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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Caroline Laine with waterpump
Photograph of Caroline Laine, the wife of Rufus Laine, sitting in her kitchen by the water pump.
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Caroline Laine with woodstove
Image of Caroline Laine, wife of Rufus Laine, standing by her primary cooking tool, a wood burning stove.
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Mr. Dehls' hay barn
Photograph of a ladder leading up to a large, stocked hayloft in Mr. Dehls' barn.
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Rufus Laine and mule team
Color photograph of Rufus Laine, who used a team of mules to pull his plow. Laine was a farmer in Craighead County.
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Rufus Laine dual plow
Color photograph of Rufus Laine using a dual plow drawn by a team of mules. Laine was a farmer in Craighead County.
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Rufus Laine on a plow
Color photograph of Rufus Laine on his mule-drawn, double plow. Laine was a farmer in Craighead County.
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Rufus Laine with waterpump
Color photograph of Rufus Laine utilizing the waterpump on his property. Laine was a farmer in Craighead County.
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W.H. Warren's "Lizard" used to haul rock
Photograph of a wooden sled called a "lizard" that is designed to haul rocks.
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Drainage ditch workers
Black and white photograph of unidentified workers improving a drainage ditch near the crossroads of Johnson and Burke in Jonesboro with Riceland Rice Mill in the background. A crane holds up a concrete culvert. Drainage ditches are critical to keeping farmland from reverting to swamp land.
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Sara Matthews, FFA Sweetheart
Black and white photograph of Sara Matthews. Matthews competed in a beauty competition and was crowned the Future Farmers of America Sweetheart at one of the FFA's galas. Her talent was baton twirling.
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Allison farm map and plan
The Farm Map and Plan was part of the soil conservation efforts that were enacted after the Dust Bowl in the 1920s. In this plan, there is an aerial picture of the Allison farm from the Soil Conservation Service photogrammetry department as well as handwritten descriptions of the land.
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Norman Leonard, Bono FFA president
Photograph of Norman Leonard. Leonard was president of the Future Farmers of America at Bono High School for the 1957-1958 school year.
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Courtney soil and water conservation plan
The Soil Conservation District of Lawrence County, under the authority of the United States Department of Agriculture and Soil Conservation Service, assisted local farmers in developing plans to manage their lands. These plans included suggestions for preventing erosion, water pollution, and crop failure. For J.J. Courtney, a plan was developed to manage his farm outside of Walnut Ridge that would prevent soil erosion and promote soil health for good crop yields.
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Binding rice on the Grand Prairie
This is a black and white photograph of two men riding a machine that is cutting and binding rice on the Grand Prairie.
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Cutting rice on Willman's farm near Lonoke
This is a black and white photograph of two men on a tractor-pulled harvester, cutting rice on Willman's Farm, near Lonoke.
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Loading fodder into a wagon
This is a black and white photograph of two unidentified men loading fodder into a horse-drawn wagon from a corn shock.
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Plowing soybeans, Rose City
This is a black and white photograph of three unidentified African American men plowing a soybean field with mules near Rose City in Pulaski County.