Rice

Mississippi’s modern commercial rice production began in 1948 when Rex Kimbrell produced about 300 acres just south of Greenville in Washington County. By 1954, about 77,000 acres were harvested. After the 1954 crop, the U.S. government instituted acreage controls, and only 52,000 acres were harvested in 1955. Rice culture in the Mississippi Delta was limited by this government program, not producer interest. After the acreage control program was eliminated in 1973, the harvested acreage increased to 108,000 acres in 1974. In the following years, rice production increased rapidly, reaching a high of 335,000 harvested acres and 14.4 million hundredweight (cwt) in 1981.

Rice production in Mississippi has been almost totally limited to the Mississippi-Yazoo Delta, with very little production outside this area. Historically, the central-Delta counties of Bolivar, Sunflower, and Washington have been the leading rice-producing counties. In recent years, Tunica County has increased rice acreage and annually ranks in the top three counties for rice production in Mississippi.

The table below shows United States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency certified rice acres planted by county in Mississippi, 2009-2014.

County	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Adams	240	0	0	192	0	0
Attala	0	0	10	0	0	0
Bolivar	72,333	80,255	50,813	34,956	33,734	47,702
Carroll	205	0	10	0	0	0
Coahoma	14,761	25,032	11,370	8,797	8,109	14,453
DeSoto	859	1,156	335	553	1,190	2,316
Grenada	171	321	328	282	282	0
Holmes	1,485	1,448	234	141	121	203
Humphreys	3,656	8,241	1,996	1,955	1,475	3,426
Issaquena	783	2,702	880	890	1,115	483
Jackson	55	35	0	0	0	0
Lee	10	11	8	10	3	3
Leflore	17,107	20,144	6,754	5,328	3,905	6,000
Panola	4,777	6,446	5,383	5,901	5,523	10,188
Quitman	11,031	20,170	6,360	8,440	8,766	15,565
Sharkey	1,951	5,390	855	306	433	857
Suflower	38,227	45,676	19,351	14,253	13,635	25,241
Tallahatchie	14,081	19,314	6,267	6,460	6,964	12,859
Tate	905	944	869	828	934	1,082
Tunica	23,913	27,041	23,167	21,696	24,603	28,608
Washington	29,507	35,736	18,854	14,687	11,480	15,690
Yazoo	1,841	1,907	2,273	765	0	867
Total	237,898	302,019	156,107	126,440	122,272	185,543

Publications

Publication Number: IB0517

Mississippi Rice Variety Trials, 2016

Publication Number: P2471

2017 Insect Control Guide for Agronomic Crops

Publication Number: P3016

Rice 2017 Planning Budgets

Publication Number: IB0472

Mississippi Rice Variety Trials, 2012

Publication Number: IB0466

Mississippi Rice Variety Trials, 2011

Dark clouds move toward Mississippi State University soybean and corn plots at the R.R. Foil Plant Science Research Center in Starkville, Mississippi, on Aug. 17, 2017. (Photo by MSU Extension Service/Linda Breazeale)

Crops could use a little sunshine

August 18, 2017 - Filed Under: Cotton, Grains, Rice, Soybeans

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi’s row crops have had enough rain, and most fields just need sunshine.

Erick Larson, grain crops specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said corn is mature and will gain no benefit from additional moisture. In the first couple of weeks of August, skies were overcast or rain was falling across most of the state.

Bobby Golden, a rice and soil fertility agronomist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, speaks to attendees of the MSU Delta Research and Extension Center Rice Producer Field Day in Stoneville, Mississippi, on Aug. 2, 2017. (Photo by MSU Extension Service/Kenner Patton)

Rice harvest totals may eclipse early forecasts

August 11, 2017 - Filed Under: Rice

Combines began rolling in Mississippi Delta rice fields as soon as growers marked the beginning of August, but wet weather soon shut down early harvest attempts.

Bobby Golden, a rice and soil fertility agronomist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said yields are expected to be favorable when fields are dry enough for harvest, though overall acreage will be down this year.

Attendees of the 27th annual Rice Tasting Luncheon can sample more than 300 rice dishes during the event Sept. 15, 2017, at the Delta State University Walter Sillers Coliseum in Cleveland. The luncheon is held in conjunction with National Rice Month and highlights Mississippi’s 17 rice-producing counties. (Photo by MSU Extension Service/file photo)

Delta marks National Rice Month with annual luncheon

August 3, 2017 - Filed Under: Rice

CLEVELAND, Miss. -- Delta area residents and chefs will show off the versatility of rice -- one of Mississippi's four major row crops -- during the 27th annual Rice Tasting Luncheon.

The event, which celebrates National Rice Month, draws more than 1,000 people from the state, the region and other countries. As the top rice-producing county in Mississippi, Bolivar County has the honor of hosting the luncheon every year.

It begins at 11 a.m. and concludes at 1 p.m. on Sept. 15 at the Delta State University Walter Sillers Coliseum in Cleveland.

Rice producer field day set for Aug. 2

July 13, 2017 - Filed Under: Rice

By Kenner Patton
MSU Extension Service

STONEVILLE, Miss. -- Rice producers can learn about the latest research on production and disease management during the Mississippi State University Extension Service Rice Producer Field Day Aug. 2.

The program will begin at 3 p.m. at the Charles W. Capps Jr. Entrepreneurial Center at the Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville. The three-hour event includes field tours of research plots with MSU rice researchers.

This 2016 rice field is growing the Thad variety of foundation seed stock at the North Mississippi Research and Extension Center in Verona, Mississippi. Most of the 2017 rice crop is at or beyond this growth stage that is ready for floodwaters. (File photo by Mississippi Foundation Seed Stock/Randy Vaughan)

Rains challenge even Mississippi rice fields

June 9, 2017 - Filed Under: Rice

STONEVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi growers have flooded many of their rice fields now, but not before rains caused crop management challenges.

Bobby Golden, a rice and soil fertility agronomist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said that even though rice is flooded for the majority of the growing season, excess rains and wet weather can complicate crop establishment and management.