Historic Southern Indiana

Nine of the twelve Indiana counties in which 90 percent or more of the farms were owned by individuals or families are located in Historic Southern Indiana. In eleven of the region’s other counties, the percentage ranged between 85 and 89.9 percent.

Farms in fourteen of the region’s twenty-six counties averaged 200 acres or less. In just three, all along the Wabash River, the average farm was 400 to 499 acres. None of the counties had farms averaging 500 acres or more.

Six counties had at least 60 percent of their land in farms. Another thirteen had 40 to 59.9 percent.

In average market value of products sold per farm (1997), just seven counties, five of them in southwestern Indiana, exceeded $100,000. None was above $200,000.

Knox County was one of two Indiana counties in 2000 to produce more than 20 million bushels of corn. Neighboring Gibson was one of seven to produce between 15 and 19.9 million bushels. By contrast, fourteen of the region’s counties produced 5 million or less. They represented two-thirds of Indiana’s counties in this category.

Knox, Gibson and Posey counties were among the state’s top seven counties in the production of winter wheat—a million bushels or more.

Knox was the only southern Indiana county among the state’s top producers of soybeans—4 million or more bushels. Gibson, Posey and Jackson counties were among the second tier, with 3 to 3.9 million.

Pike and Dubois counties ranked in the top ten in number of hogs and pigs—100,000 or more. All but two of the remaining counties in southern Indiana were in the bottom tier—less than 40,000.

Two of the state’s top six counties in number of cattle were in this region—Dubois and Washington, with 25,ooo or more.

Not surprisingly, the top tobacco-producing counties in the state lay on or near the Ohio, and most of these were in southeastern Indiana. The top two were Jefferson and Switzerland, with 1.5 million pounds or more.

Source: Jeffrey Wilson, Indiana in Maps: Geographic Perspectives of the Hoosier State (2003)

8600 University Boulevard - Evansville, IN 47712-3596 - 812/464-8600

EMBOSSED USI LOGO