Cotton production in the United States

Last updated

Map 07-M189 Acres of Upland Cotton Harvested as Percent of Harvested Cropland Acreage, U.S., 2007..gif
Baumwoll-Erntemaschine.jpeg
Left: Acres of upland cotton harvested as a percent of harvested cropland acreage (2007). Right: Unloading freshly harvested cotton using a mechanical cotton picker in Texas.

The United States exports more cotton than any other country, though it ranks third in total production, behind China and India. [1] Almost all of the cotton fiber growth and production occurs in the Southern United States and the Western United States, dominated by Texas, California, Arizona, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana. More than 99 percent of the cotton grown in the US is of the Upland variety, with the rest being American Pima. [2] Cotton production is a $21 billion-per-year industry in the United States, employing over 125,000 people in total, [1] as against growth of forty billion pounds a year from 77 million acres of land covering more than eighty countries. [3] The final estimate of U.S. cotton production in 2012 was 17.31 million bales, [4] with the corresponding figures for China and India being 35 million and 26.5 million bales, respectively. [5] Cotton supports the global textile mills market and the global apparel manufacturing market that produces garments for wide use, which were valued at USD 748 billion and 786 billion, respectively, in 2016. Furthermore, cotton supports a USD 3 trillion global fashion industry, which includes clothes with unique designs from reputed brands, with global clothing exports valued at USD 1.3 trillion in 2016. [6]

Contents

Early cotton production in the United States is associated with slavery. By the late 1920s around two-thirds of all African-American tenants and almost three-fourths of the croppers worked on cotton farms, and two in three black women from black landowning families were involved in cotton farming. Cotton farming was one of the major areas of racial tension in its history, where many whites expressed concerns about the mass employment of blacks in the industry and the dramatic growth of black landowners. Southern black cotton farmers faced discrimination and strikes often broke out by black cotton farmers. Although the industry was badly affected by falling prices and pests in the early 1920s, the mechanization of agriculture created additional pressures on those working in the industry. Social pressures caused by returning African American WWI veterans demanding increased civil rights being met by a resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan and the violence the Klan inflicted on rural African Americans explains why many African Americans moved to northern American cities in the 1920s through the 1950s during the "Great Migration" as mechanization of agriculture was introduced, leaving many unemployed. [7] The Hopson Planting Company produced the first crop of cotton to be entirely planted, harvested, and baled by machinery in 1944. [7]

12-10-2019 US cotton harvested area.jpg

History

Picking cotton in Oklahoma (1897) Cotton field.jpg
Picking cotton in Oklahoma (1897)

Background

Native Americans were observed growing cotton by the Coronado expedition in the early 1540s. [8] This also ushered the slave trade to meet the growing need for labor to grow cotton[ citation needed ], a labor-intensive crop and a cash crop of immense economic worth[ citation needed ]. As the chief crop[ citation needed ], the southern part of the United States prospered thanks to its slavery-dependent economy. Over the centuries, cotton became a staple crop in American agriculture. Cotton farming was also subsidized in the country by the U.S. government[ citation needed ], as a trade policy, specifically to the "corporate agribusiness" almost ruined the economy of people in many underdeveloped countries such as Mali and many other developing countries (in view of low profits in the light of stiff competition from the United States, the workers could hardly make both ends meet to survive with cotton sales). [3]

Early period

Black cotton farming family Black cotton farming family.jpg
Black cotton farming family
Adams & Bazemore Cotton Warehouse, Macon, GA, c. 1877 Adams & Bazemore Cotton Warehouse, 4th near Poplar, circa 1877 - DPLA - 7e9ab74033df525c16cfacddfb85955f.jpeg
Adams & Bazemore Cotton Warehouse, Macon, GA, c. 1877
Black cotton workers, 1886 Black cotton farmers 1886.jpg
Black cotton workers, 1886

