A Brief History of Farm Equipment

Farm equipment has changed massively in the past few centuries. The advent of mechanized agriculture has allowed for massive gains in productivity and crop yield. Many tools that were in use for centuries became obsolete overnight. If you’re interested in learning more about the history of farm equipment, this guide from the experts at Atlantic Tractor has the details. 

Early Years

Farming has never been an easy job, but early agriculture was especially unforgiving. Human laborers worked throughout the day to produce a harvest that would be considered meager by our modern standards. While basic hand tools like hows, plows, and sickles might not seem that advanced to us, they were massive game changers when they were first introduced. These devices saved laborers a lot of time and energy, allowing farmers to increase their yields. There's a reason why these tools are still used today. 

Animal Labor 

The next big technological advance in farm equipment was animal domestication. Certain animals, such as oxen and draft horses, were bred for strength and endurance. These animals could perform more work in a day than a team of human laborers could do in a week. However, this approach had its drawbacks. Draft animals had much greater endurance than humans, but they could still become tired and overheated if worked hard enough. They were also vulnerable to aging and disease. Domesticated animals also tended to eat the same crops they were used to harvest, which cut into the farmer’s bottom line.  

New Tools

As the centuries went on, farm equipment slowly but surely became more complex. People created new tools or adapted existing ones to meet the unique agricultural challenges imposed by the local climate and terrain. This culminated in mechanized agriculture. The massive amount of work needed to be done in order to keep a farm running would fall to machines instead of people or animals. Not only were these machines even more powerful than domesticated animals, but they were immune to fatigue and disease. Today, tractors and other such farm equipment is found on almost every farm in the nation. 

Shop farm equipment at Atlantic Tractors. We operate 17 locations throughout Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. We also offer parts ordering, servicing, rentals, and promotions. We hope to see you soon!