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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />wnershi"p, ~~Uli.l.bel" t arld Si 2e of }'arms <br /> <br />A substantial proportion of the 710 units classed ns farm~ are <br />l'1.J.l'll residences or part-tir,le farms. Approximately)O percent of t.he project <br />area is included in these part-time farms. About hlo-thirds of the rural <br />residences or part-time farms are O\mer occupied; the remainder is cash <br />rented. <br /> <br />Outside the area of rural resj.dence the proportion of tenant- <br />operated farms increases sharply, ranging from 50 to upwards of 90 percent, <br />dependine on the location in regard to oil prodnction. Hhere oil production <br />centers, the proportion of.tenancy is the highest. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />The average size of farms in the project was about 27 acres, but <br />farms range in size from less than 1 acre in some of the truck farms near <br />"11ichita Falls to more than 600 acres. About 40 percent of the 710 farms is <br />less than 10 acres in size. 121 <br /> <br />E:r:.9ject needs <br /> <br />The more salient needs of this projoct aro as follows: <br /> <br />1. DrainaGe. <br /> <br />2. Adoption of improved water use and soil management <br /> <br />praotices. <br /> <br />3. DeveloptlOnt of or importation of crops that lend them- <br />selves to intensive operations and development of marke:t outlets. <br /> <br />4. Shift in "Water use to lands better adapted to irrigation. <br /> <br />5. ,.Jater quality improvement. <br /> <br />Project Economy <br /> <br />Irrigated agriculture in this project has been inhibited by a <br />number of factors and conditions. Huch of the area is a produdn(l oil field <br />that has experienced t"Wo boom pGriods since the projoct "Was organized. A <br />large part of the area is operated i111der I-year rental agreements: It is <br />reported that some of the tenants, inasr,luch as they have very little security <br />of tenure, are not as interested in follmling improved practices as thoy are <br />in "farminG tho oil companies". Furthermore, a consid8rable portion of the <br />irrigatod area is utilized by part-time farms, tl:e occup1'nts of which arc <br />more interested in and more dependent en outside activities than in crop <br />production. <br /> <br />At present hro types of farming 0.1'0 practiced in thj.s project. <br />Both are general crop farming and they differ priL1arily in the scale of <br /> <br />1.2/ Hughes, ,1. F. "IrriE(ated Agriculture in the Subhumid and Humid <br />Climatic Zones, Part I, Irrigation in the lJichita Valley of Texas". <br />Op. cit. ' <br /> <br />17 <br />