What type of farming is popular in oklahoma

Times were so difficult and farmers so desperate in , because of the severe drought in parts of the territory, that the railroads provided some seed grain so farmers could plant a crop. Despite the hardships endured in the early years of settlement, the federal census reported that between and the number of farms increased from 8, to , By , when the census was taken after statehood, the number had jumped to , Of this number 13, farms were operated by African American farmers.

In fewer than twenty years the area that became Oklahoma added about , farms to the nation's total. This was one of the most rapidly settled agricultural frontiers in American history. After the number of farms in Oklahoma remained about the same for a generation, between , and ,, until a steady drop began in the late s. Oklahoma farmers produced a wide variety of crops including corn, cotton, winter wheat, oats, milo maize, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peanuts, broomcorn, cowpeas, alfalfa, wild hay, and others.

They also produced and sold poultry, eggs, cheese, butter, and garden and orchard products. The main crops by acreage and value, however, were corn, cotton, and winter wheat. Corn was an ideal crop for a largely self-sufficient family in the early years of settlement. It was easy to raise and was valuable as both a feed for livestock and food for the family table. A farm wife could prepare grits, cornbread, and other foods from cornmeal, ground at home or at a local mill.

Most farmers planted some corn, and by more than five million acres were grown. This was more than twice as much as any other crop. Cotton was Oklahoma's leading money crop, and production increased rapidly after about A decade later cotton farmers produced , bales on 2,, acres.

In the first decade of the twentieth century cotton growing was concentrated in central and southwestern counties of the state. In Lincoln County had thousands of acres of cotton, and some was grown in Woodward and surrounding counties. The growing emphasis on cotton, however, raised serious questions among some of the state's leaders because of the system's effect on farm families. Connors, president of the State Board of Agriculture, wrote in that by concentrating on cotton, instead of diversifying their crops and raising livestock, farmers became trapped in a destructive credit system.

As early as some 54 percent of Oklahoma farmers were tenants, and tenancy was even higher among cotton farmers. The rate was highest among African American sharecroppers. Connors did not advise against planting cotton but urged farmers to diversify and raise as much of their own living as possible. Farmers were advised to attend conferences and institutes to gain better knowledge of how they might improve their income and of how farm wives could increase their contribution to the family welfare.

For example, in the U. Department of Agriculture USDA reported that farm women in Bryan County experienced greater success in dairying and raising poultry under the guidance of a home demonstration agent. Despite the effort to better educate farmers and improve life on the family farm, many farmers were either unwilling or unable to make the recommended changes.

This was especially the case in locations where cotton was the principal crop. By the eve of World War I Oklahoma farmers had established an agricultural pattern that would persist for another generation. Wheat growing rapidly expanded in the central and northwestern parts of the state while corn acreage steadily declined. By only a little more than half as much corn was planted as in Wheat acreage, on the other hand, more than doubled in that decade.

As farmers pushed farther west into the drier parts of the state, especially the Panhandle, where rainfall averaged less than twenty inches annually, they planted more drought-resistant sorghum crops such as milo maize and sorghum. By the average size Oklahoma farm was acres.

However, there were huge variations in size. The largest category of farms, or 34 percent, was from to acres, the traditional acre homestead. However, there were thousands under fifty acres, many of them operated by white and black sharecroppers. The large farms, those of more than acres, made up about 14 percent of the total. Most of the state's farms were family enterprises in which the operator used horse and mule power to pull their plows, cultivators, and other machinery.

A few large wheat farmers were beginning to adopt tractors and combines, but full-scale tractor farming was still in the future. Farm families provided much of their own living, especially outside the main cotton-producing areas, and most of their own labor. Men and sometimes women, as well as children, worked in the fields, milked cows, and did other chores. Women tended gardens, raised chickens, made and sold butter, and marketed eggs. Their work contributed greatly to the economic condition of residents.

The federal census of reported that on the average Oklahoma farm families provided 57 percent of their own food. Oklahoma's , farmers were just beginning to be exposed to modern conveniences by Only 4 percent had electricity, 1 percent owned trucks, and 3 percent had acquired tractors to replace or supplement horse and mule power. However, an increasing number of farmers were becoming better connected to the larger world: 25 percent had automobiles, and 37 percent enjoyed telephones.

Overall, it was still the horse-and-wagon and dirt-road period of farming in the Sooner State. The benefits of electricity, running water, and indoor bathroom facilities were still nearly a generation away for most. The deflation and severe drop in farm prices that began in late severely affected all of American agriculture.

Oklahoma farmers were among those hardest hit. The prices of cotton, wheat, and livestock, the main sources of agricultural income, drastically dropped. Between and cotton prices declined from thirty-five cents a pound to twelve cents; wheat brought only half as much in as it had in In terms of revenue generated Oklahoma's top five agricultural products are cattle and calves, hogs, broilers young chickens , wheat, and dairy products.

Oklahoma is one of the leading 5 sources of beef in the country and, not surprisingly, the production of beef cattle is the leading source of agricultural income in the state. Other important livestock products are hogs 8 , broilers young chickens , dairy products milk , chicken eggs, sheep and lambs, turkeys and fish farm-raised catfish. Oklahoma's most valuable crop is wheat and the state ranks among the leading 4 producers in the country.

Greenhouse and nursery products rank second with hay, cotton, soybeans, corn for grain, pecans, grain sorghum, peanuts, watermelons, and rye following. Manufacturers add value to raw products by creating manufactured items. For example, cotton cloth becomes more valuable than a boll of cotton through manufacturing processes. Production of machinery, particularly oil field machinery, leads the manufacturing industry in Oklahoma. Historically, Oklahoma agriculture has meant cattle and wheat to most people — and rightfully so.

But Oklahoma agriculture in the 21st century is much more than beef and wheat. Crops and livestock that were once relatively small in terms of production have grown dramatically in recent years. For example, poultry and swine, respectively, are their second and third largest agricultural industries and Oklahoma is now one of the top states in their production. From the arid High Plains of the panhandle to the forests of southeastern Oklahoma, there aren't many North American crops not grown in the state.