1. A Brief History of Agriculture
Mr. Wilson
Uintah High School

2. Objective 1:Discuss the history of Agriculture
Explain how the science of agriculture helped develop civilization, including agronomic, horticultural, and forestry plants.
Identify the major innovators and milestones in the advancement of agriculture.

3. Agriculture Defined
The art, science, and business of managing the growth of plants and animals for human use.

4. Agriculture Defined Cultivation of the soil Growing & harvesting crops
Breeding & raising of livestock
Packing, processing, and marketing
Much more than farming!

5. World Agriculture Began over 10,000 years ago
Humans discovered the value of wild plants and animals and domesticated and bred them
Cereals
Meat animals
Poultry, fish, milk, cheese, nuts, oils, fruits, vegetables etc.
Before agriculture, people were hunters and gatherers.

6. Domestication To adapt for human use. Survival depends upon humans.
Breeding is subject to human control.
Characteristics are different than wild ancestry.
Grown or raised for a purpose.

7. World Agriculture Importance
50% world’s labor force employed in agriculture
> 60% in Africa
< 4% in USA and Canada
15% former Soviet Union
7% in Western Europe
Abraham Lincoln established the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1862.

8. World Agriculture
Nations depend on agriculture for food, income, and raw materials
United States consumers spend approximately 10% of income on food, the world’s smallest amount.
The United States exports over $120 billion of American Agricultural products.

9. World Agriculture Agricultural income also from nonfood crops Rubber
Fiber plants
Tobacco
Oilseeds for synthetic chemical compounds
Animals for pelt

10. Dates Plants &Animals Domesticated
Dates of domestication vary by regions
Earliest may be from 10,000 BC
Scientists used carbon-14 testing of plant & animal remains

11. Dates Plants &Animals Domesticated
Sheep 9000 BC (N Iraq)
Cattle 6th millennium BC (NE Iran)
Goats 8000 BC (Iran)
Pigs 8000 BC (Thailand) & 7000 BC (Thessaly)
Horses 4350 BC (Ukraine)
Llama & alpaca 3rd millennium (Andean region of S America)
Maize (corn) believed to be domesticated approximately 9000 years ago in Central America

12. Dates Plants &Animals Domesticated
Wheat & barley 8th millennium BC (Middle East)
Millet & rice 5500 BC (China & SE Asia)
Squash 8000 BC (Mexico)
Legumes 6000 BC (Thessaly & Macedonia)
Flax for textiles in early Neolithic period
Transition from hunting and food gathering to dependence on food gathering was gradual
Has not been accomplished worldwide

13. Pastoralism A later development
Mixed farming, combining cultivation of crops and stock raising was a common Neolithic pattern
Nomadic herders roamed steppes of Europe and Asia where the horse and camel were domesticated

14. Scientific Agriculture
Colonial agriculture
Feed colonies
Produce cash crops & feed home country
Cultivation of sugar, cotton, tobacco, tea, animals for wool and hide etc
From 15th to 19th centuries slaves were used
Slaves worked in Caribbean on sugar plantations & in N America

15. Scientific Agriculture
Scientific revolution occurred from the Renaissance and Age of Enlightenment in Europe
Plant breeding
Breeding cattle & sheep
Guernsey cow breed
Crop rotations
Drainage brought more land into cultivation

16. Scientific Agriculture
Livestock breeding in 1700s
Limestone on soils in late 1700s
Cast-iron plow
1797 by Charles Newbold
John Deere improved it in 1830s & made it from steel
Seed drill in early 1700s
Reaper by Cyrus McCormick in 1831

17. Scientific Agriculture
By late 1800s steam power replaced animal power in drawing plows and operating threshing machinery
Science and technology developed for industrial purposes in agriculture
Resulting in agribusinesses of the mid-20th century
Poisons for pests developed in 19th century
Improvements in transportation (19 & 20th)

18. Scientific Agriculture
After World War II
Green revolution
Selective breeding of crops
DNA technology
Intensive cultivation methods
Machinery development

19. Agriculture in USA
Until 19th century, shared history of European & colonial areas
Dependent upon Europe for seeds, livestock, machinery
Forced farmers in new world to be more innovative
Government policies encouraged land settlement
Homestead Act of 1862
Establishments of Land Grant Colleges

20. Agriculture in USA Morrill Land-Grant College Act of 1862
Annual appropriations to each state to support Land-Grant Colleges by 1890
$15,000 first year & increased in $1,000 increments until reached $25,000
Research tied to teaching
Extension Service – extends University knowledge to the people.

21. Agriculture in USA 20th century
Steam, gasoline, diesel, electric power
Chemical fertilizers manufactured
Loss of soil combated
Selected breeding of plants & animals
Hybridization of corn in 1930s
Improvements in storage, processing, transportation & marketing
Chemical control of pests

22. Agriculture in USA In 1980s high technology farming
Hybrids for many crops
Better methods of soil conservation
Irrigation systems improved
Growing use of fertilizers
Genetic engineering of many crops

23. Food Sources for Humans Today

25. How will we provide food for a growing planet?
?????

26. World population: 1978 = 4 billion population grows 200,000/day
60-80% of deaths in world are from malnutrition
average person needs 2200 Kilocalories per day
half the world receives less than 1500 Kilocalories
Today World Population is 7 BILLION PEOPLE!

27. Balanced diet
meat and cereals
North America = 35% meat, 40% cereal, 25% fruits/veg
Asia = 10% meat, 75% cereal (rice)

28. How can we produce more food?
increase number of acres in production
3 million acres per year taken out of production in the U.S. for residential and commercial use
increase production per acre
(Japan, Canada, Deserts, Jungles)

29. How has production changed in America?
Civil War: 1 farmer produced enough food for his family (1:6)
1920 = 1:10
1970 = 1:50
1990 = 1: 70
1998 = 1:128
2010 = 1:155
Corn production per acre doubled from 1940 to 1960 (hybrid corn & fertilizer)
Research: colleges, USDA, Industry

30. Other related areas Agronomy - field crops, wheat, corn, soybeans
Horticulture - fruits, veggies, woody ornamentals
and floriculture crops
Forestry - wood and pulp production, recreation, wildlife and watershed management
Weed science - deal with controlling and management of unwanted plants.

31. Future of Agriculture Genetic engineering will be important
Pests to pharmaceuticals to industrial products
Identity preserved crops
From farm gate to table top to industrial uses
Need students well versed in the basic sciences
Ever growing world population is of great concern
Space?