Cotton has been planted and cultured in the United States since before the American Revolution, especially in South Carolina. It expanded to the west very dramatically after 1800—all the way to Texas—thanks to the cotton gin (also known as a cotton engine). [9] Plantation owners brought mass supplies of labor (slaves) from Africa and the Caribbean to hoe and harvest the crop. [10] Prior to the U.S. Civil War, cotton production expanded from 750,000 bales in 1830 to 2.85 million bales in 1850. It was by far the nation's main export, providing the basis for the rapidly growing cotton textile industry in Britain and France, as well as the Northeastern United States. [11]

After the Civil War, cotton production expanded to small farms, operated by white and black tenant farmers and sharecroppers. [12] The quantity exported held steady, at 3,000,000 bales, but prices on the world market fell. [13] Although there was some work involved in planting the seeds, and cultivating or holding out the weeds, the critical labor input for cotton was in the picking. How much a cotton operation could produce depended on how many hands (men women and children) were available. Finally in the 1950s, new mechanical harvesters allowed a handful of workers to pick as much as 100 had done before. The result was a large-scale exodus of the white and black cotton farmers from the south. By the 1970s, most cotton was grown in large automated farms in the Southwest. [14] [15]

20th century

The United States, observed in 1940 that "many thousands of black cotton farmers each year now go to the polls, stand in line with their white neighbors, and mark their ballots independently without protest or intimidation, in order to determine government policy toward cotton production control." [16] However, discrimination towards blacks continued as it did in the rest of society, and isolated incidents often broke out. On September 25, 1961, Herbert Lee, a black cotton farmer and voter-registration organizer, was shot in the head and killed by white state legislator E. H. Hurst in Liberty, Mississippi. [17] Yet the cotton industry continued to be very important for blacks in the southern United States, much more so than for whites. By the late 1920s around two-thirds of all African-American tenants and almost three-fourths of the croppers worked on cotton farms. [18] Three out of four black farm operators earned at least 40% of their income from cotton farming during this period. [18] Studies conducted during the same period indicated that two in three black women from black landowning families were involved in cotton farming. [19]


The introduction of modern textile machinery such as the spinning jenny, power loom, and cotton gin brought in more profits, and "cotton towns" (settlements that formed an economy based on the cotton trade) sprung up throughout the U.S. Following the Civil War and the abolition of slavery in the United States, the boll weevil, a pest from Mexico, began to spread across the United States, affecting yields drastically as it moved east. The fashion cloth of the blue jeans furthered the boom of cotton for three decades. The adoption of chemical pesticides to reduce diseases and thus increase the yield of the crop further boosted production. Further innovations in the form of genetic engineering and of nanotechnology are an encouraging development for the growth of cotton. [3]

Parchman prison convict labor 1911.jpeg
Cotton field, West Texas.jpg
Left: Cotton farming in Mississippi using Parchman prison convicts (1911).
Right: Cotton field ready for harvest in West Texas (2007).
Farm Worker in East Texas Cotton Field -- 1940s Farm worker in Cotton Field -- 1940s.jpg
Farm Worker in East Texas Cotton Field -- 1940s

The average production of lint per acre in 1914 was estimated by the United States Department of Agriculture to be 209 pounds, a nominal change from 1911 when it was 208 pounds. In the early 1910s, the average yield per acre varied between states: North Carolina (290 pounds), Missouri (279 pounds), South Carolina (255 pounds), and Georgia (239 pounds); the yield in California (500 pounds) was attributed to growth on irrigated land. [20] By 1929, the cotton ranches of California were the largest in the US (by acreage, production, and number of employees). [21] By the 1950s, after many years of development, the mechanical cotton picker had become effective enough to be commercially viable, and it quickly gained appeal and affordability throughout the U.S. cotton growing area. [22]

