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As agriculture has evolved in Mississippi, the state is losing its ‘middle class’ of farmers 

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1 year ago

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In the early 1930s, Mississippi had over 300,000 farmers, the most ever recorded for the state in federal census records. The last survey, from 2017, listed just around 55,000.

In the 1930s, the average farm size was around 50 acres. Today, it’s over 300 acres.

For decades from the early to mid 20th Century, Black farmers outnumbered white farmers in the state. Today, 86% of Mississippi’s farmers are white.

While agriculture is still the top employer in the state, who farms, what they farm, and who they sell to has changed greatly over the last century. Victim to many of those changes, experts say, is the so-called “middle class” of farmers.

“When we look at the decrease in farms over time, it’s largely that group of farmers, that medium scale,” said John Green, director of the Southern Rural Development Center at Mississippi State University.

Research shows that input costs – for livestock, fertilizer, pesticides, fuel and other needs – have climbed 70% since 1970 when adjusted for inflation. Green explained that those costs leave farmers more at risk, especially with the harmful climate impacts, such as drought and floods, that Mississippi has seen in recent years.

“There’s a lot more vulnerability for those farmers when there’s a bad year, so it makes it harder to stay in the game,” Green said.

Commissioner of Agriculture Andy Gipson, discusses the current status of farming and its future in the state, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 at the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce in Jackson. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today

Land is also more expensive due to higher demand, making it harder for newer farmers to buy in and easier for older farmers to cash out.

“It’s a story that can be told in every community,” State Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson told Mississippi Today. “Grandpa and grandma had a farm, and the family wants to keep the farm. Who’s going to run it? Well, this (kid’s) got another job, that one’s moving off. What happens is the farm sits there, and then, slowly, suburbanization comes along, some developer says, ‘I’ll offer you so much for that land,’ and suddenly they don’t have the reason to keep that farm anymore.”

All of these factors are making it harder for farmers in the middle, Gipson explained: Small farmers, like the ones selling fruits and vegetables to farmers markets, will always have demand. Large operations, with technological advantages like an irrigation system, can weather a bad year.

“Most of our farmers in Mississippi have another job to pay the bills,” Gipson said. “That’s that middle group of farmers. They’re at most risk of getting out (of the business) because there comes a point at which the input costs are so expensive that it’s not worth it financially to keep going.”

But Gipson also pointed out that, despite Mississippi having only a tenth of the number of farms it once had, production from the agriculture sector is at an all-time high. With new technology, he explained, farmers can grow more with the same amount of land.

Farm equipment is nearly submerged in flood water in north Issaquena County, Miss., Friday, April 5, 2019. Credit: Eric J. Shelton, Mississippi Today/Report For America

“The good news is we’ve seen our production of agriculture, as far as the number of products, the amount of products, food and fiber and timber, continue to go up,” Gipson said.

If production is at an all-time high, then why does it matter that Mississippi has only a fraction of the farms and farmers that it used to?

For one, farmers are getting older. As Green and two other MSU researchers wrote about recently, the average age of farmers in the U.S. grew from 50 to 57 since 1978. In Mississippi, the average is 59. Their research looks at barriers for new farmers entering the trade, as well as programs like 4-H trying to engage younger farmers and reverse the aging trend.

But also, the loss of middle-tier farms has disrupted the cultural and economic identity of rural areas around the state.

Carlton Turner, a Utica native, said his grandfather worked for years as a farmer on their family land until, eventually, there wasn’t enough money coming in and he had to find a new job. Today, Turner said, the job opportunities in his hometown are harder to come by.

The Sipp Culture Community Farm in Uitca, used for the group's Small Farm Apprentice Program. Credit: Carlton Turner

“A town like Utica, that has a long history of agricultural production, the only industry here is a sawmill,” he said. “And that doesn’t provide enough jobs for the community, so the community has to go out to work in other areas.”

Turner, founder of the Mississippi Center for Cultural Production, is working to revive agricultural interest in rural, predominantly Black areas that have lost farms over the years. The loss of Black farmers in Mississippi, he said, came from both the Great Migration as well as the mechanization of farming, which reduced the need for labor.

“The food system went from being many local producers that were producing for themselves and for their local communities, to consolidating to larger farms and larger, commercial agricultural industries,” he said. “We've yielded a lot of that power away from our communities in which there's few people that are basically creating the industry and the food for many people.”

Turner also emphasized the wellness impacts of losing small and middle-tier farms, especially in one of the least healthy and most food insecure states. Restoring people’s connection with locally grown food would help reverse that trend, he explained.

