Delta Ag Journal Vol.1 No. 3 | July 2018 by Coopwood Publishing Group, Inc.

Delta Ag Journal The Farm Lifestyle Magazine of the Mississippi Delta

BLANCHARDHARRIS FARM

Riverports

South Africans in the Delta Sunflower Plantation

Andy Gipson Commissioner of Agriculture

Volume 1 • Number 3 • JULY 2018

July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 1

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Contents

features 30 the BlanChard-harris Farm

Home to history and horticultural advancements

36 mississippi river ports Key to the Delta’s farming economy

42 trading ideas

From South Africa to the MS Delta

48 sunFloWer plantation

“New Deal” farming during the roosevelt depression years

56 andy gipson

departments

State Commissioner of Agriculture

60 iron mules

10 Farmer Q & a

Some collected and some still in use

Marty Chenault

12 extension agent spotlight

Alex Season

16 ag Business spotlight

Eubanks Trucking

20 Farm headQuarters

on the cover

Deloach Farms

b 3

68 history

1 N

peyton potter and Jerry locke, Bilbo Farms

V l

26 Farm Families

Delta Ag Journal The Farm Lifestyle Magazine of the Mississippi Delta

Booga Bottom DELTA AG JOURNAL

76 reCipes

Savory delights

78 out & aBout

Jerry Locke, photographed by Roy Meeks, June 2018 at Bilbo Farms. Locke is one of the Farm Families featured on page 28.

BLANCHARDBL BLANCHARD BLANCHAR BLANCHA BLANCH BLANC BLAN BLA H HA HARRIS FARM HAR HARR HARRI F FA FAR

R Ri Riv Rive River Riverp Riverpo Riverpor Riverport Riverports

S So Sou Sout South A Af Afr Afri Afric Africa African Africans i the in t Delta th D De Del Delt S Su Sun Sunf Sunfl Sunflo Sunflow Sunflowe Sunflower P Pl Pla Plan Plant Planta Plantat Plantati Plantatio Plantation

A An And Andy G Gi Gip Gips Gipso Gipson JULY 2018

photos from MS Women in Agriculture Field Day and around the farm

Volume 1 • Number 3 • JULY 2018

Commissioner of Agriculture

July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 3

Scott Coopwood, PUBLISHER

DeltaAg Journal Publisher: J. Scott Coopwood Editors: Kristy Kitchings, Pam Parker Graphic Designer: Cailee Conrad WRITERS Hank Burdine, Aimee Robinette, Angela Rogalski, Greta Sharp, Mark H. Stowers

Farmers: Caretakers of the Land “And on the 8th day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, ‘I need a caretaker’ -- so God made a Farmer,” Paul Harvey’s iconic “So God Made A Farmer speech”. The famous radio broadcaster initially delivered the speech at the Future Farmers of America convention in 1978 and in 1986 he published it in one of his syndicated columns. “God said, ‘I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the fields, milk cows again, eat supper, then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board,’— so God made a Farmer.” The speech was partially inspired from parts of a 1940 definition of a dirt farmer published in The Farmer-Stockman. The speech was also inspired from the Genesis creation narrative regarding what God created on the 8th day. “ ‘I need somebody with arms strong enough to rustle a calf and yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild; somebody to call hogs, tame cantankerous machinery, come home hungry, have to wait lunch until his wife’s done feeding visiting ladies, then tell the ladies to be sure and come back real soon — and mean it,’ —so God made a Farmer. God said, ‘I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a newborn colt, and watch it die, then dry his eyes and say, maybe next year. I need somebody who can shape an ax handle from a persimmon sprout, shoe a horse with a hunk of car tire, who can make harness out of haywire, feed sacks and shoe scraps; who, planting time and harvest season, will finish his forty-hour week by Tuesday noon, and then pain’n from tractor back,'put in another seventy-two hours,’— so God made a Farmer.” And while Harvey’s creation is now one of the most recognizable speeches ever, it took thirty-five years for it to reach worldwide acclaim and that did not happen until it was used in a television commercial by Ram Trucks during the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLVII in the New Orleans Superdome on February 3, 2013. In that close game, the Ravens defeated the 49ers by 34–31, handing the 49ers their first Super Bowl loss in franchise history. In a dramatic presentation played in front of millions of viewers around the world, the thirty second television ad featured powerful photographs of rural America as Harvey’s recognizable voice was heard. “It had to be somebody who’d plow deep and straight and not cut corners; somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed and rake and disc and plow and plant and tie the fleece and strain the milk and replenish the self-feeder and finish a hard week’s work with a five-mile drive to church; somebody who would bale a family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh, and then sigh, and then reply, with smiling eyes, when his son says that he wants to spend his life doing what dad does, — so God made a Farmer.” The phrases above are just a portion of Harvey’s speech. There is more. And, just like Harvey’s iconic ode to farmers, we at the Delta Ag Journal are thankful for our area farmers as well. Plain and simple, agriculture is the Mississippi Delta. We appreciate the hard work and long hours our farmers put in, and we appreciate the sacrifices they make in order to not only feed and clothe their families, but to also feed and clothe this great country. As the 2018 growing season passes the mid-way point, let’s all keep our farmers and their families in our prayers and wish them the very best as this growing season looks promising.

PHOTOGRAPHY Austin Britt, Roy Meeks CIRCULATION Holly Tharp ACCOUNTING MANAGER Emma Jean Thompson ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Kristy Kitchings, Ann Nestler, Wendy Mize POSTMASTER Send all address changes to: Delta Ag Journal P.O. Box 117, Cleveland, MS 38732 ADVERTISING For advertising information, please call (662) 843-2700 Fax (662) 843-0505 Delta Ag Journal accepts no responsibility for unsolicited materials and in general does not return them to sender. Manuscripts and photographs submitted for publication are welcomed by Delta Ag Journal, but no responsibility can be taken for them while in transit or in the office of publication. All editorial and advertising information is taken from sources considered to be authoritative, but the publication cannot guarantee their accuracy. Neither that information nor any opinion expressed on the pages of Delta Ag Journal in any way constitutes a solicitation for the sale or purchase of securities mentioned. No material in the Delta Ag Journal can be reproduced in any form without the written consent of the publisher.

Delta Ag Journal is published by Coopwood Publishing Group, Inc. EDITORIAL AND BUSINESS OFFICE ADDRESSES Mailing Address: Post Office Box 117 Cleveland, Mississippi 38732 Shipping Address: 125 South Court Street Cleveland, Mississippi 38732 Phone (662) 843-2700 Fax (662) 843-0505 E-mail: publisher@deltaagjournal.com

4 • Delta Ag Journal • July 2018

July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 5

Letters At Ace Hardware/Cleveland Home and Hardware we are more than just a hardware store! We put a lot of time and effort into supporting and providing supplies to our local farmers in Cleveland and the surrounding Delta communities. With the Delta Ag Journal’s first few issues, we can see the response our local farmers are taking on the new publication. They are proud to be featured in a local magazine that spotlights their history and their traditions in the agricultural industry. You can always find a copy of the magazine on our counter and we are proud to support ALL local farmers. Keep up the good work Delta Ag Journal and we will keep supplying copies to our customers. Allan Towles Ace Hardware Cleveland We have been a subscriber to the Delta Business Journal for the past 4 years. Our company and our customers enjoy all the unique places and businesses that you feature in each edition. Most recently, the new Delta Ag Journal that spotlights our Delta farmers is a wonderful addition. It is most definitely a plus for the Ag businesses in the Delta… after all, “Farmers Feed Mississippi.” We would like to congratulate Kristy Kitchings being the new co-editor of the Delta Ag Journal. This ag publication has special meaning to her because of her farming roots here in the Mississippi Delta. Thank you for presenting such interesting quality material in your edition. Bert Mann Terral Seed Patsy Mann Crop Production Services Skene

SEND COMMENTS AND LETTERS TO

publisher@deltaagjournal.com or Delta Ag Journal P.O Box 117 Cleveland, MS 38732 6 • Delta Ag Journal • July 2018

Letters We were so honored to be featured in the April edition of the Delta Ag Journal. We have received many compliments and copies from so many people. The kids really thought it was something they were in a magazine. It makes me so happy to see some of the smaller farmers being recognized for all their hard work. Keep up the good work DAJ and we look forward to many more issues from you and your staff! We are here to support you, as you support us! Leathe Maxwell Greenlee Leland

Thank you so much Delta Ag Journal for all you do to recognize some of the hardest working people out there. It is so exciting seeing people you know and hearing their stories! I look forward to reading the new magazine each month. The article you did on our family was absolutely wonderful. It was so rewarding to be asked to tell our story. Again, thank you and please keep honoring the people who don't get enough recognition for their hard work! Caysi Seely Buford Lake Planting Company Lyon

I want to express my sincere thanks to all involved at Delta Ag Journal for an outstanding new publication for Delta farmers which helps promote the agricultural industry and young farmers like myself. As a young farmer, I am always looking for literature to read that will help me in all my ag-related endeavors. The feature on first generation farmers was great. It gave us the opportunity to let your readers know about why we chose this profession, and why all the hard work we put into our farm allows us to chase our dreams. For those of us who, along with the help of a great support team, started our business from scratch we really appreciate the opportunity to share our story. Best of luck in the upcoming issues, and if I can help in any way, I am ready and willing. Hayden Bills Ruleville July 2018 â&#x20AC;˘ Delta Ag Journal â&#x20AC;˘ 7

the new King

PHOTO BY BRITTNEY TURNER

While cotton was once king in the Mississippi Delta and this year cotton acreage seems to be on the rise again, grains have become the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new king. This corn field is representative of the many others that can currently be found all over the Delta.

FARMER Q&A

From left to right, top: H.M Chenault, Marty Chenault, Norman Chenault; bottom: Bryce Chenault and Colby Chenault with dogs Rice and Oakley

marty Chenault Beulah, Mississippi

Best Advice Received

How Did You Become Interested in Farming?

The most important advice I have ever received about farming is the highest yielding crop may not always be the most profitable (input cost).

I grew up on a farm. My grandfather started farming in 1951 and I learned my passion from him.

Best Advice to Give

Best Business Decision You Have Ever Made?

Don't buy something just because you want it! You need to be able to justify that purchase.

Buying land when prices were still reasonable.

First Job

I have only worked on our family farm. Education

What Traditions Do You Carry on From What You Learned From Your Father and Grandfather?

Our family has grown rice every year since 1951 and I can still manage to make money on it even in lower priced years.

I am a graduate of Bayou Academy and I attended Delta State University.

Someone Who Made a Difference in Your Life When You Were Growing Up and Why?

Family

My dad has taught me everything about this business and both my parents taught me Christian values that I can pass on to my children.

Our family farm is a partnership of myself, my dad Horace Chenault and my uncle Norman Chenault. My oldest son, Corey McClendon worked with us until he moved to Southaven. My other sons Bryce and Colby are presently working on the farm. Bryce will be attending the ag program at MDCC in the fall and Colby will be a senior at Bayou Academy. Braylan, my youngest, who will be in the ninth grade, also helps out as well. It really is a family operation. Describe What You Do in Your Job

I try to make smart decisions on the day-to-day operations, and do not ever get yourself into a financial bind because of equipment purchased trying to hold on to a farm that is not profitable. 10 • Delta Ag Journal • July 2018

What Music Are You Currently Listening To?

