Prehistory Because of funding shortfalls, the Arkansas Valley Conduit was never built after it was authorized in 1962. Almost twenty-seven percent of Arkansass acreage lay unclaimed, and more than eighty percent of that was in the Delta. The bill initially limited public land access to homesteaders and limited individual claims to eighty acres, rather than the 160 acres in the original 1862 bill. 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,. The other vegetation was a rhizome grass the local population called cane. [15] In Russellville, the Arkansas River Valley Arts Center offers visual arts as well as art classes and infrequent performances. var c = 0; For many of the farmers new to the Delta, a key was in growing rice instead of, or in addition to, cotton. // , Physiographic Regions of Arkansas: Ozark Plateaus, Arkansas River Valley, Ouachita Increase your knowledge of public issues & get involved. var inner = document.getElementById(test); A crop lost to floods often offset soil fertility. 72201. Requiring fewer additives than rice or cotton, soybeans could be produced more cheaply and were more environmentally safe. In other areas, particularly the Coastal Plain, farmers converted cropland to timber farms. //c.style.display = "none"; 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. Get tips for food, fitness, finance, and more! Coal mining was an important industry in the River Valley's early history. Arkansas is a top-ten producer of soft red winter wheat in the United States. Criticized by sportsmen and environmentalists for misusing the land, polluting streams, and altering habitat for wildlife, Arkansas farmers have increasingly lost debates on public policy issues involving their industry. Part of this change was a reflection of market conditions, but more significant was that soybeans were better adapted to Delta soilparticularly the newly cleared timberlands along the swamps and bayous. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2000. var a = 0; Bradley County earned the reputation as the tomato capital of the state, and selective breeding by crop scientists at the University of Arkansass College of Agriculture kept tomato growers in a competitive position in the twenty-first century. The area is approximately 29,000 square miles (19 million acres) and includes parts of the States of Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Pre-European Exploration, Prehistory through 1540, European Exploration and Settlement, 1541 through 1802, Louisiana Purchase through Early Statehood, 1803 through 1860, Civil War through Reconstruction, 1861 through 1874, Post-Reconstruction through the Gilded Age, 1875 through 1900, Early Twentieth Century, 1901 through 1940, World War II through the Faubus Era, 1941 through 1967, Divergent Prosperity and the Arc of Reform, 19682022, https://www.butlercenter.org/agriculture-in-arkansas/, Changing Climate and Changing Land (Grades 5-8). Cotton acreage continued to increase until 1955, but the growth was much smaller compared with that of rice and soybeans, and farmers focused on those crops. Using money saved from wartime prosperity, farmers were poised in the postwar period to buy machinery and land to expand their operations. { By the early part of the twenty-first century, family farm dairying had largely disappeared, with Arkansas having just over 40,000 dairy cattle and 420 dairy farms. for (var i in d) { Divided into six regions, each with unique soils, the state presented a variety of choices. By the time the act could be implemented effectively, a new form of agricultural labor had taken shape. Special thanks to the Department of Arkansas Heritage. ________. Soybeans, the more versatile of the two, gained in popularity over rice. Being an important source of protein, the bean was also viewed by some as a suitable alternative to meat products while being more compatible with existing ecosystems. As late as 1940, more than half of the Delta was undeveloped. } . Graves, John William. The rapid and extensive disappearance of the hardwoods in eastern Arkansas created controversy. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1996. Guiding entrepreneurs from concept to profit. var d = document.querySelectorAll('#ptac-faq'); In 1987, Alma claimed the title of "Spinach Capital of the World" and erected a Popeye statue in front of the Chamber of Commerce building. There was a correlation between clearing and drainage projects and an increase in soybean and rice production. The lower course river supports agriculture, such as hay and vegetables, as well as in the high dry valley and the towns of Pueblo. var inner = document.getElementById(test); Whayne, Jeannie M., and Willard B. Gatewood Jr., eds. Some row crop agriculture is also present in the Arkansas River Valley. In some ways, the Civil War had a major impact on Arkansas agriculture, but in others, little changed. Flooding was frequent, and as the water rose out of the normal river channels, the principles of hydrology caused the heavier, coarser soil particles to fall to the bottom. Vegetable crop production has a long history in the Arkansas Valley of Colorado. Featured trees, vines, shrubs and flowers. To ensure that black farmers had the first opportunity to file, individuals taking up arms against the United States were denied access to public land until 1867. Petit Jean State Park hosts an annual Wildflower Weekend in April and a Rendezvous the weekend after Thanksgiving. 