Suchergebnisse

Recent research has focused on the effects of macro‐level structural forces on local cultures and agricultural systems of production. While indigenous systems can be dramatically altered by these forces, local institutions can also try to adopt strategies for survival. In this article I focus on how the shade tobacco farmers of North Florida adapted to the market collapse of their major money crop. In order to remain in agriculture, farmers who were established in a full‐time farming tradition had to consider strategies that included part‐time farming and off‐farm work. The part‐time farmers are compared to those who have tried to remain full time to find how successful the adjustment process has been.

Much of the literature on heir property, or land held in common by heirs without the benefit of a will, deals with its widespread existence, consequences, and problems associated with it in the Southern Black Belt. Little is known about the uses of this property compared with titled property among African American landowners. We address this research gap by using survey data to examine uses of heir and titled properties among African Americans landowners in rural Alabama. Findings indicate that majority of the titled landowners used their land more productively and invest more money in their land than do heir property owners. There is also a higher financial value for titled land than heir property. Heir property owners take more of a short-term and limited financial investment plan that includes annual production of crops and livestock, as well as leases for hunting. Titled property owners, however, take a long-term plan for their land that includes timber, investments in buildings and land, and participation in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) conservation programs.

This essay presents a brief introduction to the special issue of the Journal of Rural Social Sciences focused on heirs' property. Real property transferred over generations without a proper will or other transfer device, heirs' property and heirs' property owners are vulnerable to a range of challenges, from limited productive land use to the actual loss of land. A situation that is national in scope, heirs' property rates are particularly high in the southern region of the United States and among African Americans. Articles in this special issue address operationalizing and measuring heirs' property at the county-level, describing the characteristics of people seeking assistance with heirs' property, and the situation and implications faced in a state with limited protections of families with heirs' property.