Page 275 - a-history-of-columbia-county-florida-(1996)-edward-f-keuchel

A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 264/340

A History of Columbia County, Florida

acres were alloted for oil and seed production, and some 7,000
acres were used for swine feed. Harvested peanuts were usually
marketed at High Springs. Field corn played an important role as
a cash crop, but perhaps was more important to the county as feed
for cattle and poultry.3
By the mid-1960’s the cattle population of the county consisted
of approximately 20,000 head of purebred beef, commercial beef,
and family dairy animals. Considerable improvement in cattle had
come about since the days of the open range when an inferior scrub
stock was the rule. Instead of an open range, by the mid-1960’s
approximately 20,000 acres in the county were in permanent
pasture grasses and used for hay and cattle grazing. Breed
improvement for swine had also come about after the war and the
agricultural census of 1964 showed some 11,000 hogs in the county.
As with cattle, most of the hogs were sold for slaughter and
consumption outside of the county. Horse production for pleasure
riding was on the increase, but limited. Poultry production
emerged as one of the fastest-growing agricultural enterprises in
the county with egg production the most important aspect. The
trend toward fewer and larger producers was more apparent in
the poultry industry than in some of the other areas of agriculture.
In 1966 the county had approximately 250,000 pullets and 175,000
commercial laying hens. Other areas of lesser importance were
crops of watermelons, sweet potatoes, peas, cabbage, sweet corn,
cucumbers, peaches and pecans. Miscellaneous fruits and vege­
tables were grown mostly for home consumption.4
With approximately seventy-one percent of the county classi­
fied as forest land, it is not surprising that the period after the war
witnessed a trend toward tree farming and participation in the
Federal Soil Bank Program. By the mid-1960’s there were four
sawmills and two miscellaneous wood-using plants in the county

3Ibid., pp. 65-75.
'Ibid.
200

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