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. Fields that once grew cotton and corn now housed structures for thousands of chickens. } From 1940 to 1978, about 2.5 million acres of forest were cleared and most of that land was brought into cultivation. The extension of electrical power to rural areas, beginning in the 1930s, also affected dairy farmers. The latter evolved into the Southern Alliance, extended beyond the states boundaries, and ultimately merged with a Northern group to become the Peoples Party of America (Populist). [CDATA[ Seed Starting Guide - Arkansas River Valley. iFrameID.height = ""; The next year, 161 filed. function s4() { An unanticipated argument for growing soybeans came in the early 1960s when the environmental movement began calling attention to the impact pesticides and herbicides were having on plant and animal life. Give a donation in someones name to mark a special occasion, honor a friend or colleague or remember a beloved family member. productivity on these soils is often limited by their physical properties. The first time you log in to our catalog you will need to create an account. Some Delta land, already cleared and drained, brought $2,500 per acre. Strawberries also began to have some commercial success by the early twentieth century. Temperatures are generally warmer than in the Ozarks and cooler than Central Arkansas, although the wide variance in elevation in the River Valley can create locally different climatic conditions. Soil is one the most precious natural resources in Arkansas as it is the foundation Elsewhere in the county, cotton and timber had given way to strawberry, hay, and cattle. A final public policy issue that contributed to the agricultural revolution in east Arkansas had to do with labor relations. The other grape-growing region in the state was established in the northwest in the 1890s by Italian immigrants. Between the Mississippi and Red River floodplains lay the West Gulf Coastal Plain. The valley divides the Ozark and the Ouachita Mountains with a width of forty square miles. By the twenty-first century, about sixty percent of Arkansas farmers raised cattle. The River Valley's first wineries date to the postbellum era, when they were founded to produce wine for the Swiss and German immigrants relocating to the area to work in coal mines. Agriculture has a history going back 200 years and has always been important to the economics of the region. Many farmers applied chicken manure to reenergize pastureland for livestock. 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. 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. for (var i in d) { if(c === inner) Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2002. Some moved out of state; others gave up farming and relocated to the larger towns in their region. Our dedication to our customers have made us one of the most trusted names in the industry. In Clarksville, the Johnson County Peach Festival is the longest-running festival in Arkansas. d[i].id = "question" + a; //alert(d.length); In Arkansas, the main office did not open in Little Rock until October 1868. Coaxing the best produce from asparagus to zucchini. As with row cropping, however, increased technology brought increased investment costs and greater capitalization. Beginning as a region populated by small, self-sufficient landowners, the state evolved through a plantation culture before the Civil War, to an era when tenant farming and sharecropping dominated from the Civil War to World War II, before yielding to technology and commercial enterprise. inner.style.display = "block"; In terms of age from youngest to oldest, the aquifers of the Interior Highlands include: the Arkansas River Valley alluvial aquifer, the Ouachita Mountains aquifer, the Western Interior Plains confining system, the Springfield Plateau aquifer, and the Ozark aquifer. Bolton, S. Charles. Related to that were the thousands of acres of farmland that lay fallow, some for the duration of the war, depriving individuals and the state government of income. } Farmers provided land and labor while processors offered chickens, feed, and a contract to buy the products. //alert(d[i].id); It is the entire synclinorium, or trough, lying between the two well defined groups of mountains"; Arkansas Natural Area Plan (Little Rock: Arkansas Department of Planning, 1974), 13. By 1943, the nation faced a critical labor shortage and turned to Mexico for workers. The marginal buckshot soil avoided by traditional cotton farmers was ideal for rice. However, World War II brought dramatic changes in the area of farm equipment. But lofty though its goals, and as well intentioned as its sponsors may have been to help the Southern underclass, it was not a panacea. Many immigrants came to the River Valley searching for agricultural prosperity, particularly by farming cotton, which could fetch high prices at market and quickly turn a farm into a profitable enterprise. Global Village Day at Heifer International, October. 