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
News
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.
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi row crop growers are planning to plant more soybeans and corn in 2021 than they did last year but not as much cotton, rice or hay.
The National Agricultural Statistics Service, a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, publishes its planting intentions report each year at the end of March. This report provides a state-by-state estimation of how many acres of corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton farmers will plant in the upcoming growing season.
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Each February marks the occasion for producers to share their research and programming needs with Mississippi State University agricultural specialists in person.
To comply with COVID-19 social distancing guidelines, the opportunity will be extended virtually this year.
The 2020 Mississippi State University Extension Service Row Crop Short Course has been cancelled as COVID-19 cases trend back up in Mississippi.
September is National Rice Month! So, let’s celebrate with some great tasting rice recipes that have been featured on the blog.
Success Stories
Rice is one of Mississippi’s only commodities to be grown, milled, packaged, sold, and eaten right here in the state. And, for decades, the annual Rice Tasting Luncheon in Cleveland, Mississippi, has allowed local residents to show off their best rice-based dishes at Delta State University in Bolivar County, which produces more than 1.5 million hundredweight of rice annually.