I listen to country, but I still love 80s Rock. Hobbies

You don’t get too many hobbies when you are a farmer. I love to golf and hunt. But, my favorite hobby will always be watching my boys play sports.

July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 11

EXTENSION AGENT

turf War

Ag Agent Alex Deason Battles Issues with Farmers

By Aimee RoBinette • Photography by Roy meeks

unflower County Ag Agent Alex Deason has an interesting perspective of greenery from turfgrass to row crops. This Philadelphia, Miss native spent considerable time in the summers and some holidays with his grandparents in Kosciusko, where his grandfather taught 12 • Delta Ag Journal • July 2018

him the appreciation of plants. His interest and education continued, however, long after he grew up. “When I graduated high school, I went on to junior college to continue to play soccer and golf. I graduated from MSU with my B.S. in 2010 and M.S. in 2014. During this time, I jumped around a good bit and spent time in Forestry, Agronomy, Horticulture, and Agricul-

ture Education,” he explains. “I was always ready to learn something new especially when it came to plants or outdoors. Turfgrass has always been a passion since I have been playing golf and soccer since before I was in kindergarten. As an avid outdoorsman and hunter, forestry fell right in line with taking care of a tract of timber to reap not only a monetary benefit, but also keep a thriving ecosystem

the way the Lord intended.” During his senior year at Mississippi State University, Deason found himself in a class called Herbicide Technology taught by Dr. Dan Reynolds, and even though it was one of the more difficult and advanced courses he had taken, it taught him quite a bit. “Over that semester, I had a few people tell me about extension and how I would

really enjoy the work,” says Deason. The last big push I had was from a phone call that was made in the spring of 2012 to Charlie Stokes, an area agronomist for MSU Extension. As he described on the phone what extension’s role was and what he does to help in that effort, I thought to myself, ‘it sure sounds cool.’ I was hired in Sunflower County and started in September 2013.”

Deason enjoys many aspects of his job, including addressing the needs of Sunflower and Washington counties by providing research-based information and educational programs to better equip and inform its residents. “That enables them to make more informed decisions. We achieve this in a variety of ways including workshops held at the office, field days, face to face July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 13

farm/home visits and various types of media,” he says. “There are multiple facets about my job that I love. One is that you can ask me for an agenda for the week on Monday and by Friday that agenda has been tweaked several times. There is no typical day for any one of us except to prepare for the unexpected. I go from looking at a homeowner’s declining lawn to answering a phone call on cattle nutrition to standing in a corn field talking soil moisture sensors. “Another part of my job that I love is the wealth of knowledge you can pull from. There are eighty-two county offices around the state and for the most part there is an Ag Agent in each one. Every person has their specialty and some have multiple,” Deason adds. “Therefore, if you have a question about a rose bush, soybean disease, or wildlife you have a wide range of people to get a second opinion from. Not only do you have other agents, but you have people on campus or on a research station that can add to the conversation too. This type of networking helps bring multiple solutions to the problem.” Deason says he also enjoys the informal education setting. “I don’t have to be sitting in a classroom to learn how to make things easier or better. The informal setting allows me to reach across generational gaps to get the same message across,” he explains. “For example, with conserving water, a Youtube video or social media post is not going to get the attention of someone that wasn’t raised in the digital generation, and likewise a flyer will not likely get the attention of someone in my generation.” Deason’s focus is always on the farmer. His office assists farmers by offering various classes and workshops so they can stay up-to-date on certifications and the newest research. “We also offer programs to help producers become more efficient irrigators by using less water and maintaining yield. We also do things such as the Corn Verification Program where a producer gets to see best management practices, BMPs, on their farm versus some of the traditional practices they have done and see how they rank,” he explains. “We have budget workshops over the winter to see what type of crop mixes seem to be favorable for the upcoming growing year.” 14 • Delta Ag Journal • July 2018

His office also looks at the past and future of crops for their specific area. “In 2017, soybeans were up from around 20,000 acres in 2016 to around 23,000 acres. Even with some of the late pests such as the Red Banded Stink Bug, we saw overall yields surpass the 60bushel range,” Deason says. “Corn was down over 15,000 acres in 2016 to between 35,000 and 36,000 acres as the price for corn was not heavy enough for producers to jump back up in acreage. However, the growing season was one of the best in recent years with timely rains and cooler pollination temperatures. This helped boost last year’s crop over 200/bushel an acre.” Deason notes that cotton made a jump from 13,000 to 20,000 acres in 2017 as some producers were willing to give it another shot in rotation on their farm. A few issues with getting the crop established during some periods of cool, wet weather coupled with bollworm pressure caused production to drop to an average of 1,100 pounds.

“Rice acreage dropped for another year last year leaving us around 8,000 acres in rice production in 2017. Even though this crop had some issues of its own getting established and harvested, the overall production was good at around 7,000,” he says. “Since the appearance of the White Sugarcane Aphid, which has very little treatment remedies and very little backing in the market, sorghum acreage has all but disappeared. There is still some planted for recreational and in-house use, but from a production stand point it is extinct except for the north Delta. “2018 has had a few hurdles to jump including very brief planting windows and unusual cool wet April weather. However for the most part, the crop is in the ground and producers are now turning to the next item on the agenda. Corn is getting the last pass and polypipe is making its appearance to help the crop that is always one day away from a drought. Compared to last year it may seem like we are behind, but as far as optimal growing conditions we seem to be

right on time,” he adds. Producers begin the season facing the same challenges they always face, the “unknown,” Deason says, but if a farm had an issue last season, there is more than likely a fail-proof plan that was put into place over the off season to ensure that the problem will not arise again. “However, the unknown is an issue that we face that we can’t change or even plan for,” he explains. “What if the price falls, wet planting/harvest, lack of timely rains? There are hundreds of unknowns , but that is what makes this community strong. In agriculture, we strive to be as proactive as we can, but we can only control so much as Mother Nature controls the rest. At that point, we use every avenue to solve the problems as efficiently and economically as we can. Some of the big topics moving forward this year are the safe stewardship of the new herbicide technologies and the Farm Bill. We are all here to protect the land that the Lord has provided and the agricultural community is the leader in that effort.”

July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 15

AG BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT

EUBANKS TRUCKING Riding the Roads for Over Thirty-Six Years

By Aimee RoBinette

16 • Delta Ag Journal • July 2018

Above, Eubanks Trucking, just east of Ruleville, has an extensive fleet of trucks as well as a variety of equipment used for land forming, leveling and even fish pond formation.

or over thirty-six years, Woodward Eubanks and Sons, LLP, name has been synonymous with trucking.

With a fleet of thirty trucks, the Eubanks provide on-time delivery through dependable drivers that can haul what you want, when you want. It all started in 1982, when Woodward Eubanks saw a need to haul rice and soybeans for farmers. “Our father, Woodward Eubanks, didn’t really have a plan,” says Maury, his son. “We started hauling grain to supplement our income from farming and as time moved on trucking seemed to be working better than farming. We hauled rice and soybeans for area farmers. Shortly thereafter, we started renting our farm land out and focused on trucking full-time.” By the mid-‘80s, Eubank’s sons, Maury and Scott, joined the business, named Woodard Eubanks and Sons Trucking Company. Not only were they family, but their employees became family as well. As they grew, the Eubanks noticed their employees were having to take very long lunches because of a lack of places to eat in the

area. So, about five years ago, Ms. Katherine Sanders joined the business as chief cook. “She is also a member of our adopted family,” Eubanks adds. “She cooks breakfast for the office workers and about twenty lunches everyday. Ruleville doesn’t have a lot of places to eat and employees had to travel to eat, which took a long time, so this was a time saver. “We have meat and vegetables, and sometimes we have tacos, hamburgers, a sandwich day, fried fish... she is a really good cook and works hard,” he says. “She is pretty busy.” Maury says they sit down and eat together, which helps with the commoradarie. “It’s a good way to get to know our employees and salesmen. We have company a lot of days,” he adds. “They know what time to get here.” “I could not have found a better work environment,” Ms. Kat says. “I love to cook and I especially like to put a smile on everybody's face that fixes a plate here at the office. Everybody here likes when I cook fish on Friday's, but their favorite is my hamburger steak, mashed potatoes and green beans. And, they really like when I surprise them with a dessert. They love my July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 17

Above, Katherine Sanders, also known as Ms. Kat, provides a delicious breakfast and lunch for the Eubanks staff and the occasional guest. Right, dispatcher Calvin Flemming keeps the truck fleet in order.

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Strawberry Yum-Yum the best. They ask me all the time when I am going to make it again. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach, and I have a good bunch of men to cook for every day.” And like their visitors grew for lunch, so did their business. “We had one truck that we used when we were farming, and then we bought another. Everything grew from there and we started doing commercial work,” Eubanks adds. In 1994, Woodard Eubanks and Sons Trucking Company moved to its current location on Mississippi Hwy 8 East. “We now have thirty trucks and we haul everywhere, but our biggest customer is Quality Steel in Boyle. We have worked for them since the early 2000s, and bought their transportation business in 2004,” Maury says. “We haul all their tanks and we also haul steel out of Cives, and have since 2004. We carry all of their outbound freight. We also haul furniture out of Lazy Boy in Leland.” Woodard Eubanks and Sons Trucking Company also specializes in land forming, which includes dirt hauling, refinishing work and even fishpond formation. The family began this commercial venture sixteen years ago, and has track hoes, GPS equipment and everything needed for professional, accurate and long-standing work. As for Woodward Eubanks, he still comes to work every day. “He understands that we have made a pretty good journey from where we started. We have made some pretty good choices, maybe a few bad, but we have no complaints,” Maury says. “The next step is facing our challenges. We work hard to keep quality drivers, and we will continue that process. As for our customers, and potential customers, we want you to know that we can haul anything, anywhere and get there on your time.” Today, Woodward Eubanks and Sons, LLP trucking is known across country for providing reliable service, dependable drivers and quality customer service relations. With a fleet of more than thirty trucks, Eubanks is recognized for their consistent on-time delivery services and outstanding driver-receiver communication.

July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 19

FARM HEADQUARTERS

DELOACH FARMS

Father-Son Venture in Leflore County By mARk H. StoweRS Photography by Austin Britt

In 1986, Carl Deloach moved from Bolivar County to Leflore County to farm for himself. Cotton, soybeans, rice, corn and wheat were some of the crops that have been cultivated over the years. These days, his son Bubba works the acreage just north of Itta Bena. “He (Carl) was raised on a small family farm and when he left, he got another job in a different industry. Then he managed a farm for a gentleman in Shelby. He left there and we moved to Benoit and my dad worked for Delta Pine,” Bubba Deloach says. “In 1986, he got the opportunity to farm land of his own, and we moved to Greenwood.”

Bubba Deloach

Left, Bubba Deloach with his father, Carl.

