Corn combine during harvest

The postwar era brought about great advancements in farming technology, including the corn combine seen here, photographed by Joe Munroe in 1975. These technologies led to greater yields from the land and increased production. Thanks to these advancements, corn production grew from 3 million bushels a year in the 1940s to 6 million bushels a year by 1975 . Joe Munroe's career began in 1939 at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He served in the Air Force during World War II and then joined Cincinnati-based Farm Quarterly magazine. Though raised in Detroit, agriculture became an important subject of Joe's photographs. He moved to California in 1955 and free-lanced, taking magazine assignments and selling his own work