Pick up know-how for tackling diseases, pests and weeds.
Farm bill, farm marketing, agribusiness webinars, & farm policy.
Find tactics for healthy livestock and sound forages.
Scheduling and methods of irrigation.
Explore our Extension locations around the state.
Commercial row crop production in Arkansas.
Agriculture weed management resources.
Use virtual and real tools to improve critical calculations for farms and ranches.
Learn to ID forages and more.
Explore our research locations around the state.
Get the latest research results from our county agents.
Our programs include aquaculture, diagnostics, and energy conservation.
Keep our food, fiber and fuel supplies safe from disaster.
Private, Commercial & Non-commercial training and education.
Specialty crops including turfgrass, vegetables, fruits, and ornamentals.
Find educational resources and get youth engaged in agriculture.
Gaining garden smarts and sharing skills.
Timely tips for the Arkansas home gardener.
Creating beauty in and around the home.
Maintenance calendar, and best practices.
Coaxing the best produce from asparagus to zucchini.
What’s wrong with my plants? The clinic can help.
Featured trees, vines, shrubs and flowers.
Ask our experts plant, animal, or insect questions.
Enjoying the sweet fruits of your labor.
Herbs, native plants, & reference desk QA.
Growing together from youth to maturity.
Crapemyrtles, hydrangeas, hort glossary, and weed ID databases.
Get beekeeping, honey production, and class information.
Grow a pollinator-friendly garden.
Schedule these timely events on your gardening calendar.
Equipping individuals to lead organizations, communities, and regions.
Guiding communities and regions toward vibrant and sustainable futures.
Guiding entrepreneurs from concept to profit.
Position your business to compete for government contracts.
Find trends, opportunities and impacts.
Providing unbiased information to enable educated votes on critical issues.
Increase your knowledge of public issues & get involved.
Research-based connection to government and policy issues.
Support Arkansas local food initiatives.
Read about our efforts.
Preparing for and recovering from disasters.
Licensing for forestry and wildlife professionals.
Preserving water quality and quantity.
Cleaner air for healthier living.
Firewood & bioenergy resources.
Managing a complex forest ecosystem.
Read about nature across Arkansas and the U.S.
Learn to manage wildlife on your land.
Soil quality and its use here in Arkansas.
Learn to ID unwanted plant and animal visitors.
Timely updates from our specialists.
Eating right and staying healthy.
Ensuring safe meals.
Take charge of your well-being.
Cooking with Arkansas foods.
Making the most of your money.
Making sound choices for families and ourselves.
Nurturing our future.
Get tips for food, fitness, finance, and more!
Understanding aging and its effects.
Giving back to the community.
Managing safely when disaster strikes.
Listen to our latest episode!
Populating the Land
On my recent road trip following the Santa Fe trail from Missouri to New Mexico I noticed the ubiquitous green signs saying “Cemetery” with an arrow pointing the way. These lonely burying grounds are along every roadway in America and serve as a reminder that not so long ago the countryside was well stocked with people. But things changed and the old ways were not sustainable.
In the early days of our nationhood the United States was land rich and money poor. When Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Purchase from France (including all of Arkansas) for $15,000,000 — or three cents an acre — there was even more land available but not much cash. So, not surprisingly, selling land cheap to prospective farmers became a favored way of raising money.
A difference of opinion developed between the well-established and wealthier East Coast representatives, who wanted land sold in 640 acre blocks (one square mile), and frontier representatives who wanted smaller parcels at cheaper prices. In 1785 the minimum purchase was 640 acres at $2 per acre. By 1800 the price had dropped to $1.25 per acre and an 80 acre farm in the west (Ohio was west then) could be had for $100. By 1820 Ohio farmland could be purchased from the government in 40 acre blocks for a total of $50. By way of comparison, an Ohio farmhand in those days would make from $5 to $15 per month.
This remained the price for government land until 1862 when President Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, which gave citizens, or foreign-born in the process of becoming naturalized citizens, 160 acres of land for just a minimal filing fee. To gain clear title to the land, homesteaders were required to live on it for five years and make minimal improvements to the property. Most of the better midwestern farmland had been purchased by 1862, so mostly the Homestead Act applied to the prairie states from North Dakota to Kansas. In much of Oklahoma the land was claimed in the five land runs which began in 1889. Once claimed during the run, the five year residency requirement of the Homestead Act applied. In 1909 the Homestead Act was amended for the drier western states with the parcel size increased to 320 acres.
The tenure of the farmers on these newly homesteaded farms was relatively short, often lasting for but a single generation. In the rich farmland of the Midwest, a farmer and a bevy of children could make an 80 acre farm work financially. But when all of this newly offered farmland was put into production in just a few years’ time, commodity prices plummeted and even farmers with good soil and plentiful rainfall struggled. In drier places, such as the land along the old Santa Fe Trail, yields were lower, costs of production higher and railroads charged outlandish prices for shipping produce to distant markets. Throw in an environmental catastrophe such as the Dust Bowl, and the land was quickly vacated, leaving behind all those little country cemeteries that dot the countryside.
Today in the southern plains where I prowled about for a week, farms are large, industrial concerns with thousands of acres under cultivation, not hundreds. As I’ve noticed in other areas, broke land is being returned to pasture. Wheat, if it is planted, is often grazed to fatten the calves before they are shipped to the feedlots that dot the countryside. I can’t discern the ownership of the farms as I drive by, but it is likely that these large farms often have a significant proportion of their farmland under lease. Many of the feedlots don’t own the cattle they fatten, instead feeding them on contract for others.
Is this modern iteration of industrial agriculture any more sustainable than those who toiled on the land a century ago? Perhaps, but only marginally so. All of this mechanization has led to tremendous cost savings by eliminating people from the production process. Soon tractor and truck drivers will be phased out as software replaces the need for operators. At some point even low cost, efficiently produced food will become too expensive if there aren’t a few jobs left in the system. And then there is the issue of water, but that’s an issue for another day.
Gerald Klingaman is a retired Arkansas Extension Horticulturist and retired Operations Director for the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks. After more than two decades of penning the popular Plant of the Week column, he’s taking a new direction, offering views on nature as he pokes about the state and nation. Views and opinions reflect those of the author and are not those of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. If you have questions or comments for Dr. Klingaman about these articles contact him at musingsonnature@gmail.com.