Many people create imagined futures without understanding the influences of the past, something the present does not tolerate.

American farming is a perfect example of stages, ranging from the initial farmers to the present. The speed of change, for everything as well as farming, is a major factor in understanding farming's present situation. For centuries farming didn't change, the most important change was irrigation for most societies. Where horses and donkeys existed they were the labor saving devices. When iron and steel appeared the ability to plow fields with rocks changed. None of these held the ability to change the percentage of the population needed for growing food. The invention of the steam engine started the radical change to fewer and fewer people needed to farm. Today's modern farming really starts with the introduction of steam power. As each level of technology appears on the farm a new stage appears. Yet without the previous stage a new stage has no footing. for instance, introducing tractors, like the inexpensive Ford tractor, set the stage for monocrop farming.

I think you'll find the stages of American farming expressed very well in the book "Uprooted, Recovering of the legacy of the Places We've Left Behind" by Grace Olmstead, 2021. (More info)