The cotton industry in the United States hit a crisis in the early 1920s. Cotton and tobacco prices collapsed in 1920 following overproduction and the boll weevil pest wiped out the sea island cotton crop in 1921. Annual production slumped from 1,365,000 bales in the 1910s to 801,000 in the 1920s. [23] In South Carolina, Williamsburg County production fell from 37,000 bales in 1920 to 2,700 bales in 1922 and one farmer in McCormick County produced 65 bales in 1921 and just 6 in 1922. [23] As a result of the devastating harvest of 1922, some 50,000 black cotton workers left South Carolina, and by the 1930s the state population had declined some 15%, largely due to cotton stagnation. [23] Although the industry was badly affected by falling prices and pests in the early 1920s, the main reason is undoubtedly the mechanization of agriculture in explaining why many blacks moved to northern American cities in the 1940s and 1950s during the "Great Migration" as mechanization of agriculture was introduced, leaving many unemployed. [7] The Hopson Planting Company produced the first crop of cotton to be entirely planted, harvested, and baled by machinery in 1944. [7] These bales usually measure approximately 17 cubic feet (0.48 cubic meters) and weigh 500 pounds (230 kilograms). [24]

Recent period

In 2020, production totaled 14.061 million bales. This is a drop of over 5 million bales from the previous year. [25] The average price was $0.58 per pound. The 1914-1915 season totaled 16.5 million bales. [26] A report published by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service ranked the highest cotton-producing states of 2020 as Texas, Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, California, and North Carolina. [27]

Exports

The United States is the world's top exporter of cotton. [28] Four out of the top five importers of U.S.-produced cotton are in North America; the principal destination is Honduras, with about 33% of the total, although this has been in decline slightly over recent years. The next most important importer is Mexico, with about 18%, a figure which has been broadly stable, and then the Dominican Republic, although exports have declined as a proportion of the total in recent years. China imported about 11% of U.S. cotton last year, which was a sharp increase over previous seasons, allowing it to overtake El Salvador, which has consistently imported about 8-9% of the total. [29] Cotton exports to China grew from a value of $46 million in 2000 to more than $2 billion in 2010. [30] In Japan, especially Texas cotton is very highly regarded as its strong fibers lend themselves perfectly to low tension weaving.

Cotton production by state

South Carolina

In 2020, producers in South Carolina harvested 179,000 acres of upland cotton. [31]

Texas

Texas produces more cotton than any other state in the United States. [32] With eight production regions around Texas, and only four geographic regions, it is the state's leading cash crop.[ citation needed ] Texas produces approximately 25% of the country's cotton crop on more than 6 million acres, the equivalent of over 9,000 square miles (23,000 km2) of cotton fields. [33] Texas Cotton Producers includes nine certified cotton grower organizations; it addresses national and statewide cotton grower issues, such as the national farm bill and environmental legislation. [34]

Loading cotton module in California (2002) CottonModuleLoading.JPG
Loading cotton module in California (2002)

California

Cotton was grown in Mexican California. It became a major crop in the 1930s. [35] California’s cotton is mostly grown in seven counties within the San Joaquin Valley, though Imperial Valley and Palo Verde Valley also have acres planted. In the 1990s cotton was also planted in the Sacramento Valley. California is the largest producer of Pima cotton in the United States. The California cotton industry provides more than 20,000 jobs in the state and generates revenues in excess of $3.5 billion annually. [36]

Arizona

In the late 19th and early 20th century, federal agricultural engineers worked in the Arizona Territory on an experimental farm in Sacaton. It was here that Pima Indians cultivated various cotton hybrids seeking ideal traits. By the early 1900s, the botanist Thomas Henry Kearney (1874–1956) created a long staple cotton which was named Pima after the Indians who grew it. In 1910, it was released into the marketplace. While in 1987, Arizona was producing 66% of the country’s Pima cotton, it has dropped to only 2% in recent years. [37]

Cotton harvester in Mississippi (2007) Case IH cotton harvester, rear view.jpg
Cotton harvester in Mississippi (2007)

Mississippi

From 1817, when it became a state, to 1860 Mississippi was the largest cotton-producing state in the United States. [38] Cotton is a major crop in Mississippi with approximately 1.1 million acres planted each year. The highest acreage recorded was in 1930 (4.163 million acres); the highest production year was 1937 (2.692 million bales produced over 3.421 million acres); the highest cotton yields were in 2004 (1034 pounds of lint produced per acre). [39]

Missouri

The industry faces challenges from increases in cotton production elsewhere where US cotton exports had gone and shifts to less expensive synthetic fibers, such as polyesters.