“We have some of the most fertile land, but our (health statistics are) the lowest in the country,” he said. “That is directly connected to our food systems. We need more farmers producing high quality, locally sourced whole foods because we don't have the quality of health and wellness that we deserve as a state and as a community.”

Other local farmers are also working to fill in the gap Turner mentioned. Cindy Ayers Elliott, for instance, runs the 68-acre Foot Print Farms in Jackson, which aims to bring young people into agriculture and build the supply of locally grown, healthy foods.

In the 1930s, vegetables like sweet potatoes, cabbages, and tomatoes – not including commodity crops like corn and soybeans – made up over 160,000 acres of the state’s farmland, and tens of thousands of farms grew fruit like apples, pears, and peaches. Today, less than 40,000 acres are used for vegetables – again, excluding corn and soybeans – and just a few hundred farms grow fruit.

As far as solutions, Gipson pointed to workforce development programs that the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce has set up to reach young people, in addition to local 4-H clubs and the state’s Future Farmers of America chapter. He also said a priority is helping family farms set up succession plans, so that farms stay active for future generations.

Commissioner of Agriculture Andy Gipson, discusses the current status of farming and its future in the state, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 at the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce in Jackson. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today

“Farming today is high technology,” Gipson said, describing the computerized systems now used to harvest timber and row crops. “And it’s our young people who know how to do that. Connecting our young people to farms is the answer, not only for Mississippi's long term economic viability, because agriculture is far and away our largest industry, but also in terms of keeping our young people here.”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Trump appoints former Gov. Phil Bryant to FEMA Review Council as state awaits ruling on tornadoes

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2 hours ago

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April 28, 2025

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mississippitoday.org – @GeoffPender – 2025-04-28 16:36:00

by Geoff Pender and Alex Rozier, Mississippi Today
April 28, 2025

President Donald Trump has appointed former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant to the FEMA Review Council, which Trump has tasked to “fix a terribly broken system” and shift disaster response and recovery from federal to state government.

The appointment comes as Mississippi awaits a response from the Trump administration on whether it will approve Gov. Tate Reeves’ request for a federal disaster declaration for deadly tornadoes in mid-March. The federal declaration, which Reeves requested April 1, would allow families and local governments devastated by the storms to receive federal assistance. Trump recently denied a similar request for Arkansas.

Trump has said states should shoulder more of the burden for disaster response and recovery, and he and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have threatened to shut down the Federal Emergency Management Agency altogether.

“I am proud to announce the formation of the FEMA Review Council, comprised of Top Experts in their fields, who are Highly Respected by their peers,” Trump wrote on social media. “… I know that the new Members will work hard to fix a terribly broken System, and return power to State Emergency Managers, who will help, MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN.”

Trump listed other members of the council, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Govs. Greg Abbott of Texas and Glenn Youngkin of Virginia.

Bryant, a longtime political ally of Trump, on social media wrote he is, “Honored to receive this appointment …” and that “Unfortunately, we’ve earned a lot of experience with natural disasters and recovery in Mississippi. Let’s Make America Safe Again.”

Mississippi saw seven deaths and an estimated $18 million in destruction from multiple tornadoes on March 14-15, the same storm system that caused damage in Arkansas. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency reported that 233 homes were destroyed across 14 counties, and hundreds more were damaged.

During the initial aftermath, Reeves told reporters he believed there was a “high likelihood” the state’s damages from the March tornadoes would meet the threshold for FEMA’s Individual Assistance, which provides direct payments to disaster victims.

The Trump administration’s FEMA has denied federal assistance for flooding in West Virginia, tornadoes in Arkansas and a storm in Washington state, and refused North Carolina’s request for extending relief after Hurricane Helene.

After Hurricane Katrina’s devastation in 2005, Mississippi received nearly $25 billion in federal relief spending, which state leaders have credited with saving the state from ruin and allowing communities and families to rebuild.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.


Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Right

The content presents a fairly neutral tone but leans towards a center-right perspective, particularly in its framing of President Trump’s actions and the appointment of former Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant. It highlights the argument for more state-level responsibility in disaster management, a position typically associated with conservative views. The reference to the Trump administration’s denial of federal assistance to certain states, including Arkansas, aligns with a more fiscally conservative stance that prioritizes reducing federal intervention. However, the mention of the substantial federal aid Mississippi received after Hurricane Katrina adds a historical balance to the perspective, indicating that the piece does not fully align with extreme conservative views.