Deloach was a student at Delta State, and was ready to join his father on the turnrow. “I’d always loved farming, but my dad always told me he didn’t want me working for somebody else in farming,” Deloach says. “So, in 1986 we got the opportunity to go out on our own in Leflore County, and we’ve been here ever since.” The Deloach’s have farmed a little of everything, but this growing season they have their acres tied up in cotton, soybeans and corn. With three full-time and two part-time workers, Deloach keeps all the acres as productive as possible. One way to do that is to keep the equipment running efficiently as possible through the farm shop. But these days, the technology on farm equipment has begun to limit the work that can be done in the farm shop. “We used to do a lot of our own work, but things have become so technologically advanced that it’s hard for us to even do much anymore,” he says. “You have to have a computer plugged up to the equipment to work on it. However, we can still do the simple daily wear and tear repairs.” Their shop runs 50-feet by 120-feet and has the basics in it to work on equipment. “We have an extensive amount of welding equipment. We also have a tractor shed on the back of the big shop, and a seed house where we store seed and chemical,” he says. “All of these buildings we have built since we started this farm. We built the main shop about fifteen years ago.” “We try to stay lean on labor, and we don’t do a lot of mechanic type work. We do welding, but it’s not a shop that operates like the big farms you see in mid-west farming magazines,” he says. “When equipment was a lot more simple we did everything. We repaired our own combine, but now the machines are so electrical, it’s just not feasible for us to do it anymore.”

22 • Delta Ag Journal • July 2018

Above, the Deloach’s farm shop helps house and protect much of their equipment. Below right, Ollie Nichols, one of the loyal employees for Deloach Farms.

The mix of farm equipment has plenty of brand colors. “We have a little bit of everything. We have John Deere, Case, Lexion combines, some AGCO tractors – we kind of have a Heinz 57 mix. We’re not particularly loyal to any brand. Whatever piece of equipment we have that meets the purpose at the time is what we run,” he says. “What we find that has the best deal on is what we have. We have some high hour equipment. Most of our equipment is around 2010 to 2012 model. Some of it may be a little older than that.” Deloach understands the blessing of a good shop as he keeps his equipment in tip-top shape for planting and harvest. “If something tears up we fix it immediately, we don’t wait,” he says. “I send my combine to Thompson Machinery here that sells Lexion. I have them go through it every year for preventative maintenance.” With a couple thousand acres of soybeans as well as 600 plus acres of corn, the combine gets a good workout. The rest of the acreage is dedicated to cotton though Deloach used to plant quite a bit of rice. “Rice used to be our staple crop. We planted a lot of rice for

years but as we got into more Roundup crops we started having Roundup effects on rice. We’ll plant rice every now and then, but only when the market is good,” he says. “We’re on a rotation program and for the most part, we’ve taken rice out of the rotation and put in corn due to the labor involved and the Roundup issues.” Most of his workforce has been with him for more than fifteen years and they’ve all taken to the new technology. “Most people pick up on it quickly, it’s easy to learn. We do have a self-propelled sprayer that I operate, but the Autosteer is easy to pick up on,” he says. Growing up in Benoit, Deloach spent a lot of time at Lake Whittington skiing and enjoying the water. But these days he’s busy on the farm. He and his wife Kim have three children, who have all spent time helping out on the farm from time to time. Their oldest Taylor is a nurse practitioner in Jackson. Hardin is a medical school student on the island of Grenada, and their youngest son Madison is a professional duck hunting guide in Louisiana, and also works at the family’s business, Deloach Insurance Services. The long-time Mississippi State fans, Bubba and Kim, have the classic split Mississippi family. “Somehow both of my boys are diehard obnoxious Ole Miss fans,” he says with a laugh. “My youngest didn’t go to Ole Miss, but he is a big Manning family fan. The late Bubbla Tollison was our entomologist and he played football with Archie at Ole Miss. He was a member of Fighting Bayou Hunting Club, and they’d invite us over there to hunt. My son and Bubba talked Ole Miss football all the time. Every year the Manning family came down and went hunting and we were invited over and that just made my son much more of a diehard fan.” In his Bulldog best, Deloach continues to work the land his father procured decades back and provide for his Rebel faithful.

July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 23

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July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 25

FARM FAMILIES

PEYTON POTTER Possible future fourth generation “Potter” farmers.

Left, Peyton, Rebecca, Riley, Maddie, Jacob and Thad Potter. Right, Jace, Misty, Greg and Reece Morlino.

Third Generation Farmer

By mARk H. StoweRS • Photography by Roy meeks

Peyton Potter was born into farming in Washington County and he’s the third generation to toil the Delta area acreage that that continues to provide for his family. Growing up on his dad and grandfather’s farm, the forty year-old Potter followed along in the path they made on the turnrow and has done so for twenty-five years. His father and grandfather are both deceased , and now Potter gets to make the decisions but has kept most things the same. “Our farm is on Highway 438 in Arcola with some on the east and some on the west. I enjoy being outside and working outdoors. I don’t know that I would enjoy an office job, but I guess I could if I really

had to,” Potter says. “My father and grandfather were big cotton farmers, but now I farm corn and soybeans,” he adds. And he’s working to bring up the next generation of Potter farmers by giving them tasks to help out. “My oldest son helps me punch poly pipe, and the rest of the family thinks they’re helping me punch poly pipe,” he says with a laugh. His wife, Rebecca, keeps up with the four Potter children—son Riley, thirteen, daughter Maddie, eleven, son Jacob, nine and son Thad, seven. Working the full acreage, Potter has

help from his manager Greg Morlino, and has a blend of farm machinery with no particular brand allegiance. “Since Greg and I are managing 2,500 acres, the most important thing is to have a piece of equipment that runs effectively,” he says. “It doesn’t matter to me what color it is.” Potter really enjoys technology, and handled that side of things when his father was still alive. His acreage is all irrigated, and Potter enjoys the benefits of that technology and keeps up with the metering while counting pennies. This is a different mindset from the past generation.

“During my father and grandfather’s era everything was we want high yields regardless of the cost, now we try to farm by regulating cost, which will hopefully result in a higher profit,” Potter says. His favorite part of farming is being able to work outside, and not being restrained by a cubicle. But the hardest part of farming does require a bit of indoor work dealing with finances. “I prefer the field side of things over dealing with the business side, but I know the business side is a huge part of farming, obviously. My wife did the books for a while, but four children have put a damper on that, so I fell back into the book

position.” Potter says however, that working directly in the field helps any farmer manage his books more effectively. “It’s beneficial because you need to know what’s going on in the field in order to do the books correctly,” he says. The third-generation farmer took classes at Mississippi State and then graduated from Delta State with a General Business degree. But he knows to be successful it is important to rely on a team of experts in their own field. “I’m surrounded by a network of good people, and that helps a lot. An accountant, my seed and chemical rep, and my labor.

Without them, I don’t know what I’d do,” says Potter. Potter has found that with four children there’s not much free time to hunt and fish and pursue other non-farming hobbies. But he has found a family activity they all can partake in. “The kids race motocross,” he says. “We spend our weekends in Louisiana for the most part, my daughter races four-wheelers, and all the boys race dirt bikes.” The Potter family—working hard and playing hard in the Delta dirt.

July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 27

FARM FAMILIES

BILBO FARMS

A Successful Venture Since 1971

By mARk H. StoweRS Photography by Roy meeks

Since 1971, Jerry Locke has been getting his hands dirty on the family farm in Quitman and Panola Counties. He did spend a year in construction after high school before coming home to the turnrow. With his father, Locke farmed cotton, soybean, corn, but this season has filled his acreage with only cotton. “We have had wheat and mix that in when the price is right. But we haven’t had any in the last three or four years because of 28 • Delta Ag Journal • July 2018

the price,” Locke says. “We had a really wet spring, and couldn’t get any corn in, so we just decided to go with cotton this year.” Locke farmed with his brother for a decade before his step-son, David Gibson, bought out the brother. The duo has been farming together for ten years this season. Locke enjoys the farm life especially the freedom he has in what he gets to do. “You are your own boss and you are making your own decisions. There’s no one

telling you what to do,” he says. “It’s all I’ve ever done, and all I know. It was pretty rough for several years, but after we installed irrigation and built our land up, we were able to breathe a little easier.” Bilbo Farms consists of 6,700 acres and even though he’s all in on cotton this year, his favorite crop is corn. “We really like corn, and it’s generally an easy crop. We usually get it in early and get it out early, but this year the price was not

This year Locke has his entire farm planted in cotton.

there and that combined with a wet spring made us realize a corn crop would not have been as profitable. Cotton price was up and we own fifty percent interest in a gin so it makes sense for us to farm cotton,” he says. Our gin is the old Yocona Gin which is now the Tri-County Gin. Last year we ginned nearly 50,000 bales, and that’s by far the most that gin has ever produced. We’ve completely rebuilt it. Before, it wasn’t capable of handling that amount of cotton.

This year it’s going to be even better as we’ve done even more work on it. Cotton is coming back in a big way in this area for many of our customers,” says Locke. “We’ve have an employee that completely handles the gin and we take care of the farming end of things,” he says. “The gin receives mostly round bales, but we have a few farmers who still use the conventional modules. You can take one driver and one picker to do what would take five or six workers in the past. There was a lot of labor involved that’s now effectively handled by two people.” When he’s not out on the turnrow working the cotton field, Locke can be found on his land looking for both fish and other hunted wildlife. “My stepson and I love to hunt. We deer hunt during the winter and we normally don’t do as much fishing because we don’t have much time in the summer, but with the rain this spring we’ve been fishing around Enid and around home.” “We are fortunate to have some pretty good places to hunt,” he says. “And I also have a ten-acre pond behind my house. I keep it stocked with bream and bass and have recently stocked it with crappie, but it will be two or three more years before we

can harvest them.” Potter says he has spent time on Grenada Lake chasing the monster crappie that flourish there and has caught a few, but nothing to really brag about. As far as the forecast for the crop on Bilbo Farms, Locke notes that this year he got a pretty good start, and was able to plant all of his cotton within a week. He feels that due to the timely planting and adequate rain, his crops are in pretty good shape. Last year his cotton yield averaged about 1,250 pounds per acre on the 4,000-acres he planted. This yield was down from the year before, but having more acreage helped in the grand scheme of things. “From what I hear from our neighbors, our yield was probably better than most, but just wasn’t a great cotton year. We are hoping for a better result this year. We have the capability and the land to get up to that 1,50-pounds per acre range, and last year we had some cotton that did that in spots. The price is up, and we have hopes that cotton will be king on Bilbo Farms.” For forty-seven years, Locke has put his hope and hard work into cotton and he has no plans to change that anytime soon. July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 29

THE

BLANCHARD HARRIS FARM Home to history and horticultural advancements

By Aimee Robinette

he Blanchard-Harris farm, located in western Bolivar County, offers an authentic glimpse back in time. The land, which has been called the most fertile and diverse in the area, is also home to several Indian mounds, constructed sometime between 500-1,500 A.D.

