Agricultural machinery
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2008-07-14T06:34:29Z
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[[Image:Claas-lexion-570-1.jpg|300px|thumb|right|A German [[combine harvester]].]]
'''Agricultural machinery''' is one of the most [[revolution]]ary and impactful applications of modern [[technology]]. The truly elemental [[human]] need for [[food]] has often driven the development of technology and [[machine]]s. Over the last 250 years, advances in [[farm equipment]] have transformed the way people are employed and produce their food worldwide.
== History ==
===Hand tools===
The first person to turn from the [[hunting and gathering]] lifestyle to [[farming]] probably did so by using his bare [[hand]]s, and perhaps some sticks or stones. [[Tool]]s such as [[knife|knives]], [[scythe]]s, and [[wood]]en [[plow]]s were eventually developed, and dominated agriculture for thousands of years. During this time, almost everyone worked in agriculture, because each [[family]] could barely raise enough food for themselves with the limited technology of the day.
===The Industrial Revolution===
With the coming of the [[Industrial Revolution]] and the development of more complicated machines, farming methods took a great leap forward. Instead of [[harvesting]] [[cereal|grain]] by hand with a sharp [[blade]], [[wheel]]ed machines cut a continuous swath. Instead of [[threshing]] the grain by beating it with sticks, [[threshing machine]]s separated the [[seed]]s from the heads and stalks.
===Steam power===
These machines required a lot of [[power (physics)|power]], which was originally supplied by [[horses]] or other [[domesticated animal]]s. With the invention of [[steam power]] came the [[portable engine]] and later the [[traction engine]], a multipurpose, mobile [[energy]] source that was the ground-crawling cousin to the [[steam locomotive]]. Agricultural [[steam engines]] took over the heavy pulling work of [[horse]]s, and were also equipped with a [[pulley]] that could power stationary machines via the use of a long [[belt (mechanical)|belt]]. The steam-powered behemoths were low-powered by today's standards but, because of their size and their low [[gear ratio]]s, they could provide a large [[Drawbar (haulage)|drawbar]] pull. Their slow speed led farmers to comment that tractors had two speeds: "slow, and darn slow."
===The internal combustion engine===
[[Gasoline]], and later [[diesel]] [[engines]] became the main source of power for the next generation of tractors. These engines also contributed to the development of the self-propelled, combined harvester and thresher, or [[combine harvester|combine]] for short. Instead of cutting the grain stalks and transporting them to a stationary threshing machine, these combines cut, threshed, and separated the grain while moving continuously through the field.
== Types ==
Combines might have taken the harvesting job away from tractors, but tractors still do the majority of work on a modern farm. They are used to pull [[list of farm implements|implements]]—machines that till the ground, plant seed, or perform a number of other tasks.
[[Tillage]] implements prepare the [[soil]] for planting by loosening the soil and killing [[weed]]s or competing plants. The best-known is the [[plough|plow]], the ancient implement that was upgraded in 1838 by a man named [[John Deere]]. Plows are actually used less frequently in the [[United States of America|U.S.]] today, with offset [[disk (tillage)|disk]]s used instead to turn over the soil and [[chisel plow|chisels]] used to gain the depth needed to retain moisture.
The most common type of [[seeder]] is called a [[planter]] and spaces seeds out equally in long rows, which are usually 2 to 3 feet apart. Some [[agriculture|crops]] are planted by [[grain drill|drills]], which put out much more seed in rows less than a foot apart, blanketing the field with crops. [[Transplanter]]s fully or partially automate the task of transplanting [[seedling]]s to the field. With the widespread use of [[plastic mulch]], [[plastic mulch layer]]s, transplanters, and seeders lay down long rows of [[plastic]], and plant through them automatically.
After planting, other implements can be used to cultivate weeds from between rows, or to spread [[fertilizer]] and [[pesticide]]s. [[Hay]] [[baler]]s can be used to tightly package grass or [[alfalfa]] into a storable form for the winter months.
Modern [[irrigation]] also relies on a great deal of machinery. A variety of engines, [[pump]]s and other specialized gear are used to provide [[water]] quickly and in high volumes to large areas of land. Similar types of equipment can be used to deliver [[fertilizer]]s and [[pesticide]]s.
And, besides the tractor, a variety of vehicles have been adapted for use in various aspects of farming, including [[truck]]s, [[:Category:agricultural aircraft|airplane]]s, and [[helicopter]]s, for everything from transporting crops and making equipment mobile, to aerial spraying and [[livestock]] [[herd]] management.
== New technology and the future ==
The basic technology of agricultural machines has changed little in the last [[century]]. Though modern harvesters and planters may do a better job or be slightly tweaked from their predecessors, the US$250,000 combine of today still cuts, threshes, and separates grain in essentially the same way it has always been done. However, technology is changing the way that humans operate the machines, as [[computer]] monitoring systems, [[GPS]] locators, and self-steer programs allow the most advanced tractors and implements to be more precise and less wasteful in the use of fuel, seed, or fertilizer. In the foreseeable future, some agricultural machines will be capable of driving themselves, using GPS [[map]]s and [[electronic sensor]]s. Even more [[esoteric]] are the new areas of [[nanotechnology]] and [[genetic engineering]], where [[submicroscopic]] devices and [[biology|biological]] processes, respectively, are being used as machines to perform agricultural tasks in unusual new ways.
Agriculture may be one of the oldest professions, but the development and use of machinery has made the job title of ''farmer'' a rarity. Instead of every person having to work to provide food for themselves, less than 2% of the U.S. [[population]] today works in agriculture, yet that 2% provides considerably more food than the other 98% can eat. It is estimated that at the turn of the 20th century, one farmer in the U.S. could feed 25 people, where today, that ratio is 1:130 (in a modern grain farm, a single farmer can produce cereal to feed over a thousand people). With continuing advances in agricultural machinery, the role of the farmer will become increasingly specialized and rare.
==See also==
*[[List of agricultural machinery]]
*[[Mechanised agriculture]]
[[Category:Agricultural machinery| ]]
[[ar:ميكنة زراعية]]
[[bs:Agrarna mehanizacija]]
[[de:Landtechnik]]
[[fr:Machinisme agricole]]
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[[ja:農業機械]]
[[pl:Maszyny rolnicze]]
[[ru:Сельскохозяйственные машины]]
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