100 Years of Boswell

Floodwater near Corcoran, circa 1930s

flooding did not just disrupt farming—it also cut down the amount of cotton available for ginning and oil milling. To make matters worse, the newly approved Federal Farm Bill in February 1938 brought big changes, slashing cotton acreage by about 42 percent and placing new restrictions on wheat planting. There was real concern that once the floodwaters receded, cotton might not be able to be replanted, either because of soil conditions or the risk of losing crop quotas if the land sat empty. Fortunately, since most of the company’s cotton acreage was leased and farmed by others, its processing facilities were still able to operate at a reasonable capacity. Despite the challenges of World War II in the early 1940s, the company kept things moving forward, even if growth slowed a bit. Not long after, more land was acquired in Arizona, and new gins were running both there and back in California. And in 1947, Colonel JG founded the James G. Boswell Foundation, marking an important step in the company’s legacy. As J. G. Boswell grew, it welcomed new technology and innovation to stay ahead and work more efficiently. By the late 1940s, mechanical cotton pickers began slowing the need for the large annual influx of migrant workers. At the same time, advances in farm machinery made some of the older equipment outdated, prompting a shift in strategy: rather than constantly repairing aging machines, Boswell adopted a smart, planned approach to replacing equipment. Meanwhile, new discoveries in the science of soil management and crop production

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