How a Farmer's "Crude" Blade Saved The Plains — Then Forced The Supreme Court To Rewrite Patent Law

HOW UGLY FARMING SAVED THE GREAT PLAINS: THE INVENTION OF THE CHISEL PLOW AND ITS PATENT WAR
Fred Hoeme's chisel plow revolutionized agriculture by leaving crop residue on the surface instead of burying it. W.T. Graham commercialized the invention and fought to protect his patent in a landmark case against John Deere that would reshape American patent law.

Discover how a farmer's observation and a businessman's vision saved the Great Plains—and changed what "innovation" meant forever.


SOURCES USED
Government Publications
Graham, William T. (1950). "Vibrating Plow and Mounting Therefor." U.S. Patent No. 2,493,811.
https://patents.google.com/patent/US2493811A/en
Graham, William T. (1953). "Clamp for Vibrating Shank Plows." U.S. Patent No. 2,627,798.
https://patents.google.com/patent/US2627798A/en
Supreme Court of the United States (1966). "Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1." United States Reports.
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/383/1/

Institutional Archives
American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (1999). "Graham-Hoeme Chisel Plow." ASABE Historic Landmarks.
https://asabe.org/about-us/about-asabe/history/asabe-historic-landmarks/graham-hoeme-chisel-plow-2000
Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom (n.d.). "Plow Lesson Plan." Oklahoma Department of Agriculture.
https://cdn.agclassroom.org/ok/lessons/lessons/plow.pdf

General Media
Farm Progress (2023). "Conservation Tillage Born from Dust Bowl." Farm Progress.
https://www.farmprogress.com/management/conservation-tillage-born-from-dust-bowl
Farm Show Magazine (n.d.). "First No-Till Planter." Farm Show Magazine.
https://www.farmshow.com/a_article.php?aid=5582
Invention & Technology (2018). "Graham-Hoeme Chisel Plow." Invention & Technology Magazine.
https://www.inventionandtech.com/content/graham-hoeme-chisel-plow
No-Till Farmer (2021). "The No-Till Planter Race: Did IH Get There Before A-C?" No-Till Farmer.
https://www.no-tillfarmer.com/articles/10895-the-no-till-planter-race-did-ih-get-there-before-a-c
No-Till Farmer (2022). "Timeline of the No-Till Revolution." No-Till Farmer.
https://www.no-tillfarmer.com/articles/11095-timeline-of-the-no-till-revolution
No-Till Farmer (2023). "How Charles Noble Changed No-Till Forever." No-Till Farmer.
https://www.no-tillfarmer.com/articles/12629-how-charles-noble-changed-no-till-forever
Patent Yogi (2016). "On February 26, 1947, W.T. Graham Was Granted a Patent..." Patent Yogi.
https://patentyogi.com/this-day-in-patent-history/this-day-in-patent-history-on-february-26-1947-w-t-graham-was-granted-a-patent-for-a-vibrating-plow/

AI disclosure: I try to keep things interesting with these usually vintage topics so I used some AI imagery for some scenes where there's no clear or easy footage to represent them. Thanks and please enjoy the video!