The property includes a bogue, which was once navigable and Native Americans could draw water from it, making it a prime spot to inhabit. The land is set back from the Mississippi River a few miles, because at that time, there was no levee structure like there is today. The natives understood the power of the river and her desire to sometimes overflow the banks. Fast forward several hundred years later when Bolivar County native, Nancy Armstrong, an avid photographer, drove out to the area, looking for interesting material to capture. She saw the house, which was in a major state of disrepair, and suddenly felt drawn to the home, the family cemetery, the history, and the land. The property is now owned by The 30 • Delta Ag Journal • July 2018

Archaeological Conservancy, which is a nonprofit Indian Mound Preservation Society. The society purchased the property to keep the Indian Mounds intact, but had little ability to maintain the home. “I was able to secure a long-term lease, and set out to make renovations,” Armstrong explains. Her love of history and the home led her to conduct an interview with Frances “Fannie” Chance Blanchard, who grew up on the property with her siblings. The early story of the Blanchard house is of two Blanchard brothers, sometime after the end of the Civil War. The Blanchard brothers were very close, and chose to come up to the Delta from Louisiana together. The area was mostly swampland. Of course, they had to clear the land themselves. One brother took the land by Lake Porter a few miles away, and the other chose the land with the Indian Mounds. Both brothers began tilling the soil and producing bumper crops. Fannie said her grandfather, Ulysses M. Blanchard, used to take his cotton crops to New Orleans to be sold. He also built the initial house, which was constructed between 1840-1860.

Above, the Blanchard-Harris house, east of Gunnison, dates to before the Civil War. Right, the family cemetery.

New Orleans was the place to go for not only agricultural needs, but Blanchard also wrote his cotton agent to “please find a strong wife for me.” He arranged a meeting with a young woman, Alice Rebecca Trimble, who became Blanchard’s wife. They had one girl named Isabelle Blanchard, and Fannie’s father, John Augustus, better known as Gus. Isabelle and her father died within a week of each other of whooping cough. Alice, knowing the magnitude of running such a large farm, wrote to her family in New Orleans to come help. Even though

July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 31

Above, one of the old tennant houses located behind the main house. Above right, one of several Indian mounds located around the house. Right center and below, interior photos of the house.

the property was running like a well-oiled machine, her relatives chose to stay on which is why there are so many people buried in the family cemetery from New Orleans. Alice and Ulysses’s surviving son, Gus and his wife, Laura had four children: Laurie Alice, born 1915; Gus Jr., born 1916; and Fannie Chance in 1923. When the Great Depression hit the country, the family had several tragedies of their own. A cotton gin burned, a Edward and Sally Blanchard large barn exploded from Edward and Maggie Harris, who in the combustion and Laura gave birth to a son 1930s, migrated up to Gunnison from the only six months into her pregnancy, which Gulf coast. The couple was looking for led their son, Bill, to have severe disabilities. farmland and bought the Blanchard Fannie was not certain when, but her property. father Gus lost the farm at some point. “They farmed cotton and rice mostly,” Laura, however, owned a large home in Suzanne says. Shelby, so the family located there. Edward Harris, however, was something It was during this time the Harris family of an autodidact horticulturist that went entered the picture. beyond his crops. Suzanne Harris is the granddaughter of

32 • Delta Ag Journal • July 2018

“My grandfather was very prolific in grafting trees,” she says. “He started the Harris Super Pecan. He grafted those pecan trees, and had around 200 trees at one time. There are many ways to graft, but his was to cut limbs off one tree and wrap it with a limb from another tree. That’s the way he grafted. Once that grows out into something new, with sprouts on its own limb, you plant it. “As for the Harris Super Pecan, he patented it,” she explains. There was an article written in the 1960s in an Ag publication about the pecan trees and his discovery of them. He did all of the grafting just to see if it would grow. He loved the idea of creating something new and different.” Grandfather Harris was prone to try and create anything that would grow in the ground, including fruit. “He created this nasty-tasting thing, which was a cross between a persimmon

Above, Roger Fisher from Seattle, WA stands in front of the F. B. Keeler grave, the centerpiece in the Blanchard Cemetery. Fisher is the founding member and guitarist of the famous rock band, Heart. Keeler owned a large plantation next to the Blanchard property and many other local plantation owners that are unrelated to the Blanchard family are also buried in the family cemetery.

PHOTO BY MATTHEW WOOD

and pomegranate,” she says. “Grandmother Harris was the row crop gardener. She had vegetables and she was success in her growing. In addition to pecans, grandfather also discovered new muscadines. His ultimate goal was to grow a seedless muscadine. Harris said her grandparents were miserly, having grown up in the Depression era, and they lived that way forever. They lived off the land, and believed if one took care of the land, the land would take care of them. In face, Harris even tried his hand at catfish farming, long before it caught on around the Delta. “Before catfish farming became big, they had four huge stocked ponds,” she says. “They had catfish, bass and bullfrogs. After my father, Edward Kenneth Harris, drowned in 1969 in the Mississippi River, my grandfather filled them in and made more farmland. A few years later catfish farming took off in the Mississippi Delta.” Following the death of her father, Grandfather Harris decided to lease the land. He died in the 1980s, and an era ended. As for Suzanne Harris, she has gone back to her family roots in the form of farming grass-fed beef in east Texas. “If you look on one side or the other of my family, both sides farm,” she says. “But as for the Harris farm, it has some of the most prolific soil anywhere in the world. That’s why it did so well with rice and cotton. Father was a work horse, and when he died, my grandfather worked the land until he became sick. There is amazing soil on that land and my father and grandfather both loved that farm.” The future is bright for the BlanchardHarris plantation thanks to the vision of Nancy Armstrong. She is working with the Historic Trust in Jackson, the Mississippi Department of History and Antiquities, and the Secretary of Interiors to have the property declared a historic landmark and also have the home placed on the National Historic Registry. Armstrong plans to obtain funding to bring the pecan orchard back to its previous glory in order to have the plantation working again to support itself.

Robyn and Weejy Rogers’ wedding held on the grounds.

Suzanne Harris

July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 33

34 • Delta Ag Journal • July 2018

July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 35

Aaaa

MISSISSIPPI

RIVER PORTS KEY TO THE DELTAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S FARMING ECONOMY

By mARk H. StoweRS Photography by Rory Doyle The mighty Mississippi River is front and center when Tom Sawyer tales are told by Mark Twain. And people enjoy its scenic beauty when crossing majestic bridges and anchoring for playtime and fishing on its bountiful sandbars. But the wide, deep and muddy water is a large part of the Delta economy and serves as a highway for all sorts of ag products. The Port of Rosedale, the Port of Greenville, the Port of Yazoo and the Port of Vicksburg all serve the Delta area both bringing in needed products and shipping out valuable harvests. Overall, there are sixteen ports that serve three different water systems across the 38 • Delta Ag Journal • July 2018

state. They provide nearly 126,000 jobs with $5.4 billion in income and nearly $17 billion in gross state product each year. Ports and Waterways Director, Robby Burt, explains more about the state’s ports importance. “The ports provide one out of every ten jobs in the state and makes up sixteen percent of the state’s economy,” Burt says. “Of the eighty-two Mississippi counties, sixty-seven are home to at least one industry that is dependent on the port. The ports are not only about the water, but also provide multi-modal connections through railroad, highway and other water ways. As the ports flow, so does the Mississippi and especially the agriculture economy.” The Port of Rosedale serves as the

northernmost Mississippi Port at river mile 585 in Bolivar County. Robert Maxwell is the port director and notes the partnership with the ag industry benefits everyone. “Ag is extremely important to the Port of Rosedale and vice versa,” Maxwell says. “There are three private grain elevators, two fertilizer terminals, and of course a public terminal where we can handle grain and various other commodities. We’re primarily an ag port. There’s only a handful of businesses here that aren’t related to ag.” The agricultural influence has grown so much so that Maxwell notes one business put in a seven or eight-million-dollar expansion to increase their output and supply. More than 1,700 jobs both direct and

indirect have been created by the Port and the Rosedale Industrial Park. It serves Bolivar, Sunflower, Coahoma, Washington, Leflore, Grenada and Tallahatchie Counties and has three main commodities: food and farm products, chemicals and crude materials. There were over 1.21 million total tons of wheat, corn, rice, sorghum and soybeans recorded going out in 2016 according to the navigationdatacenter.us website. There were 194,000 tons of chemicals which was mostly fertilizer. Wood, forest products, stone, clay and nonmetallic minerals made up 83,000 tons according to 2011 statistics from the state’s statistics for each port. Some of the key tenants at the Port of Rosedale include Jantran, a barge, towing and fleeting company with 275 employees. Other key tennants include Cives Steel, Gavilon Grain, and Bunge. The Port of Greenville, located at river mile 537 on Lake Ferguson in Washington County has a market area covering Washington, Bolivar, Sunflower, Humphries, Montgomery, Carroll, and Leflore Counties. Tommy Hart serves as the port director and summed up quickly the

Burt

Maxwell

Hart

Morrison

importance of each port. “All grain has to go to water,” Hart says. “All of the ports are very important, especially Vicksburg, Greenville and Rosedale.” The eleventh year port director notes the port is always busy with agriculture and other business. “We’re big in scrap steel – as a matter of fact we’re the eleventh largest inland river port in the country in total tonnage. All of the agricultural chemicals arrive in this area by water. The port serves as the distribution center for all of those chemicals.” All of the diesel fuel used in the state is also shipped by water according to Hart. The ports have a full circle of life, so to speak, as grain seed is brought in, delivered, and at harvest the grain goes back to the river to be shipped to processing facilities. “Certain smaller amounts of products like cotton seed are not as large as they once were. A majority of all bigger products go through the big grain operations. That’s primarily soybeans and corn. We bring everything in to grow it, and then turn around and ship it back out to sell it,” says Hart. In addition to diesel, propane is shipped in as well. The main reason products go in and out of

each port is the cost to ship and the large amount that can be loaded. “Each barge holds 1,700 to 2,200 tons,” Hart says. “That’s sixty to seventy 18-wheel trucks that represent each barge. It’s the most efficient mode of transportation there is.” Like most ports, Greenville offers plenty of ways to get products out after arrival or getting to the port. “It’s a fully multi-modal transfer hub. We do more than just put things on water,” he says. “There are nineteen terminals in the port and twenty-six different businesses that operate facilities here.” The port is open twenty-four hours a day, but mostly is busy during normal daytime hours. “Volume goes up tremendously during harvest,” he says. Over 4,000 farmers over a three-state area do business with this port. We have geographic advantages because of the bridge.” The Port of Yazoo is at mile post seventy-five on the river and serves Issaquena, Sharkey, Yazoo and Warren Counties. Engineer Wayne Morrison gave a little history of the port. “The Yazoo Port was built in 1968 and has a solid load out dock and liquid load out dock,” Morrison says. “We primarily ship fertilizer through CF Industries, the old Mississippi Chemical. It’s a small port, but we have our place.” Petroleum products make up nearly sixty percent of the tonnage. Lime, steel, cement and iron products come through the port in addition to gravel, wood and limestone. CF Industries is the main employer in Yazoo that deals with dry and liquid fertilizers as July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 39

