The Fragmented Neoplantation: A New Type of Farm Operation in the Southeast

THE FRAGMENTED NEOPLANTATION: A NEW TYPE OF FARM OPERATION IN THE SOUTHEAST Charles S. Aiken* During the past quarter century a much publicized technological revolution has occurred in southeastern agriculture. (1 ) At the end of World War II, farmers were still in the horse-mule era and large amounts of labor were used to produce cotton and other traditional crops. The following twenty-five years witnessed introduction, acceptance, and diffusion of laborsaving machines and techniques. This revolution, or certainly the era of dramatic technological change, now seems to be nearing its end. The technological revolution is only the first phase of a much more sweeping upheaval that is occurring in the agrarian economy ofthe Southeast. Farm reorganization constitutes the second phase. Although the technological portion of the agricultural revolution is nearing its end, only now is the dramatic impact of farm reorganization commencing. At the conclusion of the second phase, many present concepts of what constitutes a farm will have changed. This studv briefly discusses the "fragmented neoplantation ," a new type of agricultural operation that has emerged. DEFINITION OF THE FRAGMENTED NEOPLANTATION. Prunty's analyses of the changes on plantations are among the important geographical studies that treat recent farm alterations in the Southeast. (2 ) Prunty defines the plantation as consisting of five main elements: a landholding large enough to be distinguishable from a family farm (a 260-acre minimum), a distinct division of labor and management functions with management customarily in the hands of the owner, specialized agricultural production, distinctive settlement forms and spatial organizations reflecting a high degree of cultivating power, and a relatively large input of cultivating power per unit area. (3) In his studies, "The Renaissance of the Southern Plantation" and "Deltapine: Field Laboratory for the Neoplantation Occupance Type," Prunty deals with reorganization of "cropper" and "tenant-renter" plantations into what he terms "neoplantations." The labor intensive cropper and tenant-renter plantations exhibited internal fragmentation. They were divided into renter sub-units and had buildings dispersed across them. Neoplantations are highly mechanized and employ cash-wage laborers. With the elimination of the tenants, internal fragmentation disappeared. Tenant units were consolidated to form larger fields, and former tenant houses either were razed or were relocated near the machinery station to serve as residences for the cash-wage employees. *Dr. Aiken is assistant professor of geography at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The paper was accepted for publication in February 1971. 44Southeastern Geographer The neoplantation is an important occupance type in the Southeast today, but during the past two decades another new type of large farm operation also has evolved. In nearly all respects this other farm operation is like the neoplantation. It has a well-defined division between labor and management, specialized agricultural production, distinctive spatial organization , and a relatively large input of cultivating power per unit area. The new type of farm operation also is a large assemblage of land, but unlike that of the "pure" neoplantation, the "landholding" is not listed in the tax register. Traditionally, the land comprising a plantation has been owned by the planter. But the new type of large farm is a combination of land that is owned and land that is rented by the operator. Management, not proprietorship , unites land to form a functional agricultural enterprise of plantation scale. The operator of the internally fragmented plantation of yesteryear was the landlord to his tenants. However, on the new plantation the role of the operator is reversed, for it is he who is the tenant on land that he rents. Also, in the new plantation operation fragmentation, though still present, is reversed. Because the operator usually rents from several landlords , his plantation is dispersed and exhibits an external, rather than an internal, fragmentation. Such an agricultural operation may be termed a "fragmented neoplantation." (4) The fragmented neoplantation, as it presently exists in the Southeast, has three types of components: (1) a headquarters farm, (2) rented farms, and (3) rented crop allotments (Fig. 1). The focal hub of the operation is the headquarters farm. Usually this farm is owned by the operator of the fragmented neoplantation, but in certain cases even it may be rented. Although some headquarters farms are former cropper...