Costs of machines, land, and inputs had forced out all but the most skilled and daring farmers. With limited tools and technology, they were at a disadvantage when taking on the swamps and forest. Originally brought to southeast Arkansas to work on cotton plantations, a band of these aliens migrated to Washington County and established a self-sufficient community, in part by growing grapes. test = "answer" + test; According to industry records, the average herd size by 2020 was thirty-five head, and eighty percent of the approximately 24,000 cattle farms in the state had fewer than fifty head of livestock. While not as severe as the Dust Bowl conditions of the mid-1930s, for Arkansas the droughts effects were still devastating. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1990. In some ways, the Civil War had a major impact on Arkansas agriculture, but in others, little changed. [CDATA[ Cotton and corn farmers survived by planting in the Ouachita-Saline River watershed valleys. University of Arkansas at Little Rock. var children = document.querySelectorAll('.ptac-plus .ptac-sign'); In recent years, Arkansas has averaged 600,000 acres of wheat and yields have averaged 58 bushels per acre. The Chateau Aux Arc Vineyards and Winery is the largest US Chardonnay producer outside of California, and the largest Zinfandel producer in Arkansas. The landlord-tenant sharecropping system quickly ran into economic problems. Licensing for forestry and wildlife professionals. Arkansas River Valley Local Real Estate Guide Arkansas Valley in Colorado was established between the 1700s and early 1800s when hunters, trappers, and traders of European descent came to the region. var inner = document.getElementById(test); Near Ozark, the Aux Arc Park offers boating access to the Arkansas River and RV sites. } Formed by erosion from the upland regions, the Coastal Plain was characterized by shallow soils that were excellent for growing loblolly pine trees but had limited use for traditional row crops. var x = document.getElementById(b); The Arkansas Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Division (NRD) has released the 2022 Arkansas Groundwater Protection and Management Report. Whayne, Jeannie M., and Willard B. Gatewood Jr., eds. The other vegetation was a rhizome grass the local population called cane. for (var i in d) { //alert(d.length); But even modernization did not remove the risks. str = str.substring(8, str.length); The Arkansas River Valley bisects the Ozarks and the Ouachitas and offered the best farmland in the upland region. The 1930s were difficult for almost all Americans, but for Arkansas farmers, the Depression started with the Flood of 1927, a disastrous flood along the Mississippi River and its tributaries. The CALS Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization. var test = "" + str; As with row cropping, however, increased technology brought increased investment costs and greater capitalization. for (var i in d) { Arkansas/Oklahoma State Fair (at Fort Smith), SeptemberOctober, This page was last edited on 28 March 2023, at 10:13. Nuttli also noted that about eighteen hundred earthquakes of . Coaxing the best produce from asparagus to zucchini. Mountains, West Gulf Coastal Plain, and Mississippi River Alluvial Plain, Avian Influenza Biosecurity Best Practices, APEX Accelerator & Government Contracting, Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food & Life Sciences. Wage contracts, adopted as a necessity in the 1866 crop year, quickly evolved to tenant and sharecropping contracts that allowed the underclass farm hands and the landowners to meet mutual needs. [7] Since settlement, the River Valley had been a largely cashless society with significantly less reliance on slave labor compared to plantation agriculture areas like the Arkansas Delta and elsewhere in the Deep South. [14] Today, the Altus Area Coal Miner's Memorial is a series of five sculptures paying homage to area coal miners, with the names of over 2,500 local miners engraved at the site. inner.style.display = "none"; By the twenty-first century, about sixty percent of Arkansas farmers raised cattle. Upon arriving in the region, many found only densely forested upland to be the only property they could afford. Feed & Fertilizer DivisionArkansas State Plant Board, // var d = document.querySelectorAll('#threecolaccord'); Negro Slavery in Arkansas. Because it required less effort to cultivate, it became the first region to be dominated by the cotton monoculture. By the mid-1980s, the states agricultural revolution was largely complete. The Greenwood Performing Arts Center has over 1,000 seats and is used for various performances in the city. } } The mission of River Valley Horticultural Products, Inc. is to be the premier horticultural. css.appendChild(document.createTextNode(rule)); b++; Not knowing that the soil was untillable, the former hill farmers taught their neighbors a lesson about determination and will. By 1943, the nation faced