well as urea, ammonia and exhaust fluids. The Port of Vicksburg is part of a designated Foreign Trade Zone and is near the intersection of the Yazoo and Mississippi Rivers at river mile 436. With direct access from Highway 61 and located just twelve miles from I-20, the port is easily accessible. The port has the only railroad crossing on the Mississippi River and handles 14 million tons of freight each year. Port facilities in Vicksburg include a Tdock, warehouse space, open bulk and hard surface loading area, giving them the capability for direct barge loading and palletized load handling. In 2004, the Port of Vicksburg was ranked eleventh in the nation among Inland Ports based on trip ton miles. More than 165,000 trucks come through annually and the tonnage that comes through in both import and export is between 800,000 and 900,000 tons. More than 1,200 people work in and around the port. Pablo Diaz is the executive director of the Vicksburg port commission. The port has petroleum products that make up over half of the tonnage there. Crude petroleum and distillate fuels as well as lube oil and grease are the main products, according to state statistics. Wood, stone, sand and gravel make up 311,000 tons while lime, cement, iron and steel products had 383,000 tons. Food and farm products (mostly corn and soybeans) were at 183,000 tons. Chemical products also come through the Vicksburg port with nearly 3.6 million tons. Services at the port include all-weather loading and unloading as well as barge cleaning and refurbishing. The port has port expansions planned with 1,000 acres designated for industrial development, specifically port associated businesses. The port has been operated and owned by Warren County and the Warren County Port Commission since 1968. The Vicksburg port serves Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Tennessee and on the international front, South American companies ship pig iron to the Port of Vicksburg. All of the Mississippi River ports play a vital role in the overall economy in the state, specifically benefitting our agricultural industry.

40 â&#x20AC;˘ Delta Ag Journal â&#x20AC;˘ July 2018

July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 41

TRADING PLACES

From South Africa to the Mississippi Delta

By AngelA RogAlSki â&#x20AC;˘ Photography by Austin Britt

atching South African workers who need employment with farmers in the United States is a process that has become beneficial for all involved. Most times the South African people who come to America for farm labor work are looking to make money to send back to their families in South Africa, while American farmers are excited for

the, quite often, already skilled farmhands. Several Delta area farmers use this system, one being Rizzo Farms in Cleveland. Phillip Rizzo is happy to have three South African workers in its employment. Quinton Van Eeden from Brits, Northwest, South Africa, John Retief from Gauteng, Meyerton, South Africa, and Johan Froehlich from Pearston, Eastern Cape, South

From left, Quinton Van Eeden, Johan Froehlich and John Retief

John Retief from Gauteng Meyerton, South Africa

Africa arrived in the States through an agency in their native country, Ag Replacements, that matches South African workers with farm families in the United States for American employers. The three young men had heard through mutual friends in South Africa who had done this before that the experience and opportunities were great. They arrived in the U.S. on April 12 and will be here until the first week of November. “When we arrived here in Cleveland, the Rizzos provided us with a house to live in, a vehicle to drive, cell phones; he pays all of our utilities, provides us with lunch while we are working, Wi-Fi at our home, gas for our vehicles, cable television, and healthcare services if we get sick,” John Retief says. “They also bought us three brand new recliners for our home and when we got here, our home was completely stocked with groceries. Then when we wanted a few things not here, he took us to the store and bought us what we needed until we got our 44 • Delta Ag Journal • July 2018

first paycheck. It was more than we could have asked. Mr. Rizzo and his family, Mrs. Romona, Paul and Phil, are very gracious." The three young men had never met before arriving in America. They each left South Africa and met when they landed in Atlanta at the airport. Then they flew to Memphis and met Phillip and Paul at the airport. The native language for all three men is Afrikaan, with English their second language and they are followers of the Christian faith. Crops grown in South Africa are a bit different from Mississippi Delta staples: there is no rice at all, some beans and corn, but those are big farmers with lots of money, no milo, and cotton is grown, but very little, and all is done with manual labor. Quinton Van Eeden is twenty-seven years old and left behind a wife and fouryear old son to come to America along with his parents. He was supposed to come with a group last year, but his appendix burst and

he was unable to make the trip. In South Africa he was a carpenter with some experience on a vegetable farm. “I was the supervisor on the vegetable farm I worked on,” Van Eeden says. "Believe it or not, there is a lot more labor involved in growing vegetables than it is in the crops you grow here in America." He notes some of the differences when it comes to farming Delta land versus farms in South Africa: “When you work on a vegetable farm in South Africa, you have more day-to-day chores to do. You can’t say we need to do this and wait two or three days. You have to tend to your vegetables every day. Another difference is the equipment. Tractors here are big and we use mostly manual labor back home. America is so much better. Some of the bigger farmers in South Africa have big tractors, but nothing like here in America. No GPS in the tractors or air conditioning.” Van Eeden has learned many new things

Johan Froehlich from Pearston, Eastern Cape, South Africa

while in the Delta, things that he’s very happy to now know how to do. “I have learned to drive the big tractors, lay poly pipe, plant the crops, water, and cultivate. We did not know how to do anything when we arrived. Mr. Rizzo and his sons Paul and Phil have taught us everything we know.” He adds that life in the Delta is a bit different from what he’s used to. “First thing we noticed is guys in America do not wear the short shorts. The ladies do, but not the men. Also the bugs. The mosquitos are everywhere. Another difference is the cooking and the houses. In South Africa the homes are close together and each house has a fence.” And while he’s enjoying his time in America working for the Rizzo’s and learning new things, he says the toughest thing about all of it is, “Missing my wife and son and knowing they are doing okay back home.” Van Eeden gets his weekly check and cashes it, keeping a small amount to live on each week until the next paycheck and sending the rest home to his wife and child. “That is the reason I am here in America. To be able to take care of my family. One U.S. dollar is equal to $13.50 in South Africa. So, that is why I leave my wife and child to come to make money to take care of them.” John Retief’s story is a bit different from Van Eeden’s. Retief is twenty-five years old and single. He wants to take the financial opportunities and maybe one day start his

own farm back in South Africa. Retief was a welder and jack-of-all-trades in his country. He grew up on a cattle farm and taught himself everything he needed to know to make a living. “This type of farming is very different from cattle farming,” Retief says. “It is not as busy. You do a lot of waiting in American farming that you can't do in livestock farming.” And the differences in farming styles aren’t the only ones he has experienced. “Since we have been here we noticed that people have natural gas supplied to their homes. We do not have that in South Africa. And we are having to adjust to the fast food lifestyle. There is one on every corner just about. At home we have home cooked meals. That is one of the things I miss the most. Also the mosquitos are really bad. It takes a while to get used to. South Africa and America both have beautiful women. We don’t get a lot of chances to go out and admire all the beautiful women, but we have seen them around. One of the biggest differences here is people age differently. Mr. Rizzo, looks like he is about forty-eight to fifty years-old. People in America really take a long time to grow oldlooking.” Retief left behind two sisters, a nephew, mother and father and many loyal friends to come to America. “I left them behind to secure my future and to find a way to provide for myself and my family. There is no opportunity in South Africa like here in America. I am single, but I do send some money home each week so my mom can

take care of some bills I have there. I have a car and she uses the money I send home to pay my car payment. I also have life insurance and my mom makes sure that gets paid every month. Sometimes my parents might need some money and I am happy to be able to help them.” Johan Froehlich, better known as “Joe,” is the baby of the three at just twenty years old. Van Eeden and Retief pick on him and say he is their designated driver here in America. Froehlich grew up and worked on the family livestock farm back in South Africa. “It is funny, Americans in this area are not real big on livestock. The only cows I have seen have been on the levee when we go to the Rizzo’s. We could really teach people in this area a thing or two about raising livestock, because there is so much wasted ground and grass around. Everyone eats meat and it could be another form of income to the people in this area.” He says that being outside after dark is something that just isn’t done where he comes from in his native country. “Back in my part of South Africa, you do not go outside after 6 p.m. or you fear for your life. Dark is a time to be inside and safe. So, being outside all of these late hours in America is a little different for me.” Froehlich left behind a mother and father, a brother, and a few girlfriends he chuckles about. He keeps his weekly checks because he’s single and doesn’t have anyone back home to support. “I want to keep my money and save it so one day I can buy exotic animals and invite July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 45

Quinton with his wife Elisma and son Righardt from Brits, Northwest, South Africa

people to come pay me to shoot them. I also want to breed them. Like you Americans come to South Africa on big-money paid hunts, I want Americans to come to my place, so I am saving my money for that dream.” As far as whether they’ll come back to America again to work after they return home in November, Froehlich and Retief say they will most definitely return and hope to come back to the Rizzo’s to work. Van Eeden wasn’t so sure, “I do not know if I can leave my wife and child again for this long. Maybe if they can come and visit me once in a while, I will return. I am going to start that process when I return home in November getting it set up for her to come next season.” All three agree that the experiences they have learned in the Delta will help them when they return home. “We can show our families and farmer friends what we have learned and it will help us get better jobs at home until we can return again to work here in America.”

46 • Delta Ag Journal • July 2018

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July 2018 â&#x20AC;˘ Delta Ag Journal â&#x20AC;˘ 47

SUNFLOWER PLANTATION

“NEW DEAL” farming during the Roosevelt Depression years

By HAnk BuRDine

48 • Delta Ag Journal • July 2018

Workers returning home after cotton picking, Sunflower Plantation 1939. Library of Congress/Marion Wolcott

n the early 1900s, much of Tallahatchie, Quitman, Bolivar and Sunflower counties was still virgin bottomland, hardwood forest.

Barn and mule shed on Sunflower Plantation 1936. Library of Congress/Carl Mydans

A large tract of timbered land, about seven thousand acres, was bought in 1896 by the Taylor and Crate Lumber Company of Buffalo, New York from the Delta & Pine Land Company. This parcel of fertile timbered land was nestled within a half-circle meander of the Sunflower River, east of Merigold on the bank of the river. With a bandsaw mill on the west bank of the Sunflower River, oak, ash, cypress and gum lumber was taken by mule-drawn wagon over a wooden tram road to Merigold where it was loaded on railcars and shipped to markets all over the country.

One of two churches are still in existence on the land that was once known as Sunflower Plantation.

