My wife claims (and her Father confirms) that she picked cotton by hand as a child (we won't go into how long ago that might be)! Things changed rapidly in the late 1950's and now things seem to change over night! Everything is mechanized now! Won't be long till even the tractors and cotton picking machines will be driven by GPS-monitoring computers! Here is a shot of how things are done in the Arkansas Delta. Also a link to a pano of this same field.
You can also see a portion of a center-pivot irrigation system. It is not for the cotton but the field of soybeans (the darker green area). Cotton was once "King" in the south. Now there are two other crops fighting for dominance; soybeans and rice. We also see lots of corn and wheat. Agriculture is still the principle "industry" down here and it's a very fickle master!
As you might guess, all this mechanical equipment is very expensive. Few young farmers can stay in the business unless they have access to their fathers successes. Small land owners generally rent or sell their land to those with money enough to invest in enough equipment and land to make a profit (meaning: pay for the equipment).
