Presidents were also the state ’s founding farmers as the young land ’s political and thought leader cognise the importance of USDA and — more importantly , sustainable agriculture — to America ’s succeeder . They wrote about how to grow enough food to feast a prospering universe and how to advance grime health . Our presidents also learned how to farm in a way that prevents land erosion .
From Mount Vernon to Monticello , many of the key conservation practices thatUSDArecommends producers use on their farms have roots with our founding farmers . These president include George Washington , Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln , as well as innovators such as Ben Franklin .
A Farmer First
“ husbandry technique was Washington ’s principal intellectual discipline , his preferred topic of conversation and the focus of his private balance , ” says historian Garry Wills .
When British troops closed in on New York City in 1776 , then - Gen. Washington temporarily put aside his conflict plan to indite a letter to the shop steward of Mount Vernon about his farm . Mount Vernon ( Wang Sing / Shutterstock
Presidents Had the “First” Crop Experiment Stations
Washington studied and follow out elbow room to meliorate his farming methods at Mount Vernon , his 8,000 - acre homestead and web of farm in Virginia near what would afterward become Washington , D.C.
Washington took meticulous notes , and he experiment quite often . The same is true of Jefferson , the nation ’s third prexy , make out for hundreds of varieties of fruits , vegetables and herbs grown at Monticello near Charlottesville , Virginia .
With everything so unstudied — grunge , atmospheric condition , crops , pests , weeds and farming method — the founding farmers ran unofficial monstrance farm .
Franklin , although known for his inventions , bought a New Jersey farm where he retired . He finagle the state like a “ miniature experiment post , conduct on projects in drainage , in harvest rotation and specially in the utilization of the newer grasses and liming and fertilisation , ” save historian Earle D. Ross .
And of Washington , historian Albert Bushnell Hart wrote : “ He established what I believe to have been the first agricultural experiment station in American history . ”
study more : Presidential deary : Gallus gallus of U.S. Presidents
Mount Vernon (Wang Sing/Shutterstock
Presidents Were Early Conservationists
Unknowingly , our early presidents were among the earliest advocator of soil wellness in America . They used crop rotation and constituent fertilizers to boost soil health and production . Many of the husbandry methods implemented on their farms align with conservation practices that USDA recommends to farmers today .
Ten days after the republic was born , Washington began to reconfigure field on his farms . He changed from a one - crop tobacco plant system to a seven - crop organization growing wheat , corn and legume . Wheat was the principal cash crop and corn feed his stock . Legumes , in turn , fed the soil .
America ’s fifth president , James Monroe , was also a farmer . He left tobacco for a multi - crop organisation of grains . Historian Harlow Giles Unger wrote : “ To keep his bailiwick fertile , he rotated his crop , setting some fields aside for a season of trefoil … to revitalize the soil . ”Montpelier Station ( Andriy Blokhin / Shutterstock )
Not Going out of Style
preservation crop rotation is among more than 100 preservation practices the USDA ’s Natural Resources Conservation Service help Fannie Farmer contrive and implement because of its many benefit to filth and yield . Similarly , contour husbandry and insure crops , which were found on farm on the early Clarence Day of our republic , are still used today .
While visiting France , Jefferson date farmers planting to the contour of the dry land rather than in straight line . He wrote : “ Our country is hilly , and we have been in the habit of ploughing in straight rows … and our soil was rapidly running into rivers . ”
He also used contour farming at Monticello , set him ahead of his contemporaries .
Montpelier Station (Andriy Blokhin/Shutterstock)
Washington ’s cropping system include cover crops to prevent erosion and better filth . Mount Vernon researcher Jinny Fox pen : “ He rotates crops ; first he tries buckwheat and later switches to trefoil . ”
Read more : Here are 6 simple steps to implement crop rotation in your growing area .
Help for Farmers
Lincoln was raised on farm in Indiana and Illinois . Who would know better than a granger - turn - president about the importance of the government supporting agriculture ? He advocate for the macrocosm of the USDA and sign the law that created it .
More than 150 years afterward , the USDA offer a variety of peril management , disaster , loanword and preservation programs to avail farming producers build resiliency and stomach the ups and downs of the mart .
For more information on conservation practice — admit preservation crop rotation , contour farming and cover crops — as well as other USDA programs and services , get through your close USDA divine service snapper .
