Agriculture forms an important part of the economy, society, and history of theAmerican state ofMississippi. From colonization until theAmerican Civil War agriculture in Mississippi was dominated by aplantation basedcotton production system which relied onenslaved labor.
Mississippi's rank as one of the poorest states is related to its dependence oncotton agriculture before and after theAmerican Civil War, late development of its frontierbottomlands in theMississippi Delta, repeated natural disasters offlooding in the late 19th and early 20th century that required massive capital investment inlevees, and ditching and draining the bottomlands, and slow development ofrailroads to link bottomland towns and river cities.[1] In addition, whenDemocrats regained control of the state legislature, they passed the 1890 constitution that discouraged corporate industrial development in favor of rural agriculture, a legacy that would slow the state's progress for years.[2]
Before the Civil War, Mississippi was the fifth-wealthiest state in the nation, its wealth generated by the labor of slaves in cotton plantations along the rivers.[3]
Largely due to the domination of theplantation economy, focused on the production ofagriculturalcotton, the state's elite was reluctant to invest in infrastructure such as roads and railroads. They educated their children privately.Industrialization did not reach many areas until the late 20th century. The planter aristocracy, the elite ofantebellum Mississippi, kept the tax structure low for their own benefit, making only private improvements. Before the war the most successful planters, such asConfederate PresidentJefferson Davis, owned riverside properties along the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers in the Mississippi Delta. Away from the riverfronts, most of the Delta was undeveloped frontier.[citation needed]
Blacks cleared land, selling timber and developing bottomland to achieve ownership. In 1900, two-thirds of farm owners in Mississippi were blacks, a major achievement for them and their families. Due to the poor economy, low cotton prices and difficulty of getting credit, many of these farmers could not make it through the extended financial difficulties. Two decades later, the majority of African Americans weresharecroppers. The low prices of cotton into the 1890s meant that more than a generation of African Americans lost the result of their labor when they had to sell their farms to pay off accumulated debts.[4]
After the Civil War, the state refused for years to build human capital by fully educating all its citizens. In addition, the reliance on agriculture grew increasingly costly as the state suffered loss of cotton crops due to the devastation of theboll weevil in the early 20th century, devastating floods in 1912–1913 and 1927, collapse of cotton prices after 1920, and drought in 1930.[1]
Commercialblueberry cultivation began in 1980.[5]
In the modern era more of an emphasis has been placed onsustainable agriculture.[6]
The negative effects ofoverdevelopment andclimate change onagriculture in California have made large scalecommercial farming in the Mississippi Delta more attractive.[7]
Many blueberry growers are organized as part of the Miss-Lou Blueberry Growers Cooperative (which also includes growers inLouisiana). 2,100 acres of blueberries were under cultivation in 2014.[5]
The blueberry was made Mississippi'sstate fruit in 2023.[8]
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Poultry makes up the largest of Mississippi's agricultural production by value at $3.8 billion in 2023.[10]
Soybean production was worth $1.3 billion in 2023.[10]
Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science,[11][12] commonly known asMississippi State University (MSU), is apublicland-grantresearch university inMississippi State, Mississippi, United States.[13][14] It isclassified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity" and has a totalresearch and development budget of $320 million, the largest in Mississippi.[15]
The university was chartered as Mississippi Agricultural & Mechanical College on February 28, 1878, and admitted its first students in 1880. Organized into 12 colleges and schools, the university offers over 180baccalaureate,graduate, andprofessional degree programs,[16] and is home to Mississippi's only accredited programs inarchitecture andveterinary medicine. Mississippi State participates in theNational Sea Grant College Program andNational Space Grant College and Fellowship Program. The university's main campus inStarkville is supplemented by auxiliary campuses inMeridian,Gautier, andBiloxi.
Mississippi State's intercollegiate sports teams, theMississippi State Bulldogs, compete inNCAA Division I athletics as members of theSoutheastern Conference. Mississippi State was a founding member of the SEC in 1932. In their more-than 120-year history, the Bulldogs have won 21 individual national championships,[17] 30 regular season conference championships, and 1 national championship title.[18] The school is noted for a pervasivebaseball fan culture,[19] withDudy Noble Field holding 22 of the top 25 all-timeNCAA attendance records and the school'sLeft Field Lounge being described as an epicenter ofcollege baseball.[20]TheMississippi State Fair is Mississippi's primary agricultural fair.[21]
The Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum is inJackson, Mississippi.[22] Mississippi Pickle Fest, a festival dedicated topickled cucumbers, is held at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum.[23]
The people who wrote the constitution wanted the state to remain 'a pastoral state, an agricultural state'. They didn't want big business or the corporations coming in, encouraging 'unfavorable competition for jobs with the agricultural community'.
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