TRACTORS
Tractors are the workhorses of the farm. Some are small, utility tractors. Others have 10 times the horsepower of a pickup truck, and cabs decked out with air conditioning, CD players, and the latest GPS navigation systems. They pull equipment that is used to plow fields, plant crops, bale hay, haul grain, mow ditches, and more. Moline, Illinois is home to one of the world’s top tractor manufacturers, John Deere.
COMBINES
Imagine tractor’s big brother. That’s the colossal combine. The sole purpose of these metal mammoths is to harvest grains. A combine cuts the stalks and separates the grain from plant materials. In one minute, a combine can harvest enough wheat to make more than 1200 loaves of bread. Combines are technical wonders too. There are more electronics in a modern-day combine than there was in the first spaceship that went to the moon.
WIND TURBINES
Up until the 1930s,farmers used wind to pump water and generate power. Today, farmers harness those gusty gales and provide clean, renewable electricity for everyone, from the small town schools to the city of Chicago.