a critical labor shortage and turned to Mexico for workers. Arkansas River Valley White River running through the Ozark Mountains of Northern Arkansas. { Whayne, Jeannie M., ed. str = str.substring(8, str.length); Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included. The River Valley has generally mild winters and hot, humid summers. The Arkansas River Valley bisects the Ozarks and the Ouachitas and offered the best farmland in the upland region. When a tribute gift is given the honoree will receive a letter acknowledging your generosity and a bookplate will be placed in a book. //alert(d[i].id); [10] These settlements received support from existing immigrant populations in Little Rock and Fort Smith, and groups of Protestant settlers also establishing settlements in the area. inner.style.opacity = '1'; a++; In previous years, much of the timber had been cut for lumber, but after World War II, the normal practice was to push the downed trees into rows and burn them. Arkansas produces about 4,000 acres of sweet potatoes, valued at $20 million; 2,000 acres of tomatoes for a crop value of $10 million, and 1,600 acres of watermelons with a value of $5 million,. Crop production in the Ozarks Plateaus and Ouachita Mountains is limited, mainly revolving around pasture lands. "&el=" + encodeURIComponent(document.location.pathname); Most small lumber companies were forced into merger or bankruptcy. Populations of Austrian Catholics, German Catholics, and German Catholics and Lutherans were relocating to the River Valley. Agriculture in Arkansas. Apples were the crop of choice for landowners in the northwest hill counties, particularly after the Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad extended east from Eureka Springs (Carroll County) in the 1890s and allowed growers to ship to outside markets. var b = 0; . Breeds such as Jersey and Guernsey were more valued for the high butterfat in their milk, but as with beef animals, little attention was given to scientific breeding. These crops brought diversification to the Deltas agricultural practices that generations of spokesmen had only dreamed about. Trapped in stagnant pools, these waters formed backwater swamps, and the finer particles coalesced into clay. d = document.querySelectorAll('[id^=threecolblock]'); Elkins, Francis Clark. Over the past two million years, rivers carried soil particles from the upper Midwest and cut through thick loess deposits in the lower Mississippi River Valley. In 1867, only 167 freedmen made claims in Arkansas. Schedule these timely events on your gardening calendar. Unjustified Expectations of Magic: Arkansas Agricultural Specialists, DDT, and 2,4-D. Arkansas Historical Quarterly 79 (Summer 2020): 89115. function accordionClick(b) { The federal Farm Bill of 1956 instituted a new plan for cotton producers. World War II transformed Arkansas agriculture. Held annually in July, the festival offers peach pit spitting contest and a terrapin derby in addition to a parade and traditional food and craft vendors. around pasture lands. But fewer than half (12,680) of the original claimants lived on their homesteads long enough to make a final entry. Hands-on activities in an outdoor setting. Donations made to the CALS Foundation are tax-deductible for United States federal income tax purposes. b++; The ARVAC Food Bank, located at 504 Union Street in Dardanelle, provides food for local churches, community food pantries, and soup kitchens. All Rights Reserved. Agriculture in western Arkansas experienced a different type of revolution after the war. By the 1970s, Arkansas consistently led the nation in rice production. "&ea=" + encodeURIComponent(document.title) + function iframeLoaded() { function s4() { inner.style.display = "none"; Explore our research locations around the state. } For many of the farmers new to the Delta, a key was in growing rice instead of, or in addition to, cotton. Nearly 200 feet above sea level, the elevation varies less than 150 feet. The first time you log in to our catalog you will need to create an account. // ]]> To avoid or escape the credit-debt trap of single crop agriculture, and in keeping with the New South emphasis on diversification, some farmers turned to fruit and vegetable farming. Soil is one the most precious natural resources in Arkansas as it is the foundation Divided into six regions, each with unique soils, the state presented a variety of choices. Special thanks to the Department of Arkansas Heritage. The MAP area constitutes the third largest area of irrigated cropland in the United States. Residents and businesses along the highways offer items for sale to visitors and residents traveling two of the main east-west highways in the River Valley. Beginning on the state's western border, it ranges from twenty-five to thirty-five miles wide and extends almost 150 miles into the state. var str = x.id; For ten years, the Southern Homestead Act was an experiment in public land reform, placing individuals using the land above the speculator. THE ARKANSAS VALLEY SUPER DITCH - A LOCAL RESPONSE TO "BUY AND DRY" IN COLORADO WATER MARKETS Tyler G. McMahon1 and Mark Griffin Smith2 ABSTRACT: Across the West, water transfers generate controversy. