The wheat is in, the corn is finally tasselling, soybeans and grain sorghum are hanging in there, and it’s county fair time. This is traditionally the time of year after wheat harvest where there is/was a lull in the action and farmers would take a break and maybe even a family vacation before work picked up in August. Initial tillage was done and it was a little early to start intensively fertilizing and for final tillage. With irrigation and crop diversification the lull shrank a bit but typically irrigated corn was done flowering about now, sorghum and irrigated beans weren’t quite at peak water use yet. Also in late July and early August, K-State and companies start having their field days on a variety of subjects.
With that spirit in mind, let’s take it a bit easy and test your agriculture knowledge. Answers are at the end of the column.
1. Who developed the self-scouring, steel moldboard plow?
a. Cyrus McCormick
b. Jethro Tull
c. John Deere
d. Fritz Haber
2. Who is credited with developing the mechanical reaper?
a. Cyrus McCormick
b. Jethro Tull
c. John Deere
d. Fritz Haber
3. Who is credited with developing the horse-drawn seed drill?
a. Cyrus McCormick
b. Jethro Tull
c. John Deere
d. Fritz Haber
4. Who is credited with developing the process turning atmospheric nitrogen and hydrogen to produce ammonia and thus nitrogen fertilizers?
a. Cyrus McCormick
b. Jethro Tull
c. John Deere
d. Fritz Haber
Why these four questions? These four discoveries/inventions fundamentally changed some aspect of agriculture, from eliminating sowing seeds and gathering crops by hand to being able to break the prairie sod and produce nitrogen fertilizers for crop production. Each in their own way, these discoveries helped lead the way for modern agriculture.
Answers: 1-c; 2-a; 3-b; 4-d