was farmer’s responsibility to feed more and more people of country and to increase the levels
of production farmers started adopting machinery. Few major factors that made farmers to adapt
machinery use in the farms were fast and easy production in farms, development of the country,
increase in the effectiveness and, and keeping human safety as the priority.
Fast and easy working
In early 1980 farming was labor-intensive and required a lot of human and animal
strength to perform agriculture jobs (Rosenfeld, 2017). Form the very start of the procedure
agriculture activities required human workforce and domesticated animals. Farming activities
such as harvesting crops, cultivating crops, maintaining the crop until they get cultivated, and
plucking the production is a tough job if performed by human hands with animal support. These

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jobs were done by the human workforce. Doing all these jobs it required a lot of time and effort.
Also, one day of human unavailability creates a loss in the fields. One day of delay in work can
create a huge loss. The unavailability of humans and delay in production made farmers shift to
the machinery used. From 1980 to 1990 North American farmers adapted machinery use rapidly
to increase production effectiveness and efficiency (Cairns, et al., 2012). Machinery adaptation
allowed the farmers to finish the production activities on time with just half human efforts with
almost no use of domesticated animals.
Development of country
The adaptation of machinery in the agriculture sector has created a revolution. Almost
every agriculture activity is performed through the machine. For a country to be well-developed
needs to adapt to changes very effectively. Every country has to adapt to the changes to develop
as a whole. In the early days in North America agriculture or farming was purely dependent on
the human workforce and animals. To perform single farming activity it required human power
and a lot of effort. After some time the animals started to disappear and production in the farms
stared facing delays. Innovation and updated technology helped the country to grow as a whole.
The improved technology helped the farmers to decrease the efforts and increase the production
in the farms. The machinery adaptation increased production in the agriculture fields and North
American farmers stared making easier profits. The development of a country depends on the
economic growth rate. After the industrial revolution in North American farmers started to
rapidly use the tractors that fasten their production and helped in economic growth. Human
health issues stared decreasing because after machinery adaptation human workforce could
easily be avoided. Workings in the soil were now practised by machines with less human efforts
and increased production.
Increase in effectiveness and efficiency
The adaptation of machinery helped the farmers to increase their production in farms
with less human efforts. In the early days, agriculture required a lot of efforts but the results were
still not satisfactory for the farmers. In the early days, North American farmers practiced farming
just for the families and not for the business purpose. Farmers were not able to make money out
of farming is because not every farmer had their farms, some farmers were just field workers and
they could only manage to get average wages that were used by their family members to fulfil

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there needs. After the machinery introduction, many field workers got unemployed but the
production levels increased because of the fast working. Machinery allowed the farmers to work
effectively and efficiently. The machinery adaptation in the agriculture sector helped the farmer
to cultivate the crops in less time that brought them closer to the idea of the agriculture business.
The extra production can be sold out.
Human safety
Agriculture or farming involves jobs like harvesting the crop, cultivation the crops, and
then plucking out the production. These jobs were purely performed by humans and animals.
These jobs required a lot of power and hard work in the soil. Working day and night in the soil
with all the strength could develop various illnesses in field workers. Machinery adaptations
reduced the human effort in the farms and increased production. After machinery adaptations,
farmworkers didn't have to use their hands in the soil to work. Many had to look up for different
professions because after the machinery adaptations in farms less human workforce was
required. More than half of the jobs were done by machines in later days. North American
farmers rapidly shifted to machinery use in 1990. The machinery used reduced the daily human
accidents and machinery use was faster in comparison to human hands. This became one of the
reasons for farmers to adapt machinery as their prime source of cultivation.
Economic factors that influenced machinery adaptations
Population
At one point in time, the North American government realized that the production is not
enough for the entire countries. Then the North American government sneaked help form the
international market. After that, the government started educating the farmers about machinery
use and its benefits. After some time farmers rapidly adapted the machinery use and eventually,
the production increased and it was enough for the population. Countries like Canada and
California were huge providers of farm products. In 1990 the United States had 2,192,000 active
farms (Wheeler & Von Braun, 2013). The total cultivation in acres was 954,000,000. These
numbers provided $44.1 billion of net returns. And this was achieved by farmers that were part
of less than two % of the entire U.S. people. They successfully fed the country and provided a

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high standard of living. After the population was satisfied every farmer adopted machinery for
their farming jobs.
Labor costs
Till 1980 most of the farming jobs were done by humans. And soon the labor rates started
increasing it became a problem. Farmers had to pay a lot of amount and even after paying high
amount production was slow and farmers couldn't stock up enough production. This made
farmers adapt machinery for fast and easy work. Labor costs have been and continue to be one of
the largest economic issues. Discussion and actions about it have led farmers to switch from
human workforce to machinery.
Modern agriculture
North America has a cold to tropical jungles. North America enjoys more climate
variations than any other landform. Almost every ecosystem is represented somewhere on the
continent. North American farmers harvest oranges, sugar cane, coffee, cocoa, and bananas.
These crops grow on coastal plains and humid mountain slopes. Cotton and hemp are cultivated
in a warmer and dry climate (Parikka, Hakala, & Tiilikkala, 2012). These crops are then exported
to Central American countries. Now days also North America practices farming and feeds the
countries. North American farmers are using the best machines for farming or agriculture.
Conclusion
North American farmers were unaware of the positive impacts machinery had after
educating them about the machines farmers accepted the change and adapted the machinery in
agriculture. Many factors led the North American farmers to adapt machinery. A few of them are
explained in the report above. Factors like more human power and fewer outcomes, an increase
in labor rates, and human safety led farmers to adapt machinery for farming. This report has
highlighted the history of agriculture in North America and has reflected on why the farmers
adapted machinery for farming. North America recorded a rapid change in the agricultural sector
from 1800 to 1990. This change has been discussed in the above report. This report has
discussed the tractor's adaptations by the North American farmers. When nothing worked out
North America took help from international countries. Later farmers started to adopt machinery.

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North American farmers have shown huge interest in tractors and the interest is still present in
the farmers. This discussion has evaluated the factors that affected farmers and they adapted
machinery as their prime source of performing farming activities. This report has also
highlighted the negative effects of machinery adaptation by the farmers. In the end, the report
has highlighted the economic factor that has influenced farmers to adopt machinery. There is a
detailed analysis present in the discussion on economic factors such as population growth and
labor costs. With the help of the government and international countries, North America has
progressed in the agriculture sector. This report has elaborated factors that have influenced North
American farmers to adapt machinery instead of the human workforce. North America has
recorded huge growth in cultivation.

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