And when that crop grew, and was harvested, no man had crumpled a hot clod in his fingers and let the earth sift past his fingertips. No man had touched the seed, or lusted for the growth. Men ate what they had not raised, had no connection with the bread. The land bore under iron, and under iron gradually died; for it was not loved or hated, it had no prayers or curses.
– John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 5. This quote is about the rise of the machines. To Steinbeck, land responds differently to the machine than to the farmer who farms by hand, because with the machine the bond between humans and the land has been broken. To Steinbeck the machine farmer is dehumanized.