General facts and information
Until the end of the 18th century agriculture was dependent exclusively on physical labor of humans and animals. In the middle of the 19th century three people with a team of oxen needed 100 to 120 hours to plow a field the size of a football field (about one hectare). Today, a tractor driver does it with a three-bladed plow in two to three hours.

Development of mechanization in Switzerland
Since World War II an extreme structural change has taken place in the Swiss agriculture. As a result, the number of farms has fallen sharply, and in return fewer and fewer people have had to cultivate more and more agricultural land. This could only be done with the help of tractors and machines.