by The Machine That Industrialized American Agriculture
This nomination for Cyrus McCormick, whose 1831 mechanical reaper (improving on earlier designs) and, more importantly, his business model, revolutionized grain farming. The reaper dramatically increased agricultural productivity by allowing one farmer to cut as much grain as many laborers with scythes. McCormick’s genius was commercial: he moved production to Chicago, used mass production techniques, offered creative financing (including lenient credit terms), and established a vast network of local dealers for sales, service, and parts. This capital equipment was expensive, but it paid for itself in labor savings. The McCormick Reaper proved that manufacturing, selling, and financing complex farm machinery on a national scale could transform an entire sector, reducing the agricultural workforce and fueling the shift to large-scale commercial farming.