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, and cooperators printed a soil associa-tion map in 1959 (revised, 1967, and currently being revised again) which divided the state into 12 "areas" defined by soils and physiography. C. Fred Williams In addition to the credit crunch, farmers in the last quarter of the nineteenth century faced a steady decline in crop prices. for (var y in children) { The Roman Catholic Diocese of Little Rock, which covers the entire state, was also active in recruiting immigrants to settle on land the Church purchased from railroad companies. a town just downstream from the mouth of the Arkansas River, and 29% greater at Red River Landing, a site . // ]]> head.appendChild(css); Welcome to Price AG, your leading tractor dealership in the Arkansas River Valley. The Arkansas River Valley is informally defined along county boundaries, including all of Logan and Sebastian counties and portions of Conway, Franklin, Johnson, Perry, Pope, and Yell counties. The Second Great Emancipation: The Mechanical Cotton Picker, Black Migration, and How They Shaped the Modern South. inner.style.visibility = 'visible'; } Ironically, while millions of acres were being brought into cultivation, thousands of people were leaving the land. Cotton, the crop most identified with the Delta, did not appear until after the United States acquired the region with the Louisiana Purchase. A typical hill country farm through most of the nineteenth century had about thirty acres in cultivationten acres of corn, five acres of cotton, and the rest in cereal grains, sometimes tobacco (particularly in the Ozarks), potatoes, and vegetables. Unable to meet the competition offered by their east Arkansas neighbors, hill country farmers turned from grain and row crops to poultry, livestock, and timber. Mining became prominent by 1873, especially around the Altus area. In 1954, Congress passed the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act, designed to improve land already cleared for either crops or pasture by channeling and damming streams that were prone to flood. Cotton became the dominant crop as white Americans discovered that the alluvial soil typically produced about fifty percent more cotton than the states average pounds per acre, and Delta raw cotton regularly sold above market price at the Memphis cotton exchange. The presence of Native Americans is still evident today in the occasional mound not yet destroyed by modern agricultural practices and the abundant potsherds, lithic tools and points, and bone fragments found in plowed fields and . Position your business to compete for government contracts. Again, farmers turned to activism. Growing urbanization in the twentieth century, changes in technology, and knowledge about transmitting disease through raw milk brought many changes to the dairy industry. // ]]> Specialty crops including turfgrass, vegetables, fruits, and ornamentals. inner.style.visibility = 'visible'; Get tips for food, fitness, finance, and more! Other cities in the River Valley are mostly of county-level significance, gateways to nearby recreational sites or small rural settlements. d = document.querySelectorAll('[id^=ptac-faq-question]'); Equipping individuals to lead organizations, communities, and regions. . Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2000. Rice, which had been grown commercially since the turn of the century, saw a rapid increase in acreage after the 1930s. Concurrent with the growth in population, there has been increasing pressure on land and water resources. productivity on these soils is often limited by their physical properties. In Arkansas, the main office did not open in Little Rock until October 1868. { Critics of the clearing practices noted that the hardwood environment provided a unique habitat for certain animals and feared that those species would be lost. The new equipment came primarily in the form of tractors and improved planting and harvesting machines. Two major yard-sale events, Bargains Galore on Highway 64 and Big To Do on Highway 22, happen annually in the River Valley. The Mississippian culture that supplanted the Woodland people kept some of their vegetables but added corn and became almost exclusively dependent upon this new grain for food. Most ranchers did not engage in scientific breeding to improve herd quality, and a high percentage of their animals lived on open range. 2023 Encyclopedia of Arkansas. The Arkansas Delta: Land of Paradox. Grove, Jama McMurtery. Without regular incomes, they became dependent on public housing and food subsidies and spent an extended amount of time unemployed, even as landowners hired migrant workers from Mexico as day laborers.
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