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Tractor Wars John Deere, Henry Ford, International Harvester, and the Birth of Modern Agriculture
<b>"Mr. Dahlstrom...has written a superb history of the tractor and this long-forgotten period of capitalism in U.S. agriculture. We now know the whole story of when farming, business and the free-market economy diverged, divided and conquered." <br>—<i>Wall Street Journal</i><br><i> </i><br><br><br>Discover the untold story of the “tractor wars,” the twenty-year period that introduced power farming—the most fundamental change in world agriculture in hundreds of years.</b><br><br>Before John Deere, Ford, and International Harvester became icons of American business, they were competitors in a forgotten battle for the farm. From 1908-1928, against the backdrop of a world war and economic depression, these brands were engaged in a race to introduce the tractor and revolutionize farming. <br><br>By the turn of the twentieth century, four million people had left rural America and moved to cities, leaving the nation’s farms shorthanded for the work of plowing, planting, cultivating, harvesting, and threshing. That’s why the introduction of the tractor is an innovation story as essential as man’s landing on the moon or the advent of the internet—after all, with the tractor, a shrinking farm population could still feed a growing world. But getting the tractor from the boardroom to the drafting table, then from factory and the farm, was a technological and competitive battle that until now, has never been fully told.<br><br>A researcher, historian, and writer, Neil Dahlstrom has spent decades in the corporate archives at John Deere. In <i>Tractor Wars</i>, Dahlstrom offers an insider’s view of a story that entwines a myriad of brands and characters, stakes and plots: the Reverend Daniel Hartsough, a pastor turned tractor designer; Alexander Legge, the eventual president of International Harvester, a former cowboy who took on Henry Ford; William Butterworth and the oft-at-odds leadership team at John Deere that partnered with the enigmatic Ford but planned for his ultimate failure. <br><br>With all the bitterness and drama of the race between Ford, Dodge, and General Motors, <i>Tractor Wars</i> is the untold story of industry stalwarts and disruptors, inventors, and administrators racing to invent modern agriculture—a power farming revolution that would usher in a whole new world.
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International Tractractor Photo Archive Photographs from the McCormick-International Harvester Company Collection
A magnificent collection of rare black & white photographs specially selected from public and private archives promote the unique characteristics of these popular tractors.<br> <br> Filled with informative captions providing histories of featured models. Construction scenes, farming, logging, mining and more.
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Grandpa's John Deere Tractors
A farm boy learns from Grandpa how John Deere tractors and implements made farm life easier. His parents update him on more recent John Deere products.
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Patrick's Great Grass Adventure With Greg the Grass Farmer
In his first children's book, farmer-author Joel Salatin and his daughter Rachel team up on a whimsical tale about a pigeon, a farmer, and grass. This beautifully illustrated edu-tainment book introduces 4-7 year-olds to Greg the grass farmer through the eyes of Patrick Pigeon. What better way to discover ecology-enhancing grass farming than from an aerial view? Grass as crop, insect haven, and diversity blanket comes to life as Patrick Pigeon watches and reports on Greg the grass farmer's activities. Discovering a real farm from a real farmer through captivating explanation and illustration brings a local grass farm to life.
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The Horse and Tractor Wars Letters and Lessons from an Old Horseman
Confined to a nursing home in Iowa in 1960, a time-worn horseman seeks to educate his grandson about the great transformation in American agriculture when horse power gave way to tractor power (1910-1950). Walt Decker spent nearly four decades as the chief national defender for the continued use of draft horses on the farm, especially Percherons. His grandson Jethro is a student in agricultural engineering at Iowa State University and does not understand the significance of the shift from equine power to tractor power. Grandfather Decker seeks to teach him with seven historical lessons that tell the story of this remarkable transformation as well details about the tractor wars that erupted after Henry Ford introduced his famous Fordson tractor in 1918. The historical lessons are nested in a series of letters from grandfather to grandson in which Walt Decker seeks to bridge the chasm of mistrust that exists between Jethro and himself. This is a work of history and historical fiction. It is enhanced by dozens of illustrations and archival images, along with a bibliography of suggested readings. Walt Decker has been loosely modeled after Wayne Dinsmore (1879-1966), longtime secretary of the Percheron Association of America and then the Horse and Mule Association of America.
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150 Years of International Harvester
The Story of a Classic <p>International Harvester and the Farmall brand are legendary names. As both tireless machines and valued collector pieces, they are among the most popular tractors in the world.</p> <p>In this information-packed photo-encyclopedia, learn about the history and evolution of these famous agricultural icons. With more than 1,900 photos and detailed data on every tractor, truck, hay rake and hemp machine built in the company's history, <i>150 Years of International Harvester</i> is the ultimate resource for these great farm machines.</p>
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101 Uses for an Old John Deere
In the style of Voyageur Press' other popular, fun gift book for tractor buffs, 101 Uses For An Old Farm Tractor, this sequel, 101 Uses for an Old John Deere is a whimsical look at humorous and inventive ideas for putting old John Deere tractors to alternate uses.
