Three Farming Systems

E. L. Langsford, Charles P. Butler, C. W. Crickman, and Trimble R. Hedges.

An analysis of representative farms in three parts of the country illustrates some of the economic problems of farming and ways by which a farmer can determine which alternative is most profitable for him.

For these illustrations we selected a family-size cotton farm in the Southern Piedmont, a typical 160-acre Corn Belt farm in western Iowa, and an irrigated cotton farm of 160 acres in the San Joaquin Valley of California.

We made a comprehensive budget analysis of alternative soil-management systems on each of them. Although each farm represents a different set of problems, many parallels to them can be found.

Labor is abundant in the Piedmont area. Cotton provides an opportunity for profitable use of more labor than small grains and other alternative enterprises. The development and improvement of pastures, permanent cover for terrace outlets, correction of soil acidity by using lime, and increased rates of fertilization are a few of the physical changes that will result in better conservation of resources and greater profits. The addition of livestock to the farm organization would help the operator of a typical family-operated cotton farm in this area to use his resources more fully. Little additional capital would be needed for changes that would mean increases in profits and stability.

Several alternative adjustments in practices and land use that would assure the same degree of conservation of the soil are available to operators of typical 160-acre farms in the Corn Belt. They include crop rotations that contain more acres of forage crops; a combination of improved rotations, terraces, and contour tillage; and a combination of improved rotations, terraces, contour tillage, and use of fertilizer. There also are several alternative methods of utilizing the crops produced. They may be utilized in fattening cattle or by the dairy or beef cows or they may be sold. Based on 1955 prices, there are significant differences in estimated net farm income from the various alternatives. A herd of beef cows (together with improved rotations, terraces, contour cultivation, and application of fertilizer) provides the largest income, but it also requires the greatest increase in investment over the organization of the farm in 1955.

The high-cost land and water in the upper San Joaquin Valley demand intensive farming, high gross receipts per acre, and efficient methods if the farm operation is to be successful. A farmer on a 160-acre irrigated farm uses resources valued at approximately 100 thousand dollars, and his annual cash expenses are one-fourth to one-third of that amount. A farm operator who earns profits and remains in business must take these facts into consideration in developing soil-management plans and cropping systems.

COTTON, the main cash crop in the Southern Piedmont, is adapted to intensive use of unskilled labor. Farms adapted to the labor resources of one family therefore are more prevalent than farms of any other size. The income of most of these family-operated cotton farms is low.

Because the expense of maintaining the soil often can be deferred, it is one of the first to be eliminated when other needs press for income. Muddy streams and eroded fields on such farms give evidence of soil losses resulting from continued neglect of conservation.

Soils in the area tend to be acid. They consist of sandy and clay loams, which may be subject to severe erosion under the continuous system of row-crop farming that has been practiced many years. Special practices, such as terracing and rotation of row crops with grasses and legumes, are among the soil-management practices generally prescribed for most of these soils.

The farm selected for illustration in this area has 96 acres-66 acres of cropland, 2 acres of permanent pasture, 26 acres of woods, and 2 acres in the homestead. It had 13 acres of cotton, 9 acres of corn, 34 acres of small grain, and 10 acres of idle cropland in 1955. Annual lespedeza followed grain on 5 acres. The farmer had 2 mules, 2 milk cows, 4 hogs, and 50 hens.

The limited pasture meant that he had to depend on harvested crops for most of the feed he needed. The farm had a tractor and tractor-drawn plow, disk harrow, and combine. Mules and mule-drawn equipment were used in planting and cultivating cotton and corn.

An analysis of the soil resources revealed that the cropland was not adequately terraced. An inadequate water-disposal system for terrace outlets resulted in severe erosion in part of the field. Soils were moderately to severely acid. Supplies of available nitrogen, phosphate, and potash were low.

Practices recommended for the farm included building broad-base terraces on cropland; establishing permanent sod crops in terrace outlets and adjoining eroded areas that are idle; adopting a 4-year rotation, with 2 years of row crops and 2 years of small grain; interplanting annual lespedeza with small grain; correcting soil acidity by applying limestone; and increasing the rates of fertilization in order to restore fertility and increase yields.

Changes from the organization and operation were needed to permit the operator to utilize his resources efficiently and to profit from the adoption of the improved soil-management practices. These changes included: Selling the mules and buying a tractor-drawn planter and cultivator; adding more productive livestock; providing more forage; extra fencing to permit the use of additional acreage for grazing; increasing rates of fertilizing crops and pastures; using hybrid corn and improved varieties of other crops, and bringing forest areas under improved management by thinning and culling undesirable trees and by making annual cuttings for sustained yields.

Information about the characteristics and organization of resources on the farm provides the basis for developing detailed plans for alternative farming systems whereby the recommended conservation practices can be integrated with the recommended reorganization of resources.

The land-use map for 1955 and the land capability map on the next page are useful in the planning process.