STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The growing season is wrapping up on Mississippi’s 2024 rice crop, and experts anticipate a slightly higher yield but depressed prices.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that rice harvest began the first week of August. As of Aug. 11, the crop was rated 15% in excellent condition and 82% in either fair or good condition.

This year, Mississippi rice growers are expected to produce 31% more rice than last year. Rice acreage is expected to yield 7,500 pounds per acre, up 30 pounds per acre from what was harvested in 2023.

Jason Bond, weed scientist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said the growing season was decently smooth for rice this year.

“With harvest only just beginning, optimism is high,” said Bond, who is also a researcher with the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. “Weather has been agreeable throughout most of the year until the last few weeks of late July and early August with excessive heat. It remains to be seen how that will influence yield since harvest is only just beginning.”

The crop faced an early challenge from the supply and demand on seed during planting because acreage intentions exceeded the seed forecasts, Bond said. To finish out harvest, the crop just needs sunshine and dry weather.

“The dry weather facilitates harvest and allows timely field preparation for the 2025 crop after harvest,” Bond said.

Disease was not a major issue for rice this year. Tom Allen, Extension plant pathologist and MAFES researcher, said sheath blight is the crop’s No. 1 disease management concern, but reports of its appearance have been normal.

“I’ve received lots of questions related to kernel smut prevention, since some years that can be an issue, especially when it rains following automatic fungicide applications,” Allen said. “Some of the rice crop was likely exposed to high temperatures during flowering and pollination, so I expect some questions to come up related to bacterial panicle blight.

“Normally, bacterial panicle blight is not an issue, but the disease occurs more frequently during seasons with high temperatures during pollination,” he said.

Mississippi growers are expected to harvest 156,000 acres this year, up from the 120,000 acres harvested in 2023. Mississippi is No. 6 in the nation in rice production, with Bolivar and Tunica counties having the state’s most rice acreage.

Laura Giaccaglia, an MSU Extension agent in Bolivar County, said harvest on her county’s rice acres of a little more than 38,000 had already begun by mid-August.

“Growers are concerned about what impact high temperatures during germination will have on yields, but we’ll have to wait and see how the harvest comes out,” Giaccaglia said.

Sam Floyd, an MSU Extension agent in Tunica County, said her county has just under 38,000 acres of rice, up 6,000 acres from last year.

“The weather we have had this year is the main factor that affected our rice crop,” Floyd said. “The right temperatures at the correct planting and growing time helped make the plants grow a little quicker than usual. We are grateful for that.”

Both agents agreed that high input costs remain a challenge to rice growers. USDA projected the average farm price in 2024 for rice to be $14.50 per hundredweight. That is down from $16.10 in 2023.