Timber, farming and cattle headline a robust agribusiness in our county. With land that covers 587 square miles, our farmland makes up 31% of that, or 115,000 acres. Our agribusinesses are a significant contributor to our economy, and our county appreciates their contribution.
Timber
Weyerhaeuser’s Bruce plant produces about 220 million board feet of Southern Yellow Pine each year (2×4 through 2×12 dimension lumber in various lengths, ranging up to 20 feet). Weyerhaeuser is one of our two largest industries in the northern part of our county.
Our Crops
In 2010 the county continued with significant pine tree acreage – a very valuable commodity for the future. Other acreage shows a 24% decrease in soybeans, a 45% increase in cotton and a 5% increase in corn. Sweet potatoes were down 9%. Calhoun County is very proud of our hard working farmers and appreciates the contribution they make to our communities and economy.
- Pine Trees – 27,600 acres
- Soybeans – 14,100 acres
- Cotton – 18,000 acres
- Sweet Potatoes – 8,000 acres, most of our sweet potato acreage is around the city of Vardaman, considered the Sweet Potato Capital of the World!
- Corn – 6,000 acres
Our farmers are a big part of our rich heritage. They continue to search for improved agricultural techniques and will keep Calhoun County on the “cutting edge” for generations to come.
Cattle
Calhoun County is home to numerous family cattle farms with over 15,000 cattle and calves. We have two sale barns in adjoining counties with a very strong market base.