Beef cattle have replaced cotton as Hunt County's main farm product

Cotton used to be Hunt County's big farm story. In 1950, the county reported 66,117 bales, its peak census-year total. By 1982, cotton had dropped to 4,409 bales.

The farm economy did not vanish; it changed shape. Livestock, especially cattle, became a major part of local agriculture. By 1982, livestock and dairy products made up more than half of agricultural sales.

AgriLife Extension's Hunt County office still talks about that mix today: beef cattle, hay and forage, nursery and horticulture, cotton, wheat, and grain sorghum. That is the local land story in miniature, old cotton ground with a lot more uses now.