Jackson advocate. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1939-current, 1960-01-30
Agriculture
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into famlly-SlZed farms. But in
most cases the credit aid was ex-
tended to assist farm families in
establishing additional sources of
income.
Through the years, most Negro
farmers have depended mainly on
cotton or tobacco. These crops one
required enormous amounts of
hand labor. Twenty years ago, the
average farmer spent ITO back
breaking hours blowing, chopping,
and picking one 500-pound bale of
cotton off two acres of land.
This time has been cut by more
than half. The average grower
now gets close to a bale to the
acre, and some get more than two.
Tobacco yields have increased
similarly.
But demand has not kept pace
with production. Therefore, fewer
acres are now required to produce
the Nations supply of these crops.
So, farmers are trying to develop
alternative enterprises on their I'M
used acres. Most of these farmers
are going in for livestock-hogs
and cattle; others are trying their
hand at truck crops and poultry.
However, it takes money to get
established in these enterprises on
a sound basis. And many small
farmers find it difficult to OBJ
tain from private sources the funds
they need. So, they turn to Farm
ers Home for credit.
Last year an estimated $4,000
white and colored farm families
obtained loans totaling 1888 500, 900
from this agency, bringing the to-
tai number of borrowers on the
rolls to 17S,5OO during 1859.
Along with the loans go advice
and counsel to help assure sue
cess. And most of these borrow
ers are successful. Last year &c.
900 repaid their loans in full. AL
together the agency collected 1910
million.
/ About II percent of the bor-
rowers are colored farm families.
1t is estimated that in the % years
the agency has been established,
275,O00 colored farmer have OBJ
tanned loans from it totaling more
than $500 million.
The borrower families 1 visited
recently certainly are making ex
cellent use of the credit extended
them. In Mississippi, Assistant
County Supervisor d. E. Magee
took me to visit Mr. and Mrs. Bud
Gray who were sharecroppers un-
til the agency made them a loan
20 years go to buy a 74-acre farm
of their own.
In recent years, the Grays have
obtained enough additional credit to
develop AZ acres of pastures and
begin raising beef cattle to sup
plement their income from cotton.
The additional income has enabled
them to make long repairs
on their home.
George H. Paris of the Alabama
Gate office of Farmers Home and
| visited Jack Wilson of Camp Hill
who has been digging and selling
kudzo crowns ever since the agency
made him a loan 18 years ago to
buy a tractor. Off his own and
neighboring farms, he digs and
sells 100000 crowns a year. These
bring him a gross of about 81 400.
The kudzu crowns are planted by
farmers across the South to help
reduce erosion. !
without hogs and my kudzu
business, I'd give up," says Mr..
Wilson. II just couldn't make it
off cotton alone"
In Georgia, Program Loan As
sistant Josephus Johnson and 1
made our first stop at the home
of Mr.. and Mrs. Leroy James near
Montezuma. Cotton is beginning
to take a back seat on the farm
of this young couple, an income
from cattle, hogs, peanuts, sweet
potatoes, and custom work with
their corn picker and other equip
ment moves to the fore. Their ma
chinery alone earned them close to
$4,000 last year.
South, Cardinals Henry H. Ne
smith has graduated from Farmers |
Home to other sources of credit,
but he and Mrs. Nesmith remain
on the rolls as a priced example of
top farmers.
Three Farmers Home officials
accompanied me to the 125-acre !
farm where hogs and cattle are
taking more and more of the load
off cotton and tobacco.
1--WE made this loan reluctantly"
said County Supervisor Edward D.
Player, because the land was so
poor, we couldn't see how they were
going to pay for it."
But the Nesmiths did pay for it |
within four years-36 years ahead
of schedule. They did it by follow
ing improved farming methods,
and by raising something more
than cotton and tobacco.
All the farmers l visited and
many, many more have alternative |
enterprises so they are not de-
pendent entirely on the traditional
crops of cotton and tobacco. This
kind of adjustment seems to de-
termine whether or not a family |
has q future in agriculture.
Final Decree