From 2012-2016, Missouri was ranked eighth in cotton production in the United States with the average production value of $191,004,400. Missouri soil allows for the growth of upland cotton with the average bale weighing approximately five hundred pounds. The cottonseed from Missouri cotton production is used as livestock feed. According to the University of Missouri, cotton production per acreage in this state peaked in the 1953 and decreased to its lowest point in 1967. In terms of yield, Missouri yielded a record low of 281 pounds/acre in 1957 and a record high of 1,097 pounds/acre in 2015. [40]

The top four upland cotton producing counties in Missouri are New Madrid (197,000 bales in 2016), Dunklin (171,200 bales in 2016), Stoddard (110,000 bales in 2016), and Pemiscot (72,000 bales in 2016). Other combined counties in Missouri produced 15,800 bales in 2016. [41] In 2017, total Missouri cottonseed sales were 179,000 tons. [42] Missouri upland cotton production in 2017 was valued at $261,348,000 with 750,000,480 pound bales produced in that year. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, upland cotton in Missouri was valued at 0.751 $ / pound in 2017. Cottonseed production was less valuable that year in terms of dollar value, with a total production being 255,000 tons valued at $39,824,000 ($152/ton). [43]

Missouri grows upland cotton, and cottonseed, which is a valuable livestock feed. [44] [45] [46] [47]

Florida

Cotton growing is largely confined to western parts of the Panhandle.[ citation needed ] Over 50% of the Santa Rosa County's harvest is of cotton.[ citation needed ]

