In 1831 a farmer built a machine because harvest time was running out. In 1831, American farmer Cyrus McCormick watched wheat rot in the fields because it could not be cut fast enough by hand. Harvest time was brief, and labor was scarce. Instead of accepting the loss, McCormick built a mechanical reaper on his family’s farm. Pulled by horses, the machine allowed one person to do the work of five. The impact was immediate. Fields could be harvested faster, farms grew larger, and food production