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Mississippi Today

Chris Lemonis fired, national search underway for Mississippi State baseball

Published

3 hours ago

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April 28, 2025

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mississippitoday.org – @rick_cleveland – 2025-04-28 15:34:00

by Rick Cleveland, Mississippi Today
April 28, 2025

Not quite four years after guiding Mississippi State to a baseball national championship, head coach Chis Lemonis has been fired, effective immediately.

Assistant coach Justin Parker will serve as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

Mississippi State made the announcement in a press release Monday afternoon. 

“A change in leadership is what is best for the future of Mississippi State baseball,” State athletic director Zac Selmon said. “We have not consistently met the standard of success that our university, fans and student-athletes expect and deserve. I want to thank Coach Lemonis for his work and the time he gave to our program, including a national championship in 2021. We appreciate his efforts and wish him and his family all the best moving forward.”

A national search is underway to identify the program’s next head coach, Selmon said.

“In a team meeting moments ago, I expressed to our student-athletes the confidence we have in their abilities and the potential they have for the remainder of the season,” Selmon said. “I encouraged them to compete with pride, resilience, and intensity. With the hard work, preparation, and talent already within this group, we are committed to putting them in the best position to finish the season competing at the highest level.

“Mississippi State is the premier job in college baseball. The tradition, the facilities, the NIL offerings and the fan base are all second to none. Dudy Noble Field is the best environment in the sport, period.”

The current Bulldogs have a 25-19 record and are 7-14 in the SEC. Most recently, the Bulldogs lost two of three weekend games to Auburn, the nation’s 11th-ranked team. State has lost its last two SEC series and five of seven this season. The Bulldogs are currently No. 45 in the nation in ratings percentage index (RPI) and are in danger of not making the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years.

Lemonis’ MSU teams won 232 games and lost 135 in his six-plus seasons. Hired by former MSU baseball coach and athletic director John Cohen from Indiana, Lemonis has an overall coaching record of 373-226-2.

“This program is built for success,” Selmon said. “Our history proves it, and our future demands it. We are one of only four programs in NCAA history to reach the College World Series in six consecutive decades. With 40 NCAA Tournament appearances, 12 trips to Omaha, 11 SEC regular season titles, and a national championship, our program has always been a national contender. That is the bar. We’re going to find a leader who will embrace that, elevate our program and compete for championships.”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.


Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

The content provided is a straightforward news report about the firing of a baseball coach, Chis Lemonis, following his achievement of winning a national championship. The information is factual and does not indicate any political leaning, ideology, or bias. It is neutral in tone and intent.

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Mississippi Today

MS House member agrees to pre-trial program after indictment

Published

5 hours ago

on

April 28, 2025

By

mississippitoday.org – @MSTODAYnews – 2025-04-28 13:57:00

by Taylor Vance, Mississippi Today
April 28, 2025

Rep. Keith Jackson, a Democratic lawmaker from Kemper County, can remain in office despite a felony indictment by participating in a pre-trial intervention program, according to court documents. 

A grand jury last year indicted Jackson, a first-term House member, on charges of receiving stolen property – specifically, a 2006 Magnolia timber trailer worth about $15,000. The grand jury also indicted two other people, Fredwrick (sic) Young and William Tate, in connection with the criminal charges. 

Jackson did not respond to a request for comment, and his attorney, Christopher Collins, declined to comment. 

Cassie Colman, the district attorney in the 10th circuit district, told Mississippi Today that the state agreed to let Jackson participate in pretrial intervention because he had no prior criminal record. If Jackson completes the terms of the pre-trial agreement, then the criminal charges will be expunged from his record. 

Going to trial would likely be risky for the lawmaker because, if convicted of the offense, he could lose the right to hold elected office. 

Receiving stolen property is a disenfranchising crime in Mississippi, and if someone is convicted of a disenfranchising crime, they lose their right to vote. To run for office in Mississippi, someone must be a registered voter. 

But Coleman, who prosecuted the case against Jackson, said the legislator’s agreement to enter the program is neither a guilty plea nor a conviction. Instead, he will enroll in the intervention program for at least a year and pay around $3,350 in fees, according to court documents. 

If he fails to meet the terms of the agreement, the district attorney could remove him from the program and prosecute him for the original crime.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.


Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

The article presents factual information about a Mississippi House member’s legal situation, focusing on the details of the pre-trial intervention program and the potential consequences if he fails to meet the terms. There is no overt political commentary or slant, and it primarily reports on the legal process and actions taken by both the accused lawmaker and the prosecuting district attorney. The tone is neutral, and it avoids sensationalizing the case or making political judgments. Given the absence of opinion or partisanship, the content is categorized as centrist.

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