Cotton – Building a better South

August 22, 2015August 12, 2015

Metal farm building, Jenkins County, Ga.

Farmhouse and cotton field, Jenkins County, Ga.

It won’t be long before its time to pick cotton in rural counties across the South. This photo, by VanishingSouthGeorgia.com photographer Brian Brown, shows an old corrugated metal farm building on the plantation that includes the Mathew Sheppard Brinson house (1888) in Jenkins County, Ga.

Jenkins County, whose county seat is Millen, was home to 9,213 people, according to the U.S. Census in 2012, an increase of 10 percent from two years earlier. Almost 30 percent of residents live in poverty.

January 12, 2015

Cotton picker, Williamsburg County, S.C.

Cotton picking machine, Williamsburg County, S.C.

December 4, 2014December 3, 2014

Big bales, Clarendon County, S.C.

Brightly-colored tarps cover big bales of cotton in eastern South Carolina.

During the autumn, brightly-colored tarps covering huge cotton bales are an important part of the scenery across the rural South. These bales, photographed by Linda W. Brown of Kingstree, S.C., are in eastern Clarendon County, S.C.

Clarendon County has 34,357 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2012 population estimate. About half of the county’s residence are white; the other half are black.

More QuickFacts from the U.S. Census.

November 6, 2014November 2, 2014

“Carolina snow,” Florence County, S.C.

Fields across South Carolina are white with “Carolina snow” as the season’s cotton harvest is underway. This field, captured by photographer Linda W. Brown of Kingstree, S.C., near Sardis in rural Florence County, S.C.

Florence County had 137,948 people, according to a 2012 Census estimate. Its poverty rate — higher in the rural areas than the county seat of Florence, averaged 19.4 percent in 2010.

QuickFacts about Florence County .

October 3, 2014October 2, 2014

Cotton, Colleton County, S.C.

A bale of cotton (500 pounds) can make about 1,200 T-shirts, according to cotton.org.

Old King Cotton is bustin’ out all over the South, including in this field near rural Ruffin, S.C., in Colleton County.

According to Cotton USA, about a third of the nation’s cotton is grown in fields from Alabama through Virginia. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, South Carolina ranked 10th nationally in production of cotton by growing 587,589 bales of the crop. As a comparison, Georgia, ranked second to Texas, grew 2.7 million in 2012.

July 20, 2014

Changing times, Williamsburg County, S.C.

A vine-covered tobacco barn in the middle of a cotton field signals changing times in agriculture in the South and in the Cedar Swamp community of Williamsburg County, S.C., where this barn is located.

October 8, 2013November 16, 2014

Old barn, Emanuel County, Ga.

Orange dirt roads. Pine trees. Cotton fields. This photo evokes the writing of Georgia’s Erskine Caldwell. It was taken in Georgia’s cotton country just north of the intersection of U.S. Highway 80 and Georgia Highway 121 in Emanuel County.

According to the Cotton Council International 2013 Buyers’ Guide, Georgia farmers grew more than 15 percent of the nation’s cotton in 2011-12 by producing 2.465 million bales. The only state that grew more cotton was Texas, which produced 3.5 million of the nation’s 15.573 million bales in 2011-12.

Emanuel County,located north of Statesboro, Ga., has almost 23,000 people and a poverty rate of 24.5 percent, according to the U.S. Census.

September 25, 2013

Cotton, Emanuel County, Ga.

Cotton is bustin’ out all over the South, but particularly in the fields of middle Georgia, the state that grows the most cotton in the Southern Crescent region. According to the Cotton Council International 2013 Buyers’ Guide, Georgia farmers grew more than 15 percent of the nation’s cotton in 2011-12 by producing 2.465 million bales. The only state that grew more cotton was Texas, which produced 3.5 million of the nation’s 15.573 million bales in 2011-12.

This photo was taken just north of the intersection of U.S. Highway 80 and Georgia Highway 121 in Emanuel County, which has almost 23,000 people and a poverty rate of 24.5 percent, according to the U.S. Census.