Oklahoma Ag in the ClassroomAugust PageAugust is National Inventor's MonthRed Dirt Groundbreaker: Fred Hoeme / Oklahoma Inventors' Database American agriculture owes much of its success to the innovative thinking of farmers looking for ways to solve problems and make farming easier. Thomas Jefferson was an avid farmer and inventor who saw a problem with the crude wooden plows used by farmers in his day. They barely scratched the surface and merely loosened the topsoil, making it susceptible to washing away at the first hard rain. Jefferson's solution was the moldboard plow, which lifted and turned the sod. With this tool he could plow to a depth of about six inches. This enabled farmers to contour-ridge erodible fields, plow out shallow ditches, and ridge poorly drained flat lands. Over 100 years later a farmer from Hooker, Oklahoma, invented another plow that helped control erosion and became the "Plow to Save the Plains." Red Dirt Groundbreaker: Fred HoemeFred Hoeme was a farmer living near Hooker during the Dust Bowl era who was concerned about wind erosion. Hoeme noticed that road equipment kicked up dirt clods that didn’t blow around like the soil plowed using the usual plowing methods. He invented the chisel plow, which left the residue of previous crops exposed. This helped stabilize the soil and prevented the formation of surface crusts, which helped the soil take in and hold rainwater.
Hoeme and his sons manufactured and sold about 2,000 plows from their farmstead. In 1938 W.T. Graham bought the rights to make and sell the plows. Graham modified the plow and advertised it as the Graham-Hoeme Plow, the “Plow to Save the Plains.” It was sold worldwide. By the 1950s, about half of all Great Plains farmers owned chisel plows. The widespread use helped control wind erosion during the seven-year drought of the 50s. In 2000 a plaque was installed in Hoeme's honor at the Williams Homesteaders Park in Hooker.
Find other Oklahoma inventors in this lesson: Red Dirt Groundbreakers Movie: The Graham-Hoeme Plow: An Oklahoma farmer invents "The Plow to Save the Plains." Research important agricultural inventions using these resources Online OAITC Lessons Related to Ag Inventions and ResearchWhat Oklahoma inventor, inspired by a folding chair, changed the way people shop for groceries?
What groundbreaking invention developed at OSU helps farmers use fertilizer more efficiently? 21st Century Agriculture (Cooperative Extension Service video) Movie: The History of Tractors (history.com) Oklahoma Inventors DatabaseAn index of US patents issued to individuals residing in Indian and Oklahoma Territories, 1880-1907.
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August PageOklahoma Ag in the Classroom
Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education. |
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