Agricultural technology is a term that is used to define tools and machinery that are used primarily or entirely in order to support agricultural enterprise. Examples of agricultural technology include plows, threshers, and irrigation systems. These forms of agricultural technology, which are all regularly used in modern agricultural settings, have a long history in agriculture and have been reinvented and redesigned many times over. Plows, for example, were originally pulled by animals. Now, plows are usually powered by engines. For people who are interested in the history of agricultural technology, there are a number of museums that have preserved old or outdated pieces of machinery and have staff on hand to explain how they worked and why they have been replaced.

In the course of agricultural history, there have been improvements to technology that have largely changed the ways in which certain crops or certain types of crops were grown or harvested. The cotton gin is a perfect example of this. Before Eli Whitney invented the modern cotton gin in the late 18th century, cotton fibers were separated from cotton seeds either by hand or by using much more antiquated technology. Because of the effectiveness of the cotton gin, the production of cotton in the United States soared after this new piece of agricultural technology become available.

There are different types of agricultural technology for different kinds of farms. For example, the agricultural technology that is required to successfully run a large-scale dairy farm is much different than the agricultural technology that is required to run a small winery. There are regular innovations, alterations, and improvements to the technology that is available to farmers. In some cases, the changes to the available technology just slightly changes or improves farming techniques. In other cases, such as with the cotton gin, it can entirely change a certain aspect of agriculture.

As progress marches on, there are more and more changes to agricultural technology. The technology that is available is regularly being altered so that it can be more precise in its functions and can perform more complex functions. For example, some people in the field of agriculture believe that, in the not- too-distant future, many agricultural machines that are currently manned or driven by humans will be able to operate on their own. In the future, there may be agricultural robots that do a great deal of the work that, a century or so ago, was done by man.