July 2018 â&#x20AC;˘ Delta Ag Journal â&#x20AC;˘ 49

Workers gather to weigh cotton on Sunflower Plantation. Library of Congress

Apart from some timber operations, where the land was left to go back to the state for unpaid taxes after the timber was cut, when the timber was cleared on Sunflower Plantation, the rich and fertile land was cleared of debris and stumps and farmed. A dynamite crew came in and for five dollars an acre cleared the land and made it suitable for the plow. This was prime cotton ground, and it wasn’t long before tenant houses were being built on twenty-acre tracts and farming of the rich dirt began. Prevalent during that time was the sharecropping system of farm management. The owner of the land would enter an agreement with tenant farmers to supply the labor to plant, till and pick a crop of cotton. Plantation owners in return supplied a house, garden spot, a mule and all equipment and seed to farm the land. Credit was given at the centrally located plantation commissary where all necessary items were available and charged to the individual tenant. At the end of the year on settlement day, the amount of cotton produced was taken into account and the books balanced and charged to the tenant’s share. What was left over, based on the percentage share, went to the tenant. In 50 • Delta Ag Journal • July 2018

good years, the tenant could clear between $250- $500. If a family owned their own mule and equipment, then the profit was substantially more. Sunflower Plantation was a model farm and by 1936 had 115 families living on it. In the middle of the Sunflower Plantation sat the “Big House” where plantation manager George Bailey and his wife lived. He oversaw the original harvesting of the timber, clearing of the land and subsequent farming operation. Bailey was an adept operator and highly respected for his business acumen and copied for his farming techniques. At the heart of the Sunflower Plantation, close to the commissary, doctor’s office and one room schoolhouse, a huge gambrel-roofed hay barn was built. The large hay barn was next to a mule barn that accommodated 135 mules and was equipped with overhead electric feed and litter conveyors. A large pecan orchard was planted nearby that hosted eight hundred pecan trees. By 1937, the Great Depression was in full swing, and as part of President Roosevelt’s “New Deal,” 149 different “farm experiments” were set up in different parts of

the country to help bring the rural South out of the depths of the Depression. Some of the programs were purely socialistic endeavors, while others were a cooperative venture, and some, Sunflower Plantation included, were entrepreneurial in nature. Sunflower Plantation had been bought by the federal government as part of the Farm Security Administration program to break families out of the tenant sharecropping system and give them the opportunity to own their own land. The twenty-acre tracts of land with tenant houses originally laid out were combined back into the 4,600 acres bought, and the houses were eventually torn down and the land subdivided into forty-acre tracts. Those families that qualified during the resettlement years were able to enter into a forty-year contract to buy forty acres, which included a new house, barn, pitcher-pump shallow-water well, chicken house and yard, smoke house and pasture. Outside toilets were built and kerosene lamps used for lights. The original cost for the forty acres and all appurtenances was $5,500-$6,500 per parcel with annual payments ranging from $250$350 at three percent interest. The old commissary was remodeled to

Presidential Tree A large Ginko tree on the land east of Merigold known as Sunflower Plantation. The tree was given to the headquarters of the plantation by President Teddy Roosevelt after his visit to the plantation while on a bear hunting trip in Mississippi. President Roosevelt sent two trees to express his gratitude for the hospitality he was shown during his stay at the Big House. One of the trees died, the other (above) still stands.

Above, the Sunflower Plantation Store, Library, Doctor's Office & County Nurse's Office. Library of Congress/Russell Lee. Below, Fair L. Little and his son, Fay, picking cotton on Sunflower Plantation in October 1939. This photo was taken by Mario Post Wolcott, a noted American photographer who worked for the Farm Security Administration program during the Great Depression documenting poverty and deprivation. Library of Congress.

52 â&#x20AC;˘ Delta Ag Journal â&#x20AC;˘ July 2018

house the FSA office and also the government engineering office that surveyed the land and decided where the houses were to be built. A small library was built next to the doctor’s office. A deep and large artesian water well was dug to provide potable water to the families that lived on Sunflower Plantation. The water well and commissary were general meeting and gathering places late in the afternoon and especially on Saturday. Big July 4th parties were held with top name radio stars like Roy Acuff, Buck Turner and Billie Walker coming to play. By 1941, approximately one hundred families lived on Sunflower Plantation. The remaining acreage of woods was divided into twenty-acre tracts and rented out to Sunflower Plantation farmers for five years rent free if they cleared the land. At the end of the five years that cleared land could be bought by Sunflower Plantation residents only for between $5-$20 per acre. The government formed a non-profit co-op in the 1940s to supply seed, fertilizer, tools and farm implements. This co-op also owned three tractors and discs that could be rented out on an as needed basis. However, by the late ‘40s, change was in the wind as tractors replaced the mule on forty-acre tracts. The big mule barn was torn down for lack of occupancy, and the lumber was stored in the big hay barn. Eventually the big barn was sold and subsequently burned to the ground while being taken apart. The cotton gin also burned. And the commissary would change hands several times. The big house, which stood as the government headquarters, was eventually torn down. What remains today of a once bustling Southern plantation that had been divided up in a successful government experiment are acres and acres of flat soybean and corn fields along the fertile banks of the Sunflower River. The days of forty acres and a mule are long gone, but many memories remain in the descendants of the numerous families that lived and prospered on Sunflower Plantation. Emmett Morris is one such descendant. Morris grew up on Sunflower Plantation and has very fond memories of the childhood he experienced there. “It was tough, but we had a good life,” Morris says. “We were raised there farming cotton, corn and soybeans. We made a living on 60 acres of land that my dad and mother bought in 1942. I was less than a year old when we moved there. It was a hard life, but as I said, it was a good life. We didn’t have to worry about locking our doors at night; we were all raised to go to church and to try and do what was right. We’d have an evening off every once and a while where we could go to Sunflower River and go swimming.” Every two years in early June, Sunflower Plantation residents and descendants hold a reunion where everyone gathers to reminisce and catch up with each other. Morris attended the one recently held on June 2 at Bethany Baptist Church, which is located on the Plantation. “We had a very large crowd at this reunion,” Morris says. “We had two people there, Jack Haynes, who is a World War II veteran and was recognized, and was the main focus of the reunion, and Maxine Shepherd, she was raised on Sunflower Plantation too. They were two of the original people from there. The reunion was good, but it was an emotional experience, because there were some who are no longer with us, but came two years ago.” Dr. Jeff Andrews also remembers growing up on Sunflower Plantation, and compares it somewhat to the town of Mayberry

Plow being repaired. Library of Congress/Carl Mydans

Tenant farmer and family sitting in front of fireplace of old home, 1939. Library of Congress/Russell Lee

Cotton gin and warehouse. Library of Congress/Russell Lee

July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 53

Above, Marion Wolcott took this photo of workers returning to their home after a day of pickng cotton. Below, new home, project barn and chicken house on Sunflower Plantation. Library of Congress/Marion Wolcott, Nov. 1939.

54 â&#x20AC;˘ Delta Ag Journal â&#x20AC;˘ July 2018

Workers on Sunflower Plantation received a small home and a barn. The only remaining barn that still stands today on the land known as Sunflower Plantation belongs to the Bruckner family.

depicted on “The Andy Griffith Show.” It was that type of close-knit, everybody-kneweverybody environment. “My dad was raised on Sunflower Plantation as a child,” Andrews says. “In 1974, we moved from Cleveland back there, because my dad had his family farm on the Plantation, a couple hundred acres, and he bought a house right next to where he grew up. I was around 11-years-old when we moved there from Cleveland. It was a community where you knew everyone; you didn’t have to lock your doors or even lock anything up at night. It was a close-knit community, a bit like you imagined Mayberry might be.” Menee and Jim Harthcock live on Sunflower Plantation today, and Jim Harthcock is a direct descendant of one of the original residents. “My husband’s great-grandparents had a huge chicken farm there and it’s where his grandfather grew up,” Menee Harthcock says. “My husband’s grandfather was Charles Hannah and we live in the Hannah house now. It’s one of the original houses. Of course, the area has changed so much since those early communal days, but the legacy continues with family descendants.” Harthcock says her husband attended the reunion this year with their children, keeping that family history alive through the generations. “Our children are 9 and 13, and the history of the huge, self-sufficient farm of sharecroppers is amazing.” For more information on Sunflower Plantation, visit sunflowerplantation.org

July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 55

andy gipson

State Commissioner of Agriculture moves mississippi into the Future By Aimee RoBinette • Photography by greg Campbell Andy Gipson was sworn in as Mississippi’s eighth Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce on April 2, after Governor Phil Bryant appointed him to the position to complete the term of former Commissioner Cindy Hyde-Smith, who was also appointed to fill a vacant seat, that of former U.S. Senator Thad Cochran. “The Governor called me in late March and offered the appointment as Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner based on my qualifications and legislative track record, and after praying and thinking about it with my family, I felt led to accept the appointment. I was so honored to be considered to serve in this role,” Gipson says. The commissioner has a long history in agriculture, beginning when he was a child, being born and raised on a small farm in rural Rankin County. The life suited him. “I graduated from Brandon High School in 1995, and in the summer between high school and college, I built a cabin on our family farm in Simpson County where I lived during my college and law school education. During that time, I began a cow/calf operation which continues today,” he says. “My wife, Leslie, and I were married in 2001, and in 2004, we were able to purchase our own farm in Simpson County where we continue to raise commercial cattle, trees, as well as our four children, Joseph, thirteen, Benjamin, twelve, Abigail, nine, and Sarah, six. We are grateful to live and work on the farm, and we have no plans to move until we move to heaven.”

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A graduate of Mississippi College, where he majored in Christian Studies and Political Science, and MC School of Law, where he was a summa cum laude graduate, Gipson had spent nearly twelve years serving as State Representative in the Mississippi Legislature representing District 77, Rankin, Simpson, and Smith Counties. “During that time, I served on the Agriculture, Ways and Means, and Appropriations Committees among many others. For the past seven years I served as Chairman of the House Judiciary B Committee and the House Ethics Committee. During this time, I had the opportunity to lead on many issues affecting Mississippi agriculture, such as passing a version of the Landowner Protection Act through our committee in 2016,” he explains. “Throughout my years in the legislature, I fought many battles to help protect the rights of Mississippi farmers and ranchers on issues such as eminent domain, landowner rights, fewer regulations, and lower taxes.” In 2012, and again in 2018, Gipson was named Conservative Legislator of the Year for his work on pro-life and Second Amendment issues. “In 2013, I received the NRA’s highest award, the Defender of Freedom Award, and the Central MS Friends of NRA’s Kirk Fordice Freedom Award,” he adds. “As a practicing business attorney for over fifteen years, I also represented and advised many Mississippi businesses in company

Above, Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson on the grounds of the Mississippi Ag Museum in Jackson.

formation, capital raise transactions and mergers and acquisitions. In 2010, I surrendered to the ministry and for over seven years have served as bi-vocational pastor of a small church, Gum Springs Baptist Church, Braxton, Mississippi where I still have the joy to preach every Sunday morning. My No. 1 job, whether on the farm or in these various roles, is to represent my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He gets all the glory for any work I have accomplished.” Gipson has set immediate goals in his new role as commissioner, one being to experience every aspect of the Mississippi agriculture industry. “My family and I are very eager to help July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 57

Commissioner Gipson with staff members of the Mississippi Ag Museum, from left, Fred Temple, Director of Maintenance; Theresa Love, Deputy Director; Comm. Andy Gipson and Arron Rogers, Executive Director

build upon the strong foundation of Mississippi agriculture, and we are actively exploring ways to further strengthen agriculture as the largest industry of our State. We want to see Mississippi agriculture and commerce grow and thrive for the next generation, including our four children, and we will work hard to reach that goal,” he says. “To learn as much as possible, we are planning a statewide Farm Listening Tour which is being planned for June through August of this year. There will probably be additional stops during the harvest season this fall, as well. “I want to get to know those across the industry during this tour with the goal of learning what the immediate issues are and how the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce and I can help address those issues. Bottom line: I want to get to know our farmers in each sector of agriculture and their issues, challenges, and opportunities, so I can serve most effectively,” he adds. “Another immediate goal is hiring a new executive director for the Mississippi State Fairgrounds. The Mississippi State Fairgrounds is one of the largest economic drivers in the Jackson metro area, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year from all across Mississippi and throughout the country.” Gipson says over the next eighteen 58 • Delta Ag Journal • July 2018

months, they will be overseeing the construction of the new Mississippi Trade Mart on the Fairgrounds. This investment will generate more economic activity for the state as it will attract new types of events and shows, increasing our national and regional exposure, according to Gipson. The commissioner has also set overall goals to accomplish during his tenure. “My overall goal is to help plant and tend the seeds of opportunity for farmers and ranchers in Mississippi. I want to see this industry flourish even more. One of my goals is to continue efforts to expand the domestic and international markets for our farmers, ranchers, and agribusinesses. In the near future, MDAC will be launching a new state branding program that will promote the wide variety of products that are grown and made right here in Mississippi,” Gipson says. “With ninety-five percent of the world’s consumers living outside of the U.S., it is imperative that we work to create markets for our products outside of our borders. “I had the opportunity to travel to India while serving in the Legislature, and I look forward to exploring this and other international markets. With the Mississippi Development Authority, just this month we co-hosted a trade delegation from the Republic of India to our state,” he adds.

