STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Rainfall at well above normal accumulations is impacting the state’s row crops, mostly in a negative way.

Mike Brown, state climatologist with the Mississippi State University Department of Geosciences, said many areas of the state have had one and a half times the typical amount of rain for this time of year.

"Annually, we generally see around 58 inches of rain in our coastal counties, 52 in our northern counties, and around 55 inches through the central portion of the state,” Brown said. “Mid-August through mid-October tends to be our driest period.

“Many portions of the Delta began the year well above normal for precipitation, but those areas have seen a drier end of May and have remained at or just below average for June,” he said.

As of late June, Starkville, Greenville, Tupelo and Southaven have about 50% more rain than usual since the planting and growing season began. Meridian and Greenwood are just above normal levels, while Jackson, Biloxi and McComb have seen about one-third more rain than normal.

Dave Spencer, an Extension pivot irrigation specialist with the MSU Extension Service, said frequent rains limit farmers’ ability to manage their crops.

“In many areas, fieldwork has been delayed, especially on clay-textured soils,” Spencer said.

Rice, cotton, soybeans and sweet potatoes all suffered from frequent rains that kept fields too wet to plant in the ideal planting windows.

“Increased rainfall this spring delayed planting in many parts of the Delta,” said Will Eubank, Extension rice specialist. “Many farmers were able to get some rice in the ground in late March, but following that short planting window, we saw weekly showers that hindered further planting, herbicide applications and nitrogen applications.

“The rain also caused numerous replant situations in pockets,” Eubank said.

About half the rice crop was planted rapidly from mid- to late-April, but crop progress was delayed as weeds began to crop up, levee construction was delayed and nitrogen applications were pushed back.

Brian Pieralisi, Extension cotton specialist, said he will be surprised if Mississippi growers were able to plant more than half of the 360,000 acres they intended to plant in 2025.

“However, much of the Delta and south and central Mississippi did get their cotton acres planted, and it looks pretty good, all things considered,” Pieralisi said. “It has stayed really wet across the Black Prairie and northeast Mississippi and scattered pockets around the state, so it has been a tough start for cotton.”

Soybeans have the advantage of a planting window that extends to early July, so as growers are forced to give up planting the intended crop such as cotton or rice, many have switched to late-planted soybeans.

“It has certainly been a difficult year to get in the field and get planted,” said Justin Calhoun, Extension soybean specialist. “I’d say the majority of our crop went in on the normal to late time frame.

“There are still quite a few acres that have yet to be planted, but they are in small pockets around the state that just haven’t caught any breaks in the rain.”

This divided planting window has resulted in a tale of two crops, he said.

“We have the April and early May beans that look fantastic, and we have the mid-June to yet-to- be-planted crop that is going to be a huge struggle,” Calhoun said.

Sweet potatoes are mostly grown in a small area of north Mississippi around Calhoun County, and this crop is about 30% behind schedule after challenges increased in early May.

“The critical cutoff point for planting sweet potatoes is July 4,” said Lorin Harvey, Extension sweet potato specialist. “Sweet potatoes aren’t at a crisis level yet, but it could quickly be the case if we don’t get some dry days soon.”

Harvey said most growers prioritized planting sweet potatoes over soybeans, so there are at least 40,000 acres of soybeans yet to be planted in the major sweet potato growing counties.
Mississippi growers planted 490,000 acres of corn in 2024, but experts anticipate that acreage is up significantly this year. Rains did not hamper corn planting as much as other crops, but Erick Larson, Extension corn specialist, said rain since early May is contributing to multiple complications.

“These include delayed planting, restricted fertilizer and herbicide applications, seedling emergence failure, nitrogen deficiency, soil compaction, flooding, sand blasting, hail damage and greensnap or broken stalks from various storms,” Larson said.

Because of these challenges, Larson said the corn crop outlook is fairly modest at this point and growers are actively managing these complications, when possible.

Drew Gholson, Extension irrigation specialist, said if there is a silver lining to all the rain, it is that rain in June reduced the need for irrigation in some fields.

“A benefit of some of the rain has been the first irrigation was delayed in corn in a lot of areas longer than I have seen,” Gholson said. “Some of our corn acres especially in the south Delta made it through a good portion of the higher water demand, growth stages with just rainfall.

“It may not have eliminated the need for irrigation, but we are seeing reduced irrigation events.”