Question

Why was it important for farmers to grow crops other than tobacco and cotton

Answer 1

It is important for the soil for farmers to rotate out crops like tobacco and cotton.

Crops like tobacco and cotton are heavy nutrient users. So, farmers would find that their soil would get worse and worse every year if they only planted cotton and tobacco.

This was a tough conundrum as tobacco and cotton were the biggest cash crops.

So, farmers had to figure out a crop rotation system that worked financially for them or they would find their fields barren in no time.