6
older white farm communities follow this pattern.
Farm operations in the region remain largely independent in character, as ownership data reveal. Just over 68% of the farm households in both counties own their farms; approximately 25% are part-owners in both counties, and the remaining 6% are tenants. Regarding the organization that runs the farm, both counties are dominated by *individual" and *family' farms. Approximately 83% of the farms in both counties are owned by individuals and/or families; close to 9% are in partnerships and the remainder are in corporate holdings or institutional ones. Major corporate holdings include large timber company tracts of forest.
The following table presents the number of farms reported in various farm size annual sales classes for 1978. It is notable that the-majority of farms in each county sold less than $40,000, which makes them small by the definition used by many farm agencies.
Table 1. Numbers of Farms by Farm Sales Class, 1978.
Sales Class Suwannee Columbia
No.Farm % of No.Farm % of Sold total Sold total $100,01 G 117 10.3% 32 5.4%
40-99,999 115 10.1 46 7.8
20-39,999 132 11.6 56 9.5
5-19,999 328 28.8 151 25.7
<4,999 446 39.2 303 51.5
Source: U.S. Census of Agriculture, 1979.
Major Production Enterprises
Crop enterprises generating the most agricultural income in both Suwannee and Columbia counties include tobacco, corn, and more recently, soybeans and wheat. Of these crops, tobacco dominates. Wheat and soybeans continue to gain in importance. The second highest income producer is poultry. Vegetable production ranks third in Suwannee, and fifth in Columbia. Cattle production is fourth in Suwannee but third in Columbia. Other livestock (mainly hogs) are ranked fifth and fourth respectively (Gordon and Mulkey 1977). Timber production is being encouraged in the region and many farmers are presently taking advantage of A.S.C.S. credit to plant pines.
While these sta-Ts--Et'-indicate enterprise value, they say little about numbers of farm units-participating in. each enterprise. Poultry operations are. limited to a small proportion of the farm population, for example; hogs are produced on a majority of farms while cattle are largely found on white farms producing pasture and summer grains. These following statistics, collected for Suwannee County in 1982 by the extension office there, indicate the percentage distribution