It has been said the conquest of hun-ger began with the invention of the plow.

One of the most important things farmers own is farm machinery, especially their tractors.

Virtually every phase of mechanized agriculture depends on tractor power.

The word tractor was not generally known until it appeared in a manufacturer's advertisement in 1906 as a shortened version of "gasoline traction engine."

Today's tractors have come a long way, and their importance hasn't diminished.

In fact, modern-day tractors have added technological features enablig farmers to work their land more efficiently.

Many farmers use GPS technology to help them plant and fertilize crops. They can pinpoint exactly the areas of a field needing water or fertilizer, and then they can program the equipment to treat those portions of the field exclusively.

This enables farmers to be better stewards of the land, using a minimal amount of applications on their crops instead of treating an entire parcel of land.

Tractors are the workhorses of the farm. They are used for towing equipment such as hay mowers, balers, wagons, plows and forage harvesters.

Tractors also are designed to power other equipment through a rotating power take-off shaft.

Equipment, such as hay balers, receive their power through the tractor's PTO. Most farmers have multiple tractors they use for different tasks. Newer models with air-conditioned cabs and satellite technology are used for major field work. But older tractors often are used to transport wagons between fields and barns.

Farm equipment does not come cheap. Tractors, depending on their size, often cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Combines used to harvest grain crops typically sell for as much as $400,000. A field cultivator, which mixes soil and helps kill weeds while still leaving plant material on the ground to prevent soil erosion, can easily run in excess of $30,000 to purchase.

The risks of modern food production make me glad we have a dedicated bunch of farmers willing and able to feed themselves, me, and several others across our world.

We are truly fortunate for the food access and food safety we all enjoy.

Food production has certainly come a long way.

10,000 B.C.: Farming and domestication of animals leads to the change from hunter-gatherer societies to the development of the first permanent civilizations along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is now Iraq.

1701: Jethro Tull introduces the seed drill allowing more efficient planting of cereal crops.

1834: McCormick mechanical reaper is patented, allowing farmers to harvest grain more efficiently.

1862-75: This time frame encompasses the change from hand-power to horse-power and represents the first American agricultural revolution.

1940: One farmer, on average, produces enough food for about 11 people.

1945-70: In this time frame the change from horses to tractors and expanded technology characterize the second American agricultural revolution.

1954: The number of tractors on farms exceeds the number of horses and mules for the first time.

1970: One farmer, on average, produces enough food to feed 48 people.

2014: One farmer, on average, produces enough food for about 155 people.

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John Berry is the agricultural marketing educator with the Ag Entrepreneurship/Economic and Community Development Team with Penn State Extension, Lehigh County. Information for this article came from the Virginia Farm Bureau, Agriculture in the Classroom materials.