STARKVILLE, Miss. – Harvest is slightly behind schedule for Mississippi’s pecan crop due to a cold, wet spring and early summer, but quality and yield are looking good so far in much of the state.
One exception is in the state’s southeast quadrant, which was battered by Hurricane Ida in late August.
Mississippi’s nationally significant sweet potato harvest is shaping up to be below average because of flooding both early and late in the growing season. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates the sweet potato crop to be 37% harvested as of Oct. 10. USDA estimates 38% is in fair condition and 48% in good condition
Mississippi’s corn crop faced challenges ranging from a midseason flood to an early-September hurricane, but yields and quality look positive on the nearly complete harvest. On Sept. 13, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated the crop was 75% harvested
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- When the calendar turns to September, many who call Mississippi home long for cooler temperatures to relieve the summer’s heat, but the state’s cotton growers want high temperatures and dry weather to drag into October.
A crisis exemption that allowed Mississippi rice farmers to control fall armyworms helped them keep this year’s crop in good condition as harvest approaches.
Most soybeans in Mississippi are having a good year to date, with 82% of the crop appearing in good or excellent shape past the midway point in the season.
Prices also look good, with averages above those of recent years.
Because it is the first crop planted starting in March, Mississippi corn is in much better shape than other row crops struggling with the challenges of wet, cool weather.
CHUNKY, Miss. -- The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted countless traditions in 2020, but it will not keep living rooms across Mississippi from featuring Christmas decor, nor will it deter customer demand for fresh trees.
In fact, business is booming at farms that have opened for the season, said Southern Christmas Tree Association President Michael May.
A soggy planting season dissuaded some Mississippi producers from planting corn this year, but those who stuck with the crop have mostly been rewarded with a solid harvest.
Mississippi has a good-looking cotton crop in most places, but acreage is down to 520,000 acres because of a rainy planting season and unfavorable market conditions.
Cotton and corn acreage in Mississippi are more than 30% below March projections, while growers of soybeans and peanuts planted much more than initially forecasted.
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Row crop growers in Mississippi used a relatively dry May to make up for planting time lost earlier in the spring due to wet weather and soggy fields.
As of May 24, planting progress for the state’s four major row crops was slightly behind their five-year averages but ahead of where it was at that time in 2019.
Parts of Mississippi’s landscape are turning white, but unlike some northern areas, this coloration is caused by cotton bolls opening for harvest, not snow accumulation.
Spring rains created two sweet potato crops in Mississippi, and the later-planted crop is shaping up to be better than the first as harvests get underway.