Feature Story from 2025

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Row crop growers in Mississippi expect to plant more corn in 2025 than they did last year, but not as much cotton or as many soybeans.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service, a unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, released its annual prospective plantings report March 31. Surveys are conducted with farm operators nationwide during the first two weeks of March each year to collect data on which row crops they plan to plant and how many acres.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Row crop producers who reported financial loss in 2024 may be eligible for economic assistance through a U.S. Department of Agriculture resource.

USDA’s Farm Service Agency has made $10 billion available through the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program, or ECAP, for growers to offset increased input costs and lower prices for their commodities.

Artificial intelligence is the most recent tool in the toolbox for the Mississippi State University Extension Service in its ongoing efforts to provide the best research-backed information to the residents of the state.

MSU’s Agricultural Autonomy Institute, or AAI, hosted the National AI in Agriculture and Natural Resources Conference on March 31-April 2 in Starkville. ExtensionBot was the first item to be addressed at the conference.