Black History Month: Innovators In Agriculture

By |2021-03-07T09:11:27-05:00January 1st, 2021|Diversity & Inclusion, FFA New Horizons, The Feed|
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In honor of Black History Month, we celebrate five innovators who changed the way we farm.

Henry Blair: Blair was an American inventor who designed and patented corn and cotton planters. The corn planter had a seed attachment and rakes so farmers could sow seeds and cover them in one movement; the horse-drawn cotton planter divided the soil and dropped seeds into the rows, boosting efficiencies.

Frederick McKinley Jones

Frederick McKinley Jones: After Jones patented a refrigeration system in 1940, farmers could ship proteins and produce long distances, opening their access to markets and promoting worldwide food trade.

George Washington Carver: Carver was a soil scientist who pioneered crop rotation. He recognized that cotton depleted nitrogen in the soil, so he began alternating cotton crops with peanuts and other nitrogen-fixing legumes.

Karen Washington: As the owner of Rise & Root Farm and cofounder of Black Urban Growers, Washington has championed urban farming as a means of providing access to fresh, local foods; this has promoted a resurgence in urban farming.

Booker T. Whatley: Whatley encouraged farmers to create clientele membership clubs, selling memberships in exchange for fresh produce to provide steady cash flow. The model, now known as community- supported agriculture, or CSA, changed the way farmers sell produce.

As part of your Black History Month celebrations, learn more about Ag Education for All.

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