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The Public Land Act
The Public Land Act authorized federal land sales to the public in minimum 640-acre at 2 dollars per acre in an attempt to encourage settlement in the western lands. -
Invention of the cotton gen
Helped cotton farmers increase cotton crop production. -
Exports
New technologies in farms and in transportation resulted in a growth in agriculture exports. From 1810-1819, the average annul value of agriculture exports totaled $40 million/year or 87% of total exports -
Agriculture Experimentation
Washington began experimenting with crops, but then he created the mule and believed that it would revolutionize farming. -
Homestead Act
The Homestead Act offered 160 acres of free land to settlers who would farm it for five years, making the Great Plains a land of opportunity. Homesteaders rushed to fill the open lands. -
Barbed Wire
Availability of barbed
wire allowed fencing of
rangeland, ending era
of unrestricted, openrange grazing -
Manufacturing Innovation
Machines had drastically reduced the amount of manpower required on farms. This increased productivity freed more Americans to pursue new endeavors in industry and in the arts and sciences. -
Drought and Depression
As fields and streams dried up agriculture was going down hill. Cattle couldn't fed, crops failed, and money was short which meant less food on the table for families. -
Early Farm Bill
The law set up a framework to guide farm work in agriculture in the United States -
Tractor Technology
Tractors have significantly impacted farm labor and productivity.