See also

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 "Overview". United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service. March 5, 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  2. ↑ United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment (1987). The U.S. textile and apparel industry : a revolution in progress : special report. DIANE Publishing. pp. 38–. ISBN   978-1-4289-2294-5.
  3. 1 2 3 Yafa, Stephen. Big Cotton: The Biography of a Revolutionary Fiber . Retrieved 2 June 2013.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  4. ↑ "Cotton Newsline: May 15, 2013". National Cotton Council of America. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  5. ↑ "National Cotton Council of America – Rankings". Cotton.org. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  6. ↑ Voora, Vivek; Larrea, Cristina; Bermudez, Steffany (2020). "Global Market Report: Cotton". International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Cotton Pickin' Blues". Mississippi Blues Commission. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  8. ↑ "History" Archived 2007-02-24 at the Wayback Machine , Cotton's Journey. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  9. ↑ Joyce E. Chaplin, "Creating a Cotton South in Georgia and South Carolina, 1760-1815." Journal of Southern History 57.2 (1991): 171-200 online.
  10. ↑ Foley, Neil (1997). The White Scourge: Mexicans, Blacks, and Poor Whites in the Cotton Culture of Central Texas. University of California Press. p. 32. ISBN   9780520918528.
  11. ↑ Sven Beckert, "Emancipation and empire: Reconstructing the worldwide web of cotton production in the age of the American Civil War." American Historical Review 109.5 (2004): 1405-1438 online.
  12. ↑ Fred A. Shannon, The farmer's last frontier: agriculture, 1860-1897 (1945) pp 76–117.
  13. ↑ Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the United States, series U: 275–76
  14. ↑ Stephen Yafa, Cotton: The Biography of a Revolutionary Fiber (2004)
  15. ↑ D. Clayton Brown, King Cotton in Modern America: A Cultural, Political, and Economic History since 1945 (2010).
  16. ↑ Lawson, Steven F. (1 January 1999). Black Ballots: Voting Rights in the South, 1944 - 1969. Lexington Books. p. 20. ISBN   978-0-7391-0087-5 . Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  17. ↑ Green, Ruthie (August 2012). A Chain of Events: A Black Woman's Perspective on Our Rise to Prominence from Slavery to the White House. iUniverse. p. 104. ISBN   978-1-4697-7390-2 . Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  18. 1 2 Myrdal, Gunnar (1995). Black and African-American Studies: American Dilemma, the Negro Problem and Modern Democracy. Transaction Publishers. p. 233. ISBN   978-1-4128-1510-9 . Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  19. ↑ Sharpless, Rebecca (1999). Fertile ground, narrow choices: women on Texas cotton farms, 1900-1940. UNC Press Books. p. 163. ISBN   978-0-8078-4760-2 . Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  20. ↑ American Cotton Supply and Its Distribution (Public domain ed.). U.S. Government Printing Office. 1915. pp. 28–. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  21. ↑ Weber, Devra (1996). Dark Sweat, White Gold: California Farm Workers, Cotton, and the New Deal. University of California Press. pp. 7–. ISBN   978-0-520-91847-4.
  22. ↑ Hurt, Douglas R. (2002). American agriculture: a brief history. Purdue University Press. pp. 359–. ISBN   978-1-55753-281-7.
  23. 1 2 3 Edgar, Walter (1998). South Carolina: a history. Univ of South Carolina Press. p. 485. ISBN   978-1-57003-255-4 . Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  24. ↑ National Cotton Council of America, "U.S. Cotton Bale Dimensions Archived 6 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine " (accessed 5 October 2013).
  25. ↑ "U.S. Cotton production down in 2020".
  26. ↑ Wyse, R. C. (1920). "The Selling and Financing of the American Cotton Crop". The Economic Journal. 30 (120): 473–483. doi:10.2307/2222871. JSTOR   2222871.
  27. ↑ "Ranking of States That Produce the Most Cotton".
  28. ↑ "Monthly Economic Letter : June 2017", cottoninc.com. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  29. ↑ "Leading destinations of U.S. cotton textile exports". US Department of Agriculture. 2013-05-14. Archived from the original on 2013-05-12. Retrieved 2013-06-01.
  30. ↑ Xiuzhi Wang, Edward A. Evans, and Fredy H. Ballen, "Overview of US Agricultural Trade with China", University of Florida IFAS Extension. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  31. ↑ "USDA/NASS 2020 State Agriculture Overview for South Carolina". www.nass.usda.gov. Retrieved 2021-06-02.
  32. ↑ "Cotton Sector at a Glance". USDA Economic Research Service. United States Department of Agriculture. 20 August 2019.
  33. ↑ "Texas". Soil and Crop Sciences Department, Texas A&M University. Archived from the original on 2013-10-21.
  34. ↑ "Texas Cotton Producers". Texagnet.
  35. ↑ Moses S. Musoke, and Alan L. Olmstead. "The rise of the cotton industry in California: A comparative perspective." Journal of Economic History 42.2 (1982): 385-412. online
  36. ↑ "California Cotton Questions & Answers". calcot.com. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  37. ↑ "The Pima Cotton Boom". arizonaexperience.org. Archived from the original on December 7, 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  38. ↑ Dattel, Eugene R. "Cotton in a Global Economy: Mississippi (1800-1860)". Mississippi Historical Society.
  39. ↑ "Cotton Production in Mississippi". Mississippi State University.
  40. ↑ "Missouri Cotton Facts - Missouri Crop Resource Guide". crops.missouri.edu. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  41. ↑ "Top County's Production". cotton.org. Retrieved 2018-09-15.
  42. ↑ "USDA/NASS QuickStats Ad-hoc Query Tool". quickstats.nass.usda.gov. Retrieved 2018-09-15.
  43. ↑ "Crops - Planted, Harvested, Yield, Production, Price (MYA), Value of Production Sorted by Value of Production in Dollars". nass.usda.gov/Quick_Stats/Ag_Overview/stateOverview.php?state=MISSOURI. USDA.
  44. ↑ Missouri Cotton Facts. Cotton Extension Program, University of Missouri Agricultural Extension
  45. ↑ USDA NASS (used total production in pounds to determine rank)
  46. ↑ University of Missouri Extension - Southeast Missouri Crop Budgets
  47. ↑ USDA Economic Research Service