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John Deere's Company A History of Deere and Company and Its Times
A history of America's most important farm implement manufacturing company traces the development of Deere from the early 1800s, through the Industrial Revolution, to the present
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Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal War Stories from the Local Food Front
Drawing upon 40 years' experience as an ecological farmer and marketer, Joel Salatin explains with humor and passion why Americans do not have the freedom to choose the food they purchase and eat. From child labor regulations to food inspection, bureaucrats provide themselves sole discretion over what food is available in the local marketplace. Their system favors industrial, global corporate food systems and discourages community-based food commerce, resulting in homogenized selection, mediocre quality, and exposure to non-organic farming practices. Salatin's expert insight explains why local food is expensive and difficult to find and will illuminate for the reader a deeper understanding of the industrial food complex.
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John Deere Two Cylinder Tractors
John Deere two-cylinder tractors have made an impact to the agricultural world. They provided the mechanical muscle to transform prairie and plains to farms that have provided for the nation and world.For 42 years, John Deere two-cylinder tractors cut their way through history and helped John Deere become the number one agricultural tractor and implement business. From the Waterloo Boy to the 30 series tractors, John Deere Two-Cylinder Tractors tells the history of two-cylinder tractors is told in relation to a larger scheme of things. This ECS concentrates on how these tractors fit into the John Deere company, nation, and world between 1918 and 1960. Timelines highlight important dates in the nation and world's history in relation to the introduction of two-cylinder models and series.
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Dirt to Soil One Family’s Journey into Regenerative Agriculture
<b>“A regenerative no-till pioneer.”—NBC News<br></b><br><b><i>“</i>We need to reintegrate livestock and crops on our farms and ranches, and Gabe Brown shows us how to do it well.”—Temple Grandin, author of <i>Animals in Translation</i></b><br><b><br>“<i>Dirt to Soil</i> is the [regenerative farming] movements’s holy text.”—<i>The Observer</i></b><br><br>Gabe Brown didn’t set out to change the world when he first started working alongside his father-in-law on the family farm in North Dakota. But as a series of weather-related crop disasters put Brown and his wife, Shelly, in desperate financial straits, they started making bold changes to their farm. Brown—in an effort to simply survive—began experimenting with new practices he’d learned about from reading and talking with innovative researchers and ranchers. As he and his family struggled to keep the farm viable, they found themselves on an amazing journey into a new type of farming: regenerative agriculture.<br><br>Brown dropped the use of most of the herbicides, insecticides, and synthetic fertilizers that are a standard part of conventional agriculture. He switched to no-till planting, started planting diverse cover crops mixes, and changed his grazing practices. In so doing Brown transformed a degraded farm ecosystem into one full of life—starting with the soil and working his way up, one plant and one animal at a time.<br><br>In <i>Dirt to Soil</i> Gabe Brown tells the story of that amazing journey and offers a wealth of innovative solutions to restoring the soil by laying out and explaining his “five principles of soil health,” which are:<br><br><br><br><ul><li>Limited Disturbance</li><li>Armor</li><li>Diversity</li><li>Living Roots</li><li>Integrated Animals</li></ul><br>The Brown’s Ranch model, developed over twenty years of experimentation and refinement, focuses on regenerating resources by continuously enhancing the living biology in the soil. Using regenerative agricultural principles, Brown’s Ranch has grown several inches of new topsoil in only twenty years! The 5,000-acre ranch profitably produces a wide variety of cash crops and cover crops as well as grass-finished beef and lamb, pastured laying hens, broilers, and pastured pork, all marketed directly to consumers.<br><br>The key is how we think, Brown says. In the industrial agricultural model, all thoughts are focused on killing things. But that mindset was also killing diversity, soil, and profit, Brown realized. Now he channels his creative thinking toward how he can get more <i>life</i> on the land—more plants, animals, and beneficial insects. “The greatest roadblock to solving a problem,” Brown says, “is the human mind.”<br><b><br>See Gabe Brown―author and farmer―in the award-winning documentaries <i>Kiss the Ground </i>and <i>Common Ground</i>!</b>
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John Deere
<b>From the quaint little "Johnny Poppers" of the company's early years to the New Generation tractors to the highly sophisticated thousand series of today. <i>John Deere</i> covers these soldiers of the soil like you've never seen before.</b> <ul> <li>This hardcover book includes an eye-catching cover and beautiful photos and illustrations covering a vast array of John Deere products from tractors and combines, to industrial and recreational units.</li> <li>Classic and modern tractors and period ads join rare "action" images to chronicle the history of America's most famous and glorious workhorses.</li> <li>Technical, aesthetic, and cultural progressions of agricultural technology that influenced and were influenced by John Deere.</li> <li>144 pages.</li> </ul>
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