Agriculture is an integral part of Arkansas’s culture, economy, and heritage. Early settlers harvested from the land's abundant timber and raised livestock. Settlers to the eastern half of the state contended with vast swamp and marshland, but through widespread efforts, swamps were drained and turned into fertile farmland. This gallery offers illustrates some of the toils and produce of Arkansas farming. Today, Arkansas remains an important supplier of rice, cotton, corn, beef, chicken, and dairy products.
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Raw Cotton to a cotton gin
This is a black and white photograph of horse or mule drawn carts carrying raw cotton to a cotton gin for processing.
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Steam tractor and baler
This is a black and white photograph of an early steam-powered tractor and baler depicted at harvest time along with farm laborers and horses.
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Vintage vineyard
In this black and white photograph, an unidentified man stands in a vineyard with an old barn in the background. The caption on the photograph says, "In the Thubler Vineyard."
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Abandoned farm truck
Photograph of an old, flat-bed Ford truck left abandoned in the woods next to an old, long-unused outhouse.
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Farm truck and barn
Color photograph of a flat bed Chevy truck, a large oak tree, and an old barn in the Ozarks.
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Hipped roof red barn
Color photograph of an old unidentified red barn with a hipped roof and original fencing around the barnyard.
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Log barn Interior
A color interior shot of an unidentified log barn with an old wagon, no longer in use.
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Three barns and an oak
Photograph of three red barns sitting by an impressive oak tree down a dirt road.
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Plowed field and abandoned house
Image of a field that's been prepared for planting cotton with an abandoned farm house and collapsed building in the background.
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Winter moon over cotton field
Image of a full moon over an old church and a cotton field during winter.
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Cotton harvest
Color photograph of a cotton farmer clearing the harvesting equipment of the gathered raw cotton.
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Red house and cotton
Color photograph of nearly ready to harvest cotton fields surrounding an unidentified red farm house.
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Fodder Shocks
Color photograph of hay turned into fodder shocks for harvesting at the Jennings farm. A metal barn stands in the background filled with hay that has already been harvested.
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Powhatan courthouse and log building
Color photograph of the Powhatan Courthouse and the Imboden-Ficklin log house with a garden in the foreground. The photograph was taken before the log house was restored.
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Watering tub by the old barn
Color photograph of an old bathtub being repurposed as a watering trough in front of an old wooden barn.
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Winter barnyard scene
Photograph of a barnyard scene, which includes chickens in a tree, a cow by the barn, and other chickens roaming free.
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Barn and grader
Photograph of a horse-drawn grader in front of an older barn with a wagon under the overhang.