Agricultural Economics
Mississippi’s producers know it takes more than growing a crop through to harvest to have a successful business. They must calculate risk, understand state and federal regulations, manage resources wisely, and be able to analyze growing amounts of data. Agricultural economists with the MSU Extension Service provide free tools farmers can use to determine break-even costs. They also keep Extension clients informed about commodity price fluctuations and offer insight into navigating the complexities of the Farm Bill.
2020 Planning Budgets
Enterprise budgets are essential tools for farm planning. MSU Extension has developed the 2020 Planning Budgets for Mississippi which are available on the MSU Department of Agricultural Economics website. You will find enterprise budgets for corn, cotton, soybeans, rice, grain sorghum, wheat, and forages in both pdf format and spreadsheets.
Budgets are included for irrigated and non-irrigated systems, Delta and non-Delta regions, with several different production systems for each crop. The pdf versions include tables with details of resource and input use, monthly cash flow projections, and breakeven analysis. The spreadsheet versions allow the user to make adjustments to the budget to adapt to different prices, input use, and production practices.
Click here to see Dr. Keith Coble's webinar, A First Look at the Farm Bill, from January 31, 2019.
Publications
News
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will accept applications for assistance from agricultural producers who continue to face market disruptions and associated costs because of COVID-19.Sign-up for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2 -- CFAP 2 -- begins Sept. 21 and runs through Dec. 11, 2020. The program is open to producers of row crops, livestock, aquaculture, dairy and specialty crop commodities.
Cottage food laws enacted to allow new entrepreneurs to start small-scale food businesses in their homes were updated recently to stay current with the business climate.
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.
Three Mississippi State University agricultural economists contributed to a national academic report on the effects of COVID-19 on food and agricultural markets.
Success Stories
Cooperation. Commitment. Grassroots leadership. These shared values unite First South Farm Credit and the Mississippi State University Extension Service in their shared mission to serve Mississippi’s agricultural community. So when the opportunity arose to support the fledgling Thad Cochran Agricultural Leadership Program (TCALP), First South CEO and MSU agricultural economics graduate John Barnard (Class of 1981) jumped at the chance.
