A pair of Mississippi agriculture economists say 2012 crop winners should be soybeans, corn and — to a lesser degree — cotton. But don’t expect farmers are sleeping all that well as March arrives and planting choices must be made, said John Michael Riley, an agriculture economist with the Agricultural Extension Service at Mississippi State [...] [...]
John Michael Riley, Ph.D., grew up on a farm and had a love for math. And he has parlayed his passion for agriculture and numbers into a career. The agriculture economist with Mississippi State University Extension Service, Riley is “The Numbers Guy.” Researchers and scientists, farmers, elected officials, media — if they are looking for [...] [...]
As the historic crest of the Mississippi River rolled past the Delta last month, the catfish industry started breathing a little easier. If the Yazoo Backwater Levee had failed, practically the entire catfish industry in Mississippi would have been underwater, and after a decade of struggles, could have meant the industry’s death. Even if the [...] [...]
Agriculture losses could approach $1B The anger and frustration was obvious in Doug Jeter’s voice. The Warren County farmer had spent the last week counting his losses while moving equipment to higher ground as the Mississippi River approaches an historic crest. He and colleagues moved his equipment to the North Washington Street area where they [...] [...]
Higher crop prices and steady increases in land rents and values have Mississippi farm owners believing their fortunes have turned. But recollections of the cropland boom and bust of the 1980s keep their enthusiasm in check. For one Washington County farmer who works several thousand acres, the new prosperity is a mere offset to the [...] [...]
While the escalation in farmland values in the Midwest has gained national attention, Mississippi agricultural land has had a less-noticed run-up of its own. From 2009 through 2010, Mississippi’s cropland rose 5 percent in value, keeping pace with Missouri and Kansas and outpacing Illinois (3.2 percent) and Iowa (1.2 percent), the U.S. Department of Agriculture [...] [...]
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