Home to the Unique Delta Region
Welcome to the next installment of America’s Best Idea, where we check out the agricultural profile of Mississippi State University and its supporting land-grant universities (LGUs). If you immediately thought of cotton, you would not be alone. But what we’ll learn today is that the Magnolia State–or the Hospitality State, depending on your preference of nicknames–has two crops that are far larger and more valuable than cotton.
Mississippi gained statehood on December 10, 1817, making it the 20th state in the Union. This was after neighboring states Tennessee (1796) and Louisiana (1812) and before Alabama (1819) and Arkansas (1836). It is named after the second-longest river in the U.S.–the mighty Mississippi River–that measures about 2,350 miles and makes up its western border. For what it’s worth, the Missouri River–a tributary of the Mississippi–is the longest river in the U.S. by roughly 100 miles.
MISSISSIPPI: Meaning "great river" or "gathering-in of all the waters," sometimes referred to as the "father of waters," indicating that the Indians were aware of the immensity of the river. First written by Tonti as "Michi Sepe."
HTTPS://WWW.BIA.GOV/AS-IA/OPA/ONLINE-PRESS-RELEASE/ORIGIN-NAMES-US-STATES
The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) offers a digital tool called CropScape that combines satellite imagery and data from the ground to establish a visual representation of what crops are grown where. Although it is most readable when zoomed in, the information at a statewide level is useful too. By looking at the image of Mississippi, it is fairly easy to see that the majority of its agricultural production is focused within the Mississippi Delta region. Although there are literally dozens of crops included in CropScape, in this example the yellow is associated with corn, green with soybeans, red with cotton, and blue with rice. With that information, it’s probably not too difficult to ascertain which two crops are grown in greater quantities than cotton. If you guessed soybeans followed by corn, you were correct.
In 2021, $1.5 billion worth of soybeans were harvested from 2.17 million acres in Mississippi. That places it 12th nationally in terms of value and makes it far and away the largest, most valuable crop in the state. Followed by soybeans lies corn at $665 million produced on 700,000 acres. After corn is cotton at $417 million on 430,000 acres. Sweet potatoes, valued at $104 million on a mere 29,500 acres, ranks fifth in the state by value. Rice, at $102 million on 100,000 acres is right behind. Wheat ($25 million / 70,000 acres) and peanuts ($17 million / 17,000 acres) round out the most valuable crops in the state.
In 2021, $1.5 billion worth of soybeans were harvested from 2.17 million acres in Mississippi. That places it 12th nationally in terms of value and makes it far and away the largest, most valuable crop in the state. Followed by soybeans lies corn at $665 million produced on 700,000 acres. After corn is cotton at $417 million on 430,000 acres. Sweet potatoes, valued at $104 million on a mere 29,500 acres, ranks fifth in the state by value. Rice, at $102 million on 100,000 acres is right behind. Wheat ($25 million / 70,000 acres) and peanuts ($17 million / 17,000 acres) round out the most valuable crops in the state.
Agriculture has been the dominant land use for nearly 200 years in the Mississippi basin, and has altered the hydrologic cycle and energy budget of the region. The agricultural products and the huge agribusiness industry that has developed in the basin produce 92% of the nation's agricultural exports, 78% of the world's exports in feed grains and soybeans, and most of the livestock and hogs produced nationally. Sixty percent of all grain exported from the US is shipped on the Mississippi River through the Port of New Orleans and the Port of South Louisiana.
https://www.nps.gov/miss/riverfacts.htm
Founded in 1878 as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of the State of Mississippi, the state’s flagship LGU was renamed the Mississippi State University (MSU) in 1958. However, it is worth emphasizing that Mississippi’s other LGU–Alcorn State University–actually predated MSU by seven years when it was founded in 1871. This makes Alcorn State the “oldest public historically black land-grant institution in the United States” in addition to being the oldest LGU in Mississippi.
With that in mind, ASU’s School of Agriculture and Applied Sciences has a robust extension-oriented approach to serving its agricultural community. Of particular note are three Outreach Centers: the Technology Transfer Center, the Vegetable Processing Center, and the Small Farm Incubator Center where some participants are eligible to purchase a farm after 3-5 years in the program. While similar programs may exist in the LGU network, we have not seen one yet.
Turning back again to MSU’s role in Mississippi agriculture, the university houses extensive research, education, and extension programs for the state. MSU’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) is one of nine colleges at the university. Within CALS lies Plant and Soil Sciences (PSS)–one of its nine departments. Regardless of a student’s preferred agricultural field of study, chances are very good that they’ll find it at MSU.
To support MSU’s research, the MS Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station (MAFES) has six research priorities, including Plant Production Systems. One of MAFES six “Points of Pride” is its Variety Trial Program, which is substantial and encompasses more than a dozen crops from corn grain to red clover. The work is conducted statewide within a network of 15 research stations, units, and labs that are housed within a broader network of four Research and Extension Centers (RECs). Of particular interest to our journey is the Delta Research and Extension Center (DREC) in Stoneville.
The DREC, which was founded in 1904 on 200 acres of an old cotton plantation, has evolved into a world-renowned center for agricultural research spanning more than 4,600 acres. DREC researchers focus on agricultural and aquaculture commodities like cotton, rice, soybeans, corn, and catfish. They strive to advance technology, develop best practices, and provide practical solutions to challenges faced by Delta producers.
https://www.mafes.msstate.edu/branches/delta.asp
According to MSU’s website, the DREC “is arguably the largest agricultural experiment center in the U.S.” What inspires this bold claim? Consider the following:
- 5,000 total acres, including 2,100 acres of row crops, 275 acres of catfish research ponds, and nearly 3,000 acres of forest
- More than 12,000 visitors annually
- A staff of 23 research scientists and over 100 support personnel representing the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, the MSU Extension Service, and the MSU College of Veterinary Medicine
- The Charles W. Capps, Jr. Entrepreneurial Center that houses 18,000 square feet of meeting space, a 400-seat auditorium, and distance learning capabilities
- Home to nearly a dozen regional and federal government agencies
The presence of such an impressive agricultural research facility in the heart of the Mississippi River Delta region suggests a disproportionate level of productivity there. Indeed, even the most basic internet searches reveal reporting of statistics–from yields to rental rates–according to Delta vs. Non-Delta acreage. Based on a 2018 report from MSU Extension, cropland values within the Delta region outpaced those acres outside the Delta by over $1,000 per acre, regardless of whether it was irrigated or not. At the time of the report, that difference represented a premium of about 30 percent. And while we were not able to source recent estimates of cropland by Delta vs. non-Delta acres, an August 2022 report by the USDA Economic Research Service illustrates a historically high year-over-year increase in cropland value recently which has not surprisingly led to a flurry of media attention. Based on the report, it is not unrealistic to think that the real dollar disparity between the two types of land has grown proportionally. In any case, the substantial research conducted at the DREC is certain to be used by growers throughout the Delta region, regardless of state, as a supplemental source of information to their more local research and extension centers.