Texas Almanac, 1947-1948 Page: 193
[610] p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this book.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
TEXAS AGRICULTURE
I. Farms and Crop ProductionTexas' surface soils, covering 168,732,160
acres, constitute its greatest resource. Accord-
ing to the 1945 Census of Agriculture, Depart-
ment of Commerce, 141,337,744 acres were in
farms. Crop and livestock production is still
the basic industry in the Texas economy.
Approximately 135 crops are grown, forty
of sufficient commercial importance to be
reported by the Department of Agriculture.
Because of its size, 500 soil types, wide range
in altitude, rainfall and climate, Texas has
greater crop and livestock diversification than
any other state. Texas crops particularly Im-
portant in the nation's agricultural production
are cotton, feed grains, rice, wheat, vegeta-
bles and citrus fruits. It leads in cattle and
calves, sheep and goats, wool and mohair,
horses and turkeys raised. In most years
Texas is second in total receipts from sale
of crops and fifth in receipts from sale of
livestock and livestock products. Farm income
in 1945 of $1,189,301,100 ranked Texas fourth
behind California, Iowa and Illinois.
The census showed that on January 1, 1945,
Texas had 384,977 farms compared with 418,-
002 in 1940, 495,489 in 1930 and 436,033 in 1920.
All land in farms, however, increased from
137,683,372 in 1940 to 141,337,744 in 1945. Aver-
age size per farm increased from 329.4 to
367.1. Harvested acreage increased from 26,-
044,008 to 27,469,089.
Increased Farm Values.
Value of Texas farm and ranch land and
buildings in 1945 was $3574,997,897 compared
with $2,589,978,936 in 1940. Average value per
farm gained from $6,196 to $9,286, value per
acre from $18.81 to $25.29. Farms and ranches
with a total farm products value of at least
$10,000 each totaled 18,533 in 1944, nearly four
times the number of such large farms and
ranches in 1939. Nearly 148,000 of the 384,-
977 farms and ranches in 1945 were field-crop
type (those deriving at least half their in-
come from field-crop sales) with a total value
of products of $573,000,000. In 1946 Texas'
total crop value increased to $946,022,000,
about $200,000,000 over the previous year and
the highest since 1923.
The census shows total of 16,725 farms and
ranches each with 1,000 acres and over and
only 12.275 under three acres each. There
were 492,064 dwellings on farms January 1,
1945, of which 413,657 were occupied. Of
Texas' 384.977 farms, only 6,935 failed to sell
or use any products, 377,774 sold or used all
their products and 351,903 sold all their prod-
ucts. Ninety-three per cent used products on
the farm, and there were 88,825 farms which
produced primarily for household use and
288,949 which produced primarily for sale. 20
per cent of which had sales from $1,500 to
$2,500.
Recent Trends.
Most marked change in Texas agriculture
since 1930 has been that of land usage. The
economic depression of the early and middle
1930's, federal control programs and World
War II forced Texas to a long-sought goal-
crop and livestock diversification. Cotton,
still highest in value of Texas crops, no long-
er is king. Acreage dropped from a peak of
17,749,000 in 1926 to 5,800000 in 1945-lowest
since 1895. Cotton was half the crop acreage
harvested in 1930, only 22 per cent in 1945.
It has dropped from around 60 to 30 per cent
of total value of all crops. Acreage n crops
other than cotton has more than doubled
since 1930, much of it going into feedstuffs
and pastures. Meanwhile, from 1930 to 1945
number of farms declined from 418,002 to
384.977 and land in farms increased from
124,707,130 to 141,337,744.The war and previous factors caused drastic
changes in farm population. The census shows
farm population as of January 1, 1945. to be
1.487,829 compared with 2,342,553 in 1930 and
2,149,187 in 1940. Texas A. & M. College esti-
mated the figure as of January 1, 1946, at
1,622,900. An estimated 500,000 persons left
farms and rural towns during wartime for
urban employment. Of the 1,487,829 in 1945,
1,015,301 were over the age of 14 and 515.397
were women and girls. Farm home ownership
is increasing. Of the 384,977 farms, 197,994
are operated by full owners. 30.000 more than
in 1940. Farm tenants declined from 204,462
to 144,792, croppers from 39,821 to 24,507. In
1930 there were 301,660 tenants, 105,122 crop-
pers. Of the 384,977 farms, 339,027 were oper-
ated by whites, the remainder by nonwhites,
of which more than half were tenants.
Farm mechanization has increased steadily,
fitting into the scheme of fewer but larger
farms. The census showed 298.627 farms-77
per cent-had implements and machinery
worth $277,046,169. a gain of nearly $100,000,-
000 since 1940. Tractors on farms increased
from 98,923 in 1940 to 162.381 in 1945, motor
trucks from 56.707 to 89,286 Automobiles
dropped from 277,664 to 259,599, because of
the war. The publication, Farm Implement
News, said that on January 1, 1945, there
were 17,000 combines on Texas farms, 3,500
hay balers, 82,000 cream separators, 3,800
milking machines, 97,000 mowing machines.
Heaviest concentration of equipment is on
the level Panhandle-Plains and the Gulf
Coastal Prairie, the former 95 per cent mech-
anized compared with 75 per cent for the
Blacklands. Grains and feedstuffs are usually
mechanically produced. Fruits and vegetables
are still hand-picked.
Cash wages paid to farm labor nearly
tripled-from $56,585,641 to $154,555,436-from
1940 to 1945, though number of farms paying
wages for hired labor increased only from
190,018 to 192,781. A total of 342,388 farms
reported family and/or hired workers, a drop
of 30,000 since 1940. Of these, family workers
were on 338.629 farms aggregating 506,560
persons (353.061 and 537,452 in 1940) and hired
workers on 26,970 farms totaled 53.551 (66,194
and 146,415 In 1940). The State Farm Labor
Office, Texas Extension Service, estimated
farm migratory or transient labor in the fall
of 1946 to be 160.000 workers, a 15 per cent
increase since the end of the war. They fol-
low the crops northward from the Lower Rio
Grande Valley to Northwest Texas, working
in citrus and vegetable and cotton fields.
The Extension Service, through county
agents, made 545,509 placements in 1945. Re-
ception centers operated in some forty com-
munities. Average wage was from $4 to $6 a
day worked in 1945-46.
Other Developments.
Irrigation is increasing in Texas. The Bu-
reau of Agricultural Economics estimated
1,358,000 acres irrigated in 1943, compared
with 843,839 in 1939. Irrigated land was appor-
tioned thus by areas in 1943: High Plains
wheat, 205,000 acres; High Plains cotton,
95,000: Lower Rolling Plains, 21.900; High
Plains-Trans-Pecos, 95,500; Upper Rio Grande
Valley, 66.000; Edwards Plateau, 17,300; Rio
Grande Plains, 96,200; Lower Rio Grande
Valley, 340,000; Corpus Christi cotton, 4.500;
West Cross Timbers, 2,000: Black Prairies,
18,600; Coastal Prairie, 396,000.
In recent years fastest development has
been on the High Plains in the Hereford and
(Continued on p. 195.)
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This book can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Book.
Texas Almanac, 1947-1948, book, 1947; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117136/m1/195/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.