Agriculture Scientist Part 2

 Eli Whitney is best known for the invention of the cotton gin in 1793. A cotton gin is a machine that is used to pull cotton fibers from the cotton seed.  The cotton gin was a groundbreaking invention in the southern United States, and it had an enormous positive impact on the economies of the southern states in the U.S. The cotton gin also had an equally important impact on slavery in this country. Prior to Whitney’s cotton gin, raising cotton was very labor intensive and only a few plantations could profitably raise cotton.  The cotton gin catapulted cotton to a widespread, lucrative and less labor-intensive crop, contributing to the rise of cotton production in the Deep South. The availability of large supplies of cotton fiber also contributed to the rise of the textile industry.   Cyrus McCormick created the world’s first mechanical reaper in 1831. A mechanical reaper was needed, as harvesting crops required numerous men to cut and gather. Cyrus McCormick is referred to as the ‘Father of Modern Agriculture,’ however he did not work alone. Jo Anderson, a slave, is cited to have worked on the reaper as well  McCormkick’s reaper was able to replace manpower for machine power and is often cited as a key driver for the westward expansion of the United States. In 1851, the reaper won the highest award of the day, the Gold Medal at London’s Crystal Palace Exhibition.   Carver improved the lives of thousands of poor southern farmers by providing information on crops, cultivation techniques, and recipes for meals. He is best known for research into and promotion of alternative crops to cotton, particularly focusing on peanuts and sweet potatoes.  Carver was a progressive agricultural thinker, encouraging farmers to submit soil samples for analysis to determine causes of poor yield. Beyond crops and soils, Carver also taught livestock care and food preservation techniques.  Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work on the world’s food supply, Borlaug is known for his highly successful wheat breeding and wheat research programs in Mexico.  He created the World Food Prize in 1986 to recognize the achievements of individuals who have improved the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world. Borlaug championed an adequate food supply for every human being, and spent his lifetime working on improving food production to feed an evergrowing world population   Although co-developed with Carl Bosch, the process of ammonia synthesis bears Haber’s name and is known the world over as the Haber Process. (There is an attempt to give credit to Bosch by referring to the process as Haber-Bosch). Without the Haber-Bosch process, we would not be able to feed our global population.   In 1908 Haber developed the technique still used today to take the vast amount of nitrogen available in the atmosphere and convert it into nitrogen that plants can use. In 1918 Haber won the Nobel Prize for this discovery. Although nitrogen fertilizer had been previously available, this major leap forward allowed for the relatively inexpensive production of nitrogen fertilizer which ultimately led to its widespread availability.       Dwayne Orville Andreas Hugh Bennett- Created Soil Conservation Service James G Boswell II – head of J.G. Boswell. Played an important role in shaping the water use policy in California Earl Butz – Served as the secretary of Agriculture John Franz and Paul Muller – Chemist who separately developed glyphosate and DDT Temple Grandin – Professor at CSU focusing on Animal Handling and care     Thomas Jefferson – “cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens” Designed a moldboard plow Seaman Knapp- developed a demonstration farm which is credited to the founding of the cooperative demonstration farm program and country agent system Aldo Leopold – A Sand County Almanac Richard Marshall, Earl Kooi, Y. Takasakiinvented and refined the process of making high fructose corn syrup     Andrew Meikle – credited for creating the thresher in 1796 Ingo Potrykus – co-credited with creating golden rice, rice fortified with Vitamin A Henry David Thoreau – Walden, chronicles modest farm efforts Jethro Tull – vastly improved seeding crops by the invention and refinement of seed drill.