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cotton</span> Plant fiber from the genus Gossypium

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus Gossypium in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor percentages of waxes, fats, pectins, and water. Under natural conditions, the cotton bolls will increase the dispersal of the seeds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cotton gin</span> Machine that separates cotton from seeds

A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation. The fibers are then processed into various cotton goods such as calico, while any undamaged cotton is used largely for textiles like clothing. The separated seeds may be used to grow more cotton or to produce cottonseed oil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfalfa</span> Perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae

Alfalfa, also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as well as a green manure and cover crop. The name alfalfa is used in North America. The name lucerne is more commonly used in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. The plant superficially resembles clover, especially while young, when trifoliate leaves comprising round leaflets predominate. Later in maturity, leaflets are elongated. It has clusters of small purple flowers followed by fruits spiralled in two to three turns containing 10–20 seeds. Alfalfa is native to warmer temperate climates. It has been cultivated as livestock fodder since at least the era of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agriculture in the United States</span> Major industry in the United States

Agriculture is a major industry in the United States, which is a net exporter of food. As of the 2017 census of agriculture, there were 2.04 million farms, covering an area of 900 million acres (1,400,000 sq mi), an average of 441 acres per farm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cottonseed oil</span> Cooking oil

Cottonseed oil is cooking oil from the seeds of cotton plants of various species, mainly Gossypium hirsutum and Gossypium herbaceum, that are grown for cotton fiber, animal feed, and oil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of agriculture in the United States</span> Aspect of history in the United States

The history of agriculture in the United States covers the period from the first English settlers to the present day. In Colonial America, agriculture was the primary livelihood for 90% of the population, and most towns were shipping points for the export of agricultural products. Most farms were geared toward subsistence production for family use. The rapid growth of population and the expansion of the frontier opened up large numbers of new farms, and clearing the land was a major preoccupation of farmers. After 1800, cotton became the chief crop in southern plantations, and the chief American export. After 1840, industrialization and urbanization opened up lucrative domestic markets. The number of farms grew from 1.4 million in 1850, to 4.0 million in 1880, and 6.4 million in 1910; then started to fall, dropping to 5.6 million in 1950 and 2.2 million in 2008.

Camellia sinensis, the source of tea leaves and buds, can be grown in much of the United States. Commercial cultivation has been tried at various times and locations since the 1700s, but tea has remained a niche crop and has never been cultivated widely in the US. As of 2020, the US mainland has one relatively large plantation with full mechanization in Charleston, South Carolina, and many small commercial tea gardens that pick tea by hand. Some growers feel that tea production is not economically viable without some mechanization, but there is evidence that unmechanized tea production is viable, albeit with lower net profit margins. Most domestically grown teas are available through mail order and online purchases.

<i>Gossypium barbadense</i> Species of cotton cultivated for its unusually long fibers

Gossypium barbadense is one of several species of cotton. It is in the mallow family. It has been cultivated since antiquity, but has been especially prized since a form with particularly long fibers was developed in the 1800s. Other names associated with this species include Sea Island, Egyptian, Pima, and extra-long staple (ELS) cotton.

Supima is a non-profit trade association in the United States whose main objective is to promote the use of U.S. grown American Pima cotton around the world and is involved in quality assurance and research programs. Founded in 1954, it derived its name from superior pima.

<i>Gossypium hirsutum</i> Species of flowering plant in the mallow family Malvaceae

Gossypium hirsutum, also known as upland cotton or Mexican cotton, is the most widely planted species of cotton in the world. Globally, about 90% of all cotton production is of cultivars derived from this species. In the United States, the world's largest exporter of cotton, it constitutes approximately 95% of all cotton production. It is native to Mexico, the West Indies, northern South America, Central America and possibly tropical Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas Farm Bureau</span>

Texas Farm Bureau, Texas's largest farm organization, represents the interests of agricultural producers and rural communities across Texas as the "Voice of Texas Agriculture." Texas Farm Bureau's grassroots structure begins in local communities across the state of Texas. The non-profit organization's direction and decision making are dictated by its members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rice cultivation in Arkansas</span>

