Wintering waterfowl and other migrating species use the area as a safe haven during their journey. Two major yard-sale events, Bargains Galore on Highway 64 and Big To Do on Highway 22, happen annually in the River Valley. Moneyhon, Carl H. Arkansas and the New South, 18741929. Mechanical milking machines, new techniques in pasteurization, homogenization, and refrigerationcoupled with improved transportationbrought modernity to the industry. The majority of the wheat is grown in: Mississippi River Delta region in Eastern Arkansas Arkansas River Valley region of Western Arkansas Farmers provided land and labor while processors offered chickens, feed, and a contract to buy the products. // ]]> From 1940 to 1978, about 2.5 million acres of forest were cleared and most of that land was brought into cultivation. C. Fred Williams Approximately 84 miles (135km) east, Russellville was the 16th largest city in Arkansas at the 2010 Census. Elsewhere in the county, cotton and timber had given way to strawberry, hay, and cattle. The Alma Spinach Festival held on the third weekend in April pays homage to Alma's reputation as "Spinach Capital of the World". var d = document.querySelectorAll('[id^=question]'); The MAP area constitutes the third largest area of irrigated cropland in the United States. Private, Commercial & Non-commercial training and education. var count = 1; Additional support provided by the Arkansas General Assembly. One of the largest farming regions, the Mississippi Alluvial Plain (formed by the Arkansas, Mississippi, and Ohio rivers), stretches about 250 miles from Missouri to Louisiana. Not knowing that the soil was untillable, the former hill farmers taught their neighbors a lesson about determination and will. return Math.floor((1 + Math.random()) * 0x10000).toString(16).substring(1); [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. 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. 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. The Alma Performing Arts Center is the largest and most popular performing arts venue in the River Valley. A New Plantation South: Land, Labor, and Federal Favor in Twentieth-Century Arkansas. Despite repeated efforts since 1948 at both state and federal levels to adopt a water use policy, little progress has been made. Soil quality and its use here in Arkansas. Soils in this Opportunities for quick profits attracted a variety of new farmers and non-farm investors; many were unfamiliar and unconcerned with traditional cropping practices. As with row cropping, however, increased technology brought increased investment costs and greater capitalization. inner.style.visibility = 'visible'; Agriculture in western Arkansas experienced a different type of revolution after the war. str = str.substring(14, str.length); The other, Crowleys Ridge, was formed by windblown dust deposited before the rivers flooded. 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. Bluegrass festival. Agriculture in the Nineteenth Century Over one half of the states farms are cattle farms. 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. [12] River Valley soil and climate are much less conducive to cotton cultivation than the Arkansas Delta, and many settlers struggled. https://www.butlercenter.org/agriculture-in-arkansas/ (accessed September 11, 2020). Most small lumber companies were forced into merger or bankruptcy. Increase your knowledge of public issues & get involved. The other grape-growing region in the state was established in the northwest in the 1890s by Italian immigrants. var str = x.id; } 100 Rock Street 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. [CDATA[ str = str.substring(8, str.length); The building boom that began at the end of World War II and continued with the baby boom into the 1960s accelerated the need for lumber and its by-products. Fields that once grew cotton and corn now housed structures for thousands of chickens. { ANNUAL ROUNDUP This year's River Valley Beef Cattle Conference will focus on efficiency, presenting the latest recommendations for cattle producers looking to keep costs down and profits up. // ]]> But World War II transformed agriculture, and in twenty-five years, machines turned what had been a lifestyle into a capitalistic endeavor. Beef cattle became an increasing part of the rural scene in the counties west of Little Rock after World War II. For over 25 years, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has become a popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer. 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. Historically, however, most Arkansas farmers in the nineteenth century were not able to diversify and turned to political activism to try to improve their economic standing. This one-page handout, from the Horticulture Track of the Oklahoma Beginning Farmer and Rancher Program, lists, for over four dozen vegetable crops: direct seed vs. transplant, days from indoor to field planting, first and last indoor and field dates, and germination temperature range and optimum. [5], Hernando de Soto became the first European explorer to enter Arkansas in 1541. In the southern part of Arkansas we find Coastal Plain soils, which are marine deposits Policymakers conceived this soil bank program as a way to reduce surpluses in cotton and other commodities. The NWR offers a driving tour with interpretative signs. 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. var x = document.getElementById(b); 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). } 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. The Arkansas River Valley(usually shortened to River Valley) is a region in Arkansasdefined by the Arkansas Riverin the western part of the state. [CDATA[ Thousands of acres were now under the control of private companies that saw little reason to assess the land for its true market value. productivity on these soils is often limited by their physical properties. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1990. Beans became the crop choice for Delta farmers a decade after the war. Also, initially exempt from acreage controls, rice provided a good alternative to cotton farmers in the same way soybeans had. inner.style.opacity = '1'; The rapid and extensive disappearance of the hardwoods in eastern Arkansas created controversy. Some Delta land, already cleared and drained, brought $2,500 per acre. var css = document.createElement('style'); 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. 107 talking about this. Washington, DC - The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and 340 national, regional, and state agriculture, food, and forestry stakeholder groups today sent a letter to congressional leadership urging House and Senate agriculture committee leaders to fund the Research Facilities Act in 2023 Farm Bill. Typically, in a matter of several crop years, small farmers found themselves encircled by debt. The extension of electrical power to rural areas, beginning in the 1930s, also affected dairy farmers. c = document.getElementById('threecolblock' + i); inner.style.display = "none"; //alert(str); around pasture lands. River Valley Horticultural Products, Inc. | Little Rock AR Generally defined as the area between the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains,[1] the River Valley is characterized by flat lowlands covered in fertile farmland and lakes periodically interrupted by high peaks. Give a donation in someones name to mark a special occasion, honor a friend or colleague or remember a beloved family member. World War II transformed Arkansas agriculture. The significance of the changes lay in the speed in which they occurred. iFrameID.height = iFrameID.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight + "px"; [CDATA[ function s4() { President Andrew Johnson signed the bill into law on June 21, 1866. css.setAttribute("media", "print"); Following the war, the Southern economy was in shambles, including Arkansas. } area were formed by deposition of the river, by landslides that moved to the foot The bill did not become law until the third week of June (too late to plant cotton), and the General Land Office was slow to reestablish offices in the seceded states. } Some row crop agriculture is also present in the Arkansas River Valley. Refinements in the torque converter and power shift transmission, when applied to a tractor equipped with cutting blades and tree pushers, allowed one man to clear more trees in a day than a family could in a lifetime using traditional means. Conflict with non-farm groups reached a climax in the 1996 Federal Farm Bill, which defined environmentally sensitive land and restricted farming practices in what was termed wetlands. In addition to policy regulations, farmers also faced constraints from resource depletion. This equipment made it possible to bring new land into cultivation, ideal for rice and soybeans but not cotton. } The almost constant flooding also challenged plant life, and two types of vegetation came to dominate. Still others migrated from the upland counties to the Delta counties and initially hired out as day laborers on the areas larger cotton plantations. for (var i in d) { Cotton prices and farm income reached their lowest postCivil War levels in 1899.

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