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Describe the revolutionary changes in farming on the Great Plains.
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Revolutionary changes in Great Plains farming included adapting to climate shifts and technological advancements. In the late 1800s, farmers relied on rainfall, but droughts led to using wells for irrigation. New drought-resistant crops like grain sorghum were introduced, complemented by animal husbandry. Mechanization, including tractors, reduced costs post-WWI. Techniques like summer fallow, terracing, and windbreaks improved water retention and reduced soil erosion, while modern irrigation and hybrid seeds enhanced productivity.
In the late 1880s, farmers in the Great Plains primarily grew corn and wheat. The climatic conditions of the region at that time were favorable for farming. Therefore, farmers depended on rainfall. However, from the onset of the 1890s to 1895, climatic conditions changed and the Great Plains experienced drought. During this period, farmers started using wells as a water resource for irrigation. In 1896, the climate changed again and there was adequate rainfall, which resulted in a shift from irrigation.
Farmers began growing grain sorghum since they were drought-resistant. They also started combining crop farming with animal husbandry. The First World War resulted in a high demand for food, which led to widespread wheat farming in the Great Plains. People practiced dry farming during this period. However, the end of the war resulted in reduced wheat prices. Consequently, from the early 1920s, mechanization became a popular means of reducing...
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operational costs. Both large-scale and small-scale farmers began using tractors.
The Great Plains of the U.S. was used primarily for grazing cattle, but after the Homestead Act of 1862, thousands of settlers started farms in the grasslands. Many of these farms failed due to the harsh conditions that come along with dryland farms, but thanks to some revolutionary changes in farming techniques, these failures grew less frequent.
First, the introduction of new crops helped reduce fallow fields. Winter wheat was introduced from Europe, along with corn, beans and even watermelons. These crops were able to thrive with a minimum of rainfall.
In order to capture as much moisture as possible, summer fallow rotations, leaving stubble to capture snow moisture and terracing of fields were all techniques perfected in the Great Plains.
To prevent erosion from taking valuable topsoil, windbreaks, low tillage, spreading straw and strip farming were all utilized.
Describe the revolutionary changes in farming on the Great Plains.
This is a tremendously broad topic - there have been numerous types of changes that have impacted agriculture on the American Great Plains over the years.
In considering changes that have occurred since European settlers began coming to the Great Plains, one of the first revolutions might be considered the introduction of fences. The end of raising livestock on the open range revolutionized how livestock were handled.
The invention of the steel-blade plow in 1836 was another revolutionary development. The ability to break up and plow the prairie opened vast new areas to be developed; it also set the stage for the conservation and soil-erosion challenges of the Dust Bowl and current farming practices.
Modern irrigation, hybrid seeds and increased use of fertilizers have also revolutionized yields and the impact of agricultural use upon the soil.