Historic Midland

expansion of irrigated farming in the 1950s and
1960s. Water wells were drilled into the
Ogalalla sands yielding 30 to 350 gallons per
minute with a few wells pumping 500 gpm and
more.
Heavy pumping during low rainfall years
began to draw down the water table. In the midto-late
1960s, a number of wells on the margins
of the water formation were abandoned. By the
early 1970s, spiraling energy costs for pumping
water and the land-intensive system of handmoved
lines caused further reduction in the
number of acres irrigated.
Research in cotton production technology
introduced moduling which formed harvested
cotton into 8 to 10 bale modules in the field that
could be transported to the gin by special module-hauling
trucks, thereby gaining increased
harvest efficiency and reduced costs over hauling
in two to four bale lots in cotton trailers.
Another development in farm machinery, the
advent of larger and higher powered farm tractors,
allowed individual operators to farm
increased numbers of acres. The cost of this larger
equipment, the modulers and circle irrigation
systems could range from $250,000 to $350,000.
Because of the necessity of the economy of scale,
one cotton producer in 1997 farmed the acres
five to six producers operated 25-30 years earlier.
The higher powered tractors and larger
equipment allowed farmers to till the soil in a
more timely and efficient manner to keep a
rough surface on the land and reduce soil being
moved by the wind.
In the early 1960s pecan production attracted
interest as a potential commercial enterprise.
The development of drip irrigation seemed to
offer a practical and efficient method of irrigation.
Other factors, such as very low disease risk
due to the dry climate, and few insects affecting
pecans seemed to reinforce potential for this
horticultural crop. As many as 15,000 to 20,000
trees were planted during the 1960s and 1970s.
Starting in the 1960s and steadily increasing
in the 1970s and 1980s, land began to be taken
out of farming by suburban development. This
has been significant north, northwest and south
and east of the city, and in the Greenwood community
in the northeastern part of the county.
Today there are approximately 125 producers
farming the cropland in Midland County. In 1997,
29,000 acres of cotton (12,000 irrigated) was harvested.
Total value of crops range from $3-12 million
annually due to variation in the amount and
distribution of rainfall and market prices. The
uncertainty of rainfall from year to year is the
largest obstacle to successful production. Cotton,
after nearly 100 years of production, still remains
the best adapted and most water-efficient crop.
Many Communities
Faded to Memories
The names Fighting Hollow, Antelope, Benge
Corner, Bounce, China Grove, Pegasus, Toad
Loop—even Midway—may not mean much to
Midland County residents today, but at one
point in the county’s past they, and many others,
were a very real part of Midland County.
❖
Above: Visitors and a band turned out
for an event at Warfield, located 10
miles southwest of Midland along
tracks of the Texas & Pacific Railway.
Below: Letter slot used by customers
of the Midkiff Post Office. The rural
post office, located on the Midkiff
Ranch about 25 miles south of
Midland, was operated by John R.
Midkiff from 1902 through 1906.
Early Midland: City of Windmills | 33