Large scale rice production in the state of Arkansas became a significant industry in the late 19th/early 20th century with its wide scale propagation within the state by entrepreneur W.H. Fuller around 1896. Arkansas has historically been the largest rice producer in the entire United States, and accounted for nearly 45% of U.S. rice production in 2001, as well as just less than half of the total number of acres of rice harvested nationwide. Much of Arkansas' rice is grown in the east-central portion of the state, where it requires nearly three times more the amount of irrigation water than the average eleven inches the region receives during the growing season. In the areas of lowest precipitation, or where weedy red rice is a significant problem, farmers follow a three year, three phase "old rotation" of rice-soybean-soybean. However, most Arkansas rice producers follow a two year, two phase crop rotation of rice following soybeans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shafter Research Station</span> United States historic place

Shafter Research Station is an agricultural research station near Shafter, Kern County, California, in the San Joaquin Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African-American history of agriculture in the United States</span>

The role of African Americans in the agricultural history of the United States includes roles as the main work force when they were enslaved on cotton and tobacco plantations in the Antebellum South. After the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863-1865 most stayed in farming as very poor sharecroppers, who rarely owned land. They began the Great Migration to cities in the mid-20th century. About 40,000 are farmers today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rice production in the United States</span> Agricultural industry in the United States

Rice production is the fourth largest among cereals in the United States, after corn, wheat, and sorghum. Of the country's row crop farms, rice farms are the most capital-intensive, and have the highest national land rental rate average. In the US, all rice acreage requires irrigation. In 2000-09 approximately 3.1 million acres in the US were under rice production; an increase was expected over the next decade to approximately 3.3 million acres. USA Rice represents rice producers in the six largest rice-producing states of Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delta & Pine Land Company of Mississippi</span> American seed company

Delta & Pine Land Company was initially chartered in Mississippi in 1886 as a land speculation company, but was inactive until 1919, when a British textile company acquired the name. In the 1920s and 1930s, the company operated one of the largest cotton plantations in the Mississippi Delta, with headquarters in Scott, Mississippi. In the latter half of the 20th century, the company divested its farm lands, concentrated on research and development of cotton and soybean seeds, and became world-renowned for its development of Deltapine cotton varieties.

Commercial banana production in the United States is relatively limited in scale and economic impact. While Americans eat 26 pounds (12 kg) of bananas per person per year, the vast majority of the fruit is imported from other countries, chiefly Central and South America, where the US has previously occupied areas containing banana plantations, and controlled the importation of bananas via various fruit companies, such as Dole and Chiquita.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cotton production in Pakistan</span>

Cotton production in Pakistan is integral to the economic development of the country. The nation is largely dependent on the cotton industry and its related textile sector, and the crop has been given a principal status in the country. Cotton is grown as an industrial crop in 15% of the nation's land during the monsoon months of April-May, known as the Kharif period, and is grown at a smaller scale between February and April. Pakistan occupied the fourth position among the cotton growers of the world, the first three being India, China and USA.

The sugar industry of the United States produces sugarcane and sugar beets, operates sugar refineries, and produces and markets refined sugars, sugar-sweetened goods, and other products. The United States is among the world's largest sugar producers. Unlike most other sugar producing countries, the United States has both large and well-developed sugarcane and sugar beet industries. Refined sugarcane, processed sugar beet, and high-fructose corn syrup are all commonly used in the U.S. as added sugars to sweeten food and beverages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agriculture in Arizona</span>

Agriculture in Arizona is a notable sector in the state’s economy, contributing more than $23.3 billion in 2018. Arizona’s diverse climate allows it to export all sorts of commodities such as nuts, wheat, cotton, eggs, meat, and dairy to the United States and 70 other countries. In 2018, the state produced 455.7 million pounds (206.7 kt) of red meat and ranked 3rd in producing vegetables in the United States, occupying 26 million acres of land for farms and ranches combined.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.