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. Creating an account gives you access to all these features. for (var i in d) { The Wiederkehr Weinfest in Wiederkehr Village, a winery founded by Johann Andreas Wiederkehr, is a free harvest festival held annually in October, including wine tasting, vineyard tours, music, polka dancing, traditional German cuisine and other festival entertainment. var x = document.getElementById(b); 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. Following the war, the Southern economy was in shambles, including Arkansas. 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. Such farmers usually made enough from cotton to pay taxes and buy a few finished goods. 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. var iFrameID = document.getElementById('idIframe'); var GIF = "https://ssl.google-analytics.com/collect?v=1&t=event" + The commercial timber industry in Arkansas began in the 1880s and reached its peak around 1910. var b = 0; Growing urbanization in the twentieth century, changes in technology, and knowledge about transmitting disease through raw milk brought many changes to the dairy industry. Vineyards and wineries around Altus have been in the same family for generations. Wartime technologies produced giant, self-propelled, rubber-tired scrapers that could transport fourteen cubic yards of dirt, and they were highly mobile. d[i].id = "ptac-faq" + a; Greenwood also has a Coal Miner's Memorial near the town square, with a restored coal railroad car and names of Sebastian County coal workers engraved on site. var c = document.querySelectorAll('[id^=answer]'); The Arkansas Department of Agriculture and its partners in wildfire suppression, prescribed fire, and conservation combine hands-on exercises and classroom material to teach basic fire suppression, advanced suppression strategy and tactics, engine operation, dozer operation, Incident Command procedures, and more. Approximately 84 miles (135km) east, Russellville was the 16th largest city in Arkansas at the 2010 Census. { Kansas-Colorado Arkansas River Compact Kansas Department of Agriculture Home About Us Agency Information Secretary Mike Beam Kansas Agriculture Kansas Agricultural Statistics State Board of Agriculture From the Land of Kansas Human Resources Ag Growth Project Growth Strategy Strategic Growth Initiative Ag Summit 2022 Ag Summit 2021 Ag Summit 2020 } else { Specialty crops including turfgrass, vegetables, fruits, and ornamentals. of our most important activity - agriculture. 2nd ed. // here you can make the height, I delete it first, then I make it again [5], Hernando de Soto became the first European explorer to enter Arkansas in 1541. "&ec=print&tid=" + googleAccountID + "&cid=" + guid() + The MAP area constitutes the third largest area of irrigated cropland in the United States. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1999. Ouachita Mountains, and the Arkansas River Valley. It had oxbow lakes, swamps, and dense undergrowth that presented a challenge to early farmers. //alert(iFrameID.height); Agriculture in western Arkansas experienced a different type of revolution after the war. . Living in small villages characterized by earthen burial mounds, these native peoples planted vegetables and grains by tilling with hand-held wooden tools. var str = x.id; While the hog industry did not come close to approaching the cattle or poultry industry after WWII, it was a huge part of rural life for over 100 years. Geography played a key role in shaping Arkansas agriculture. Increasing nitrate concentrations are related to increasing agricultural . Rate and review titles you borrow and share your opinions on them. if(inner.style.display === "block") Crop production in the Ozarks Plateaus and Ouachita Mountains is limited, mainly revolving around pasture lands. South of Dardanelle, the Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge protects over 7,000 acres (2,800ha) of bottomland and wetland surrounded by a cutoff meander of the Arkansas River. The boom peaked in 1982, when the average price in the state reached $1,095 per acre. Typically, the cattle operations were on family farms. Some sought out national organizations such as the Patrons of Husbandry (Grange); others tried local groups, including the Brothers of Freedom and the Agricultural Wheel. Almost 3,000 years ago, the Pre-Columbian Woodland people began growing food to supplement their hunters diet. Most first encounters describe scattered villages and individual farmsteads in the River Valley, unlike the organized "towns" and groves and orchards encountered in eastern Arkansas. Learn to ID unwanted plant and animal visitors. Concurrent with the growth in human population in Colorado, there