“India is the world’s largest democracy and has the fastest growing population in the world. Together we are exploring many new and exciting opportunities for agricultural trade with this nation and others.” While setting and meeting goals, Gipson will also remain conscious of farmer and producer needs. “Farmers face a number of challenges that they have no control over, such as weather, commodity prices, and rising input costs. As Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, I am committed to assisting our farmers as much as I can when it comes to matters that we can control. Agriculture is the largest industry in Mississippi, which contributed over $7.5 billion to the state’s economy in farm gate value alone last year,” he says. “Over-burdensome regulations can often cause economic uncertainty for our growers and agribusinesses. It is imperative that we protect our agriculture industry through reasonable, science-based policies. “In my role as president of the Southern Association of State Departments of Agriculture and service on the Board of Directors for the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, I look forward to working with Commissioners and Secretaries from other states to roll back unnecessary and burdensome regulations,” he adds.

July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 59

iron mules

Some Collected and Some Still in use By mARk H. StoweRS

David Thornton has kept much of the equipment from his familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s former farming operation in Bolivar County.

Top left and bottom, Trey King, who farms in Inverness acquired the circa 1948 Bob truck from his former neighbor, the late Sid Windham. Top right, a remnant of days gone by, an old rusty disk located on the Andrews Farm in Skene.

Across the Delta and beyond, all sorts of farmers adhere to the old adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” There are scores of older tractors still traversing turnrows on hundreds and hundreds of farms across the state. There are also tractors and farm equipment that may not be working the turnrow, but have been kept and collected by farmers and those who just love tractors and antique equipment as well. David Thornton has worked at Stoneville for nearly thirty years and grew up on the family farm. The land is now rented out, but Thornton has kept many of the tractors his family’s DNA is smothered on and has collected a few more along the way. “I collect old tractors, but not as much as I used to,” Thornton says. “I have a G-John Deere that my grandfather, Albert Mann Sr., bought new in 1951. My grandfather gave the tractor to me before he passed away.” Thornton has rebuilt the tractor several different ways, including converting it to LP gas and converting parts of the electrical system. The tractor has a special attraction to Thornton as it was a gift from his grandfather. “They used it to produce seven or eight crops, and I’ve had it for fifty years after that,” he says. “My grandfather bought it, my daddy drove it and my uncles both drove it.” Thornton has other special tractors in his collection. “I have a couple of Massey Harris tractors – a 55 Diesel and a 555 LP. I have a couple of old Cases, but they’re not functional. I have a Moline G-Vi that I traded for not too long ago. That is the long Minneapolis Moline. I also have a 50-LP John Deere, which would run for a while, but isn’t at this point. I also have a scrap 930 Case which also belonged to my grandfather and was bought new in 1960.” That 930 Case was the first tractor that Thornton got behind the wheel of and actually took for a drive at the age of six. “One of the workers came in from the field and I convinced him to let me drive it. Daddy drove up and all he could see was the tractor moving. I was between the fenders and I was driving all over the yard. It had a hand-clutch, so it was easier for a six-year-old to drive. You push it in and it went and you pull it out and it stops,” recalls Thornton. In Inverness, Trey King has been farming since the 1990s but got more serious about it in 2010. One of King’s farming neighbors was the late Sid

62 • Delta Ag Journal • July 2018

Above, Zac Tollison and his father, the late Bubba Tollison enjoyed collecting. Zac says his father used to tell him, “Son, there is nothing else in the world that sounds like a 2-cyllinder John Deer tractor.”

Above, the late Bubba Tollison using the Farmall tractor on his farm prior to it’s restoration.

Windham who owned land and the “Caile Mall” country store and had several pieces of equipment that intrigued King, especially his combine and bob truck. “He bought the bob truck new in 1948,” King says. I remember it running in the early 1990s. It was parked in his shed with his combine and the combine and truck were the only things holding the shed up after he passed.” “I missed out on the opportunity to buy the truck innitially, but a few months ago, it popped up for sale and I couldn’t let slip by again. It now sits a few miles from its original home and I have plans to upgrade and get it running again,” says King. King plans to use the truck in parades or cruising the Mississippi Gulf coast once all the upgrades are complete. Some farmers rely on tractors, that were not made in this decade, to get the job done. In Leflore County, Joe Grossman has seen plenty of older tractors in the family farming operation. Many are still in rotation finding daily work. “The oldest we have is a John Deere 37B built in 1937. It was my great-granddaddy’s tractor,” he says. “As far as tractors we use every day, the oldest is probably about a 1969 or 1970 model. We have an old John Deere 4520 that was my dad and uncle’s first tractor. We still use it for odd and end jobs.” However, the main workhorse tractors used on the Grossman Farm range from 1998 to 2005. But, there are benefits to running older tractors,

July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 63

Leflore County farmer Joe Grossman’s old tractors still see daily use.

one being no monthly payments and another, less diesel restrictions that today’s models have. “These are the tractors that we prefer because they don’t have to be Tier II emissions compliant. No exhaust filters, no exhaust fluid, that is what works for us,” Grossman says. Grossman notes that one newer tractor had so many problems that it kept them running for the bought and paid for tractors already on the farm. In Sunflower County, Zac Tollison has seen his share of older tractors that his late father, Bubba Tollison, kept running on the family farm. These days, Tollison’s version of older tractors were all built in the 2000s. Tollison says that his father had a name for the older tractors. He called them the old iron mules. Both Tollisons had a love for the older tractors and collected and refurbished them over the years. On young Tollison’s sixteenth birthday, his father, Bubba gave him the very first one of their collection, a 1958 John Deer 730 LP. “I was so proud and happy to have it and I used to drive it all over our family farm,” says Tollison. The collection of old tractors no longer see farming days, but Tollison still loves to get them out and hear them run. Sometimes they are used in hometown parades and they are always a big hit. Due to the rising cost of all things new, it’s not unusual for farmers to keep what’s working, and keep it running across their acres. Even if the old equipment can’t cover the field anymore, many keep these items around because they are sentimental and remind them of days gone by.

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HISTORY

The Dog House, Booga’s restaurant and quarters on Highway 61 at Hushpuckena, near Shelby in the 1960s.

Following WWII Dave Harris aka Booga Bottom stayed in the Navy Reserve until 1953. He trained Air Force pilots in Greenville in 1951 and 1952.

BOOGA BOTTOM By will long

eparating fact from fiction in musing about a Delta icon like Dave Harris is impossible. And it may well be sacrilege. It is certainly pedantic and therefore we will leave the task to agnostics—from Arkansas. Did he really adopt the pseudonym “Booga Bottom” himself from some “lost forty” they owned, or did the labor on the place threaten to exile the little boy to the “Booga Bottom?” And did he drop ammunition down the smokestack of a Japanese destroyer in WWII while flying a helldiver, or

did he fly his Ag plane under the Hushpuckena Bridge near Highway 61 with one foot to spare on either side? And, does the “Illegitima Non Carborundum” on his business card mean, “Don’t let the bastards get you down?” In later life he made his living by representing wine companies after the state went wet, although he never took a drink. But I knew him before that when he made his living flying Ag planes. Agriculture in those days was

Above, Harris became friends with Congressman John Bell Williams when Williams was chairman of a congressional aviation committee. Together they purchased a Mooney Mark 21 airplane that Booga used to fly the future governor around during his campaign. Below, one of Booga Bottom’s infamous stunts: flying his AgCat under the Hushpuckena Bridge, which was captured on film and video. “I never flew over anything I couldn’t fly under,” Booga Bottom famously said.

just awakening from a two thousand year sameness and we were just beginning to use chemicals and synthetic fertilizers. Mules had just been universally replaced by the ubiquitous tractor. Rice was a new cash crop in Mississippi, and most important, thanks to Hitler, we had new poisons that actually killed the boll weevil, and anything else that got a sufficient dose. The Ag plane was the delivery medium and Booga was an officer in the “Delta Escadrille.” His air base was on Highway 61 a little north of Shelby. There were pumps, poisons, measuring and mixing apparati, ground support, a chase vehicle and in the middle of all this grandness was a one room shack that didn’t grow, it metastasized into a bedroom he called his dog house, then a kitchen, then a restaurant that became known as the “Dog House.” Chief of the ground crew was Big James who shared Booga’s flair for the dramatic and undoubtedly had a constitution like a rhinoceros since he had been sprayed with more lethalities than an EPA rat. In the middle of all of this, people flocked to eat at July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 69

the famous Dog House. When anyone had a notable visitor, they would be taken with pride to his landmark. I think I am correct that each and every one of the pesticides then in use have been taken off the market and drummed out of the corps of human inventions as inimical to mammalian existence. Those who ate at the Dog House may have died of something, but it wasn’t parasites. Around 1956, Booga started taking his Ag plane to Nicaragua in our off-season to become an “Aerofimigadora.” In those days the political situation in all of Central America was balanced between dictators and the CIA. Rumors abounded about which group Booga was affiliated with. I personally thought probably both. The only thing that we can be absolutely certain of is that he made friends with somebody. Booga’s mother-in-law was the postmistress in Shelby and she and Booga never saw eye-to-eye. He would send her post cards from Nicaragua addressed: The Barracuda Shelby, MS, USA At some point, Booga got a passenger plane, a Mooney Mark 21. One day he and Bert Hays flew to Memphis on some mission and got a late start home. Shortly, it dawned on Bert that it would be dark when they reached the strip, and it wasn’t lighted. He asked Booga, “How we going to land this thing in the dark?” Booga replied, “Oh don’t worry about it. There’s a light at the edge of town and a pine tree in Sacco’s yard. It’s that pine tree plus a minute, then we go down.” Bert got right with God. In actuality, Booga had arranged to have his wife’s brother drive up and shine his headlights down the strip. Booga was not what would be called a good financial manager, but he compensated for that by keeping a few good friends who were. He said he survived 17 forced landings while flying, but several more financially. One of his good friends and co-owner of the Mooney was Governor John Bell Williams, who Booga flew around the state in the first primary of the 1967 election. He became friends with Williams when he was chairman of a congressional aviation committee. He credited Williams with saving his pilots license after an incident with an Illinois Central Train heading toward Memphis late one night. He sprayed blackbirds on their roost at night for rice farmers and his wife would park her car at the end of the runway with the headlights shining down the runway. Booga would fly over the car and use the headlights to help him see the runway. The Alligator strip was between Highway 61 and the Illinois Central 70 • Delta Ag Journal • July 2018

