News Filed Under Agriculture

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Mississippi’s agriculture industry remains vibrant with an overall production value estimated at $9 billion, despite a drop in row crop prices.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- 2024 marks the 30th consecutive year for poultry to outperform every other agricultural commodity in Mississippi, and for the second time in three years, its farm gate value fell just shy of $4 billion.

“We have seen a ramp-up in both broiler and table egg production in 2024 compared to production rates seen in 2023,” said Jonathan Moon, poultry specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. “This increase in meat and egg production directly impacts the value of the state’s commercial poultry industry.”

Although prices for timber were lower in 2024, harvest on the state’s forest land was up about 8%, giving forestry an expected value of $1.5 billion, similar to what it had in 2023.

Coastal wetland conservation and restoration projects along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and beyond are running into a distinct challenge: there often aren’t enough locally sourced native plants readily available to complete these efforts.
The Mississippi State University Extension Service is meeting this problem head-on by enlisting plant enthusiasts to grow and sell these marsh plants. The effort is organized as the Native Plant Producer Network, or NPPN, and it was started in 2023.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- A federal raw milk testing mandate has been issued to address bird flu outbreaks in U.S. dairy herds.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS, declared the federal order Dec. 6 in response to more than 700 herds in 16 states having tested positive for H5N1. The agency billed the announcement as the start of its National Milk Testing Strategy program.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Agricultural specialists with Mississippi State University will share updates and forecasts for 2025 on the state’s largest industry during a conference in January.

The 2025 Mississippi Agricultural Outlook Conference will be held Jan. 14 at the Mill Conference Center in Starkville from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Producers, ag lenders and farm managers are encouraged to attend.

VERONA, Miss. -- Current and prospective commercial vegetable growers can learn about specialized production methods during Mississippi State University’s 2025 Vegetable Short Course Feb. 25-26.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Mississippians who want to deck their holiday halls with a locally grown Christmas tree will have no problem finding one. Although weather conditions have tested the state’s growers over the last two years, tree inventory is strong.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- For agricultural producers, careful planning in advance of each planting is critical to making a profit or breaking even, but the practice will be especially necessary going into 2025 due to a confluence of unfavorable economic conditions.

Kevin Kim, Will Maples and Brian Mills, agricultural economists with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, are part of an effort to help producers make sound business decisions as they enter what will likely be a difficult year financially across the country for agriculture.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Agriculture and forestry are Mississippi’s top industries, but their significance to the state’s economy extends beyond the revenue they generate on their own.

An analysis produced by agricultural economists with the Mississippi State University Extension Service found these sectors combined were an estimated $46.2 billion industry in 2022, accounting for 185,744 jobs and more than 14% of the state’s total economic activity.

Mississippi appears to have a decent-sized pecan crop this year, but quality may have been reduced by the dry summer.
James Callahan, president of the Mississippi Pecan Growers Association, said the organization estimates Mississippi has about 18,000 acres of pecans in production with 400 growers.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Despite another year of dry, hot conditions during the growing season, Mississippi’s sweet potato crop looks excellent overall as producers head into the final weeks of harvest. Lorin Harvey, sweet potato specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said 85% of the crop has been harvested as of Oct. 30. He has been surprised by the yields that many producers are seeing.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Mississippi’s peanut producers are close to wrapping up harvest for 2024. Producers planted 25,500 acres of peanuts, a 30% increase from last year. This year, growers returned between 4,000 and 5,000 acres to peanut production.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Agricultural producers and consultants are encouraged to register for the annual Mississippi State University Row Crop Short Course.

Hosted by the Mississippi State University Extension Service and the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, the 2024 Row Crop Short Course will be held Dec. 9-11 at the Mill Conference Center in Starkville.

PICAYUNE, Miss. -- History enthusiasts of all ages can try their hand at traditional skills and crafts at a festival hosted by the Crosby Arboretum.

The 22nd Annual Piney Woods Heritage Festival will take place on Nov. 9, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Crosby Arboretum, located at 370 Ridge Road in Picayune. This yearly event celebrates traditional skills and crafts, providing a platform for artisans to show their expertise in various heritage activities.

Harvest for two of the state’s most significant row crops is well underway, with soybeans and cotton both ahead of schedule.
As of Oct. 6, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that cotton was 43% harvested, ahead of the five-year average of 31% complete by this date. Soybeans were 76% harvested, where typically the crop is just 60% harvested.

Corn and rice harvests wrapped up for Mississippi fields a bit ahead of schedule, helped by the ideal weather leading up to the harvest window.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated corn harvest was 96% complete by Sept. 22, 2024. This put harvest ahead of the five-year average, which typically has corn 89% harvested by that date.

Did you know there is a difference in broilers and layers? Broilers and layers both serve important roles in the poultry industry, but their roles are very different.

Knowing that the severity of a drought is more than a measure of weather data, Mississippi State University Extension Service agents across the state gather photos and data weekly to document actual conditions.
Mike Brown, MSU professor of geosciences and state climatologist, helped develop and now oversees an app that allows him to submit detailed, highly localized information to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The Drought Monitor is a publication provided by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is the basis of much drought-relief efforts nationwide.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Hurricane Francine was reduced to a tropical storm by the time it reached Mississippi, and its rainfall and wind were not enough to cause major damage to the state’s cotton crop despite two-thirds of it having opened beforehand.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service estimated just under 70% of the cotton bolls around the state had opened as of Sept. 9, three days before Francine reached the state.