has been increasing pressure on land and water resources that were historically devoted to agriculture. Eight projects by students and faculty in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design were recently recognized in the 2023 Central States Awards program by the Central States region of the American Society of Landscape Architects. The Colorado River provides water for over 40 million Americans and 30 Tribal Nations, fuels hydropower resources in eight states and supports agriculture across the region. //alert(str); For over 25 years, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has become a popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer. Near Ozark, the Aux Arc Park offers boating access to the Arkansas River and RV sites. Upon arriving in the region, many found only densely forested upland to be the only property they could afford. children[y].innerHTML = "+"; The rushing floodwaters also changed course frequently, carving new channels and leaving the old river behind as oxbow lakes and bayous. . Just as rural Arkansans were adjusting to their losses from the flood and the timber industry changes, another natural disaster struck. West and north of the Mississippi River floodplain lay the Ouachita Mountains and the Ozark uplift. } // c++; inner.style.visibility = 'visible'; Once thought to be unique to the Grand Prairie, success came for rice farmers in the new drainage districts. Explore our research locations around the state. In Clarksville, the Walton Fine Arts Center on the campus of the University of the Ozarks offers university theater, performers, and speakers to patrons. In 1940, Delta counties cultivated only 153,000 acres of rice and 176,000 acres of soybeans, compared with 1.2 million acres of cotton; those figures changed dramatically in the next twenty years. It rises more than 200 feet above the floodplain and varies up to ten miles in width as it stretches 150 miles from the Mississippi River at Helena (Phillips County) to the Missouri border near Corning (Clay County). inner.style.visibility = 'visible'; In addition to the Arkansas Valley, many of the prime agricultural regions of the state are experiencing population growth-related . In Colorado's Arkansas River basin urban growth and harsh farming conditions have led to water transfers from agricultural to urban uses. str = str.substring(8, str.length); It took the Great Depression to persuade Congress to enact legislation that addressed farm production. Black and white farmers joined these improvement societies but maintained separate affiliations. Most of the agricultural activity occurs in the Mississippi River Alluvial Plain. By the mid-1980s, the states agricultural revolution was largely complete. Elkins, Francis Clark. In 1945, about 4.5 acres of cotton were planted for each acre of soybeans; by 1955, acreage of the two crops was almost equal, and by 1960, there were more than six acres of soybeans per acre of cotton. Soil quality and its use here in Arkansas. Additional support provided by the Arkansas General Assembly. Between 1935when farms reached an all-time high of more than 235,000 unitsand 1995, the number dropped steadily before leveling off to just under 50,000 farms. The River Valley is home to several annual cultural events, including art, history, music, and traditional heritage festivals. Despite repeated efforts since 1948 at both state and federal levels to adopt a water use policy, little progress has been made. The Central Collegiate Institute was established in Altus in 1876 (now known as Hendrix College in Conway) and Hiram and Lydia College in 1890 (which went defunct in 1906). } Despite significant efforts by scientists in the University of Arkansass College of Agriculture to control disease and pests and to develop new varieties, apple producers have not been able to regain a significant share of the market from the Pacific Northwest. For more than 150 years, agricultural practices had hardly changed. d[i].id = "ptac-faq-answer" + c; Howard, James Edgar. Similar forces were at work to spur an increase in rice acreage. The way of life that had sustained them for generations was rapidly dying. var rule = "body:after{content:url(" + GIF + ")}"; Fort Smith is the second-largest city in Arkansas, and serves as a regional hub for culture, health care and transportation. The first extended the responsibilities of the Freedmens Bureau to assist with farming. test = "threecolblock" + test; (Division of Agriculture photo.) var str = x.id; The River Valley has generally mild winters and hot, humid summers. While the state was fortunate to have two additional officesone in the Arkansas River Valley west of Little Rock and one in southwest Arkansas near the Red Riverall were far from the Delta and most of the public land. The landlord-tenant sharecropping system quickly ran into economic problems. The model shows how changes in salt levels that are external to the farm influence on-farm profits, production levels, and water applications.

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