Train Track. He decided he could make less hazardous night landing if he installed a DC3 landing light under the wing of his AgCat. This worked out well until one night when he could not resist flying low over the train track and flipping on the giant light as an Illinois Central Train headed north. The train engineer mistook him for an approaching train and slammed on the train brakes. Booga described the train as looking like a giant sparkler as the brakes heated up. The FAA and the railroad were not amused. His success with the congressional committee led to a congressional lobbying job with United States Overseas Airlines (USOA) during the winter months when he wasn’t crop dusting. Later on in the campaign for governor, when it looked like he might win, they got a larger plane and a new pilot, and started filing flight plans. John Bell had lost an arm in a bomber crash in WWII and his opponents unaffectionately referred to him by that old slot machine appellation, “The One Armed Bandit.” But he won and as the spoils go to the victor, Booga wound up as a wine and spirits broker. His standard introduction ran something like, “Booga Bottom, born six miles off the hard road between Alligator and Hushpuckena, Mississippi.” Sometimes he

Even as a wine broker, Harris stayed in character handing out this business card. Above, interior of the Dog House.

signed his name “S. Booga Bottom” which was from what he said his mother called him, “Sweet” Booga Bottom. With his business card and this introduction, some of the more sophisticated wineries disdained to be represented by Booga, which is probably the reason we don’t have rare vintages in Mississippi today. I have a friend from North Carolina who moved to the Delta and was advised upon ar-

rival that the Delta was full of characters. He said what they didn’t tell him was that they bubbled up on every corner. Booga was one of them. But it should also be said, when duty called, Booga, like most of them, risked their lives and all they had to defend this country and our way of life. They will forever be noble to me. Editor’s Note: the late Will Long was a contributor to sister publication, Delta Magazine. This article appeared in Delta Magazine several years ago. Will came from a multigenerational Delta farming family.

July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 71

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July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 75

Recipes TOMATO COBBLER 1 1 1 3 3 1

1 teaspoon kosher salt ¾ cups (6-ounces) freshly shredded Jarlsberg medium sweet onion, chopped 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper tablespoon olive oil cheese ¼ cup chopped fresh basil large tomato, chopped teaspoon fresh thyme leaves 1 cups self-rising soft-wheat flour 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives garlic cloves, minced 1½ cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal 1¼ cups buttermilk pounds assorted small tomatoes tablespoon Champagne vinegar or white ½ teaspoon baking powder ½ cup cold butter, cut into ¼-inch thick wine vinegar ½ pieces 1 tablespoon cornstarch Preheat oven to 365°. Sauté onion in 2 ingredients in a large bowl. Cut butter hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high into flour with a pastry blender until heat 5 to 6 minutes or until tender. Add mixture resembles small peas; cover and chopped tomato, garlic and 1½ cups small chill 10 minutes. Stir cheese and next 2 tomatoes, and sauté 10 minutes or until ingredients into cold flour mixture. Add tomatoes are softened. Remove from heat buttermilk, stirring just until dry and stir in vinegar and next 4 ingredients. ingredients are moistened. Dollop mixture Place remaining small tomatoes in a 13 by ½ cupfuls onto tomato mixture (do not x 9-inch baking dish. Spoon onion spread.) Bake at 375° for 30 to 35 minutes or mixture over tomatoes, and gently toss to until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack coat. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, stir together flour and next 30 minutes before serving.

CATFISH AMANDINE 1 tablespoon plus 1½ teaspoons extra- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour virgin olive oil, divided ½ teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon butter ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper ¼ cup sliced almonds 1 pound catfish, cut into 4 portions 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced 2 tablespoons lemon juice ½ cup low-fat milk 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley 2 large egg, lightly beaten Heat 1 tablespoon oil and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add almonds and garlic and cook until both are just beginning to brown, 1 to 3 minutes. Set aside. Combine milk and egg in a shallow dish. In another shallow idsh, combine flour, salt and cayenne. Dip fish in the milk mixture, then in the flour mixture; shake off any excess flour (discard any leftover mixtures.) Heat the remaining 1½ teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add fish and cook until lightly browned and opaque in the center, 4 to 6 minutes per side. Return the almond-garlic sauce to the stove over medium heat. Add lemon juice and heat through, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour the sauce over the fish and sprinkle parsley.

PARMESAN RICE 4 tablespoons butter ½ medium sweet onion, chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced 1½ cups uncooked long-grain rice 1 (14.5-ounce) can chicken both 1 cup milk ½ teaspoon salt ½ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese 1 tablespoon lemon juice 76 • Delta Ag Journal • July 2018

Melt butter in a medium pot. Add onion and cook until softened. Add garlic and rice. Stir with a wooden spoon and cook 1 minute. Add chicken broth and milk. Bring to a simmer. Cover pot and reduce heat to low. Cook 20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese and lemon juice.

ZUCCHINI HERB BREAD

SUMMER SQUASH CASSEROLE

¾ 2 2¼ 2-2½ 1 1½ 1½ 1 ¼ ¼ 2

cup warm water tablespoon honey teaspoon active dry yeast cups bread flour cup whole wheat flour cups grated zucchini (1 medium) tablespoon olive oil teaspoon dried basil teaspoon dried thyme teaspoon dried rosemary teaspoon salt

Combine the warm water, honey and yeast in a small bowl and allow the yeast to work for ~5 minutes. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups bread flour, wheat flour, zucchini, oil, herbs and salt. Add the yeast mixture and knead until smooth, by hand or in a mixer with a bread hook (2 minutes on setting one and 2 minutes on setting two.) Add remaining ½ cup flour if necessary. (You want dough to form a loose ball but still be kind of sticky. If you add too much flour, your bread will not rise properly.) Transfer to an oiled bowl, cover lightly with pastick wrap and let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size. Remove from the bowl and knead 1 to 2 minutes by hand. Place in a bread pan and let rise again until almost doubled in size. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bake the loaf until golden brown and the bread pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 45 minutes. Brush top with butter. Allow to cool completely before slicing.

pounds yellow squash pound zucchini small sweet onion, chopped teaspoons salt,, divided cup grated carrots (10.25-ounce) can cream of chicken soup (8-ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and chopped 1 (8-ounce) package herb seasoned stuffing ½ cup butter, melted

1½ 1 1 2½ 1 1 1

Preheat oven to 350°. Cut squash and zucchini into ¼-inch thick slices; place in a Dutch oven. Add chopped onion, 2 teaspoon salt, and water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and cook 5 minutes; drain well. Stir together 1 cup grated carrots, next 3 ingredients, and remaining ½ teaspoon salt in a large bowl; fold in squash mixture. Stir together stuffing and ½ cup melted butter, and spoon half of stuffing mixture in bottom of a lightly greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Spoon squash mixture over stuffing mixture, and top with remaining stuffing mixture.

SPICY YELLOW SOYBEAN, LENTIL AND CARROT CURRY 1 2⅔ 1 4 2 2 ⅛ 3

tablespoon olive oil 1 cups dried small red lentils cups finely chopped onion 1 (15-ounce) can yellow soybeans, rinsed tablespoon red curry paste and drained cups vegetable broth, divided ⅓ cup minced fresh cilantro cups finely chopped carrot ¼ teaspoon salt tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper teaspoon ground red pepper 6 tablespoons plain fat-free yogurt garlic cloves, minced fresh cilanto sprigs

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauce 3 minutes or until tender. Stir in curry paste; cook 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup broth, carrot, ginger, red pepper, and garlic; cook 6 minutes or until carrot is tender, stirring occasionally. Add 3 1/2 cups broth, lentils, and soybeans; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until lentils are tender. Stir in cilantro, salt, and black pepper. Divide evenly among 6 bowls; dollop with yogurt. Garnish with cilantro sprigs, if desired. July 2018 • Delta Ag Journal • 77

OUT & ABOUT Several of the members from the Mississippi Women for Agriculture enjoyed a great Spring Farm Tour in the Mississippi Delta to learn more about catfish production. The ladies were hosted by Heartland Catfish Company, Bear Creek Fisheries, Inc., Fishbelt Feeds, Inc., Taste of Gourmet and Indianola Pecan House.

78 â&#x20AC;˘ Delta Ag Journal â&#x20AC;˘ July 2018

Brad Ouzts with the late Jim Gregory at the 2018 MAAA Awards Ceremony.

Former Commissioner Cindy Hyde Smith spending the afternoon with Papa Joe Aguzzi back in March.

Mike and Abby Wagner with Matt Wyatt of MS Talk Radio.

Luke Nelson and Jacob Mosco laying poly pipe on Mosco Farms.

Kacie and Jud Davis enjoy date night on the farm checking on the crops.

King the Cotton Plant is now 39 days old (June 18). He is waiting on a second shot of fertilizer today and in the square to flower growth stage on Silent Shade Planting in Belzoni.

Ridge and Rylan Richard spend a nice summer morning pulling pigweed at RJR Four Farms.

Blue hanging out with his owner Jacob Fullen on the farm.

Josh Duraj gets ready for a day in the field on his family farm north of Shelby.

July 2018 â&#x20AC;˘ Delta Ag Journal â&#x20AC;˘ 79

80 • Delta Ag Journal • July 2018

TOTAL INTERMODAL FACILITY

SERVICE IS OUR STRENGTH

ROSEDALE - BOLIVAR COUNTY PORT TERMINAL

MILE 585 A.H.P. (15 MILES SOUTH OF ARKANSAS WATERWAY)  20,000 Sq. Ft. Humidity Controlled Warehouse  10+ Acres Open-Air Storage

 Harbor & Fleeting Services  4 Certified Truck Scales  Favorable Industrial Climate

 10,000 to 30,000 lb. Fork Lifts  150 Ton Crane

 3 Outbound Systems (Truck to Barge)

 Bulk Truck Loading Hopper  3.3 Mile Long Slack Water Harbor

 2 Inbound Systems (Barge to Truck)

Several Industrial Sites Available on Water or Adjacent Industrial Park

Rosedale-Bolivar County Port Commission Robert Maxwell, Port Director Rosedale, MS 38769 662.759.6212  info@portofrosedale.com www.portofrosedale.com

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