Mississippi has a big reputation. They’re home to the Mississippi River, bluegrass music, and tons of delicious food. But did you know Mississippi plays a major role in the agricultural industry in the United States? In 2022, there were over 10 million acres of farmland in Mississippi, divided over 34,100 farm operations. The state makes some incredibly important contributions to the agricultural industry of the US. Dive in to learn about the most valuable crops in Mississippi. Some of the crops will definitely surprise you!
8. Peanuts
The majority of peanuts grown in the United States are used to produce peanut butter or peanut oil.
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In the eighth place spot for the most valuable crops grown in Mississippi is peanuts. In the state of Mississippi, 14,000 acres of peanuts were harvested in 2022. Those peanuts produced $1,713,600 of value for the state. How incredible! Despite growing almost 2 million dollars worth of peanuts, Mississippi isn’t even close to being the #1 grower in the United States. Georgia takes the cake, growing 42% of all peanuts produced in the US!
7. Wheat
Winter wheat is a common strain of wheat grown in the United States. It produces versatile wheat that is generally used for bread or flour production.
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Mississippi’s seventh-most valuable crop is a commonly grown United States crop, and that crop is wheat. In 2022, farmers in Mississippi harvested 75,000 acres of winter wheat, producing $33,345,000! That’s a lot of wheat! Despite producing such incredible value, Kansas is the leader in wheat production. In 2022, farmers in Kansas harvested almost 7 million acres of wheat, producing over 2 billion dollars in value.
6. Sweet Potatoes
Farmers in America are growing sweet potatoes because they are cheap and easy to grow and speak to some of the food trends happening around America.
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The sixth most valuable crop grown in the state of Mississippi is the sweet potato. In 2022, farmers in Mississippi harvested 29,500 acres of sweet potatoes which produced just over 91 million dollars in value. However, North Carolina takes the cake as the top producer of sweet potatoes in America. In 2022, farmers in North Carolina harvested 83,700 acres of the crop and produced over 225 million in value.
5. Rice
©Joshua Mayer from Madison, WI, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons – Original / License
With a damp riverbed terrain, Mississippi is the perfect place to grow rice. Rice is the fifth-most valuable crop grown in Mississippi. In 2022, 84,000 acres of rice were harvested, producing $104,628,000 in value for the state. However, Arkansas takes the first place spot for rice production in the United States. In 2022, Arkansas harvested over a million acres of rice, bringing in over 1.3 billion dollars for the state of Arkansas.
4. Hay
Two tons of hay can be grown per acre in Mississippi, whereas in Texas, only 1.56 tons are grown per acre. That means Texas has to dedicate even more acreage to hay growth to rear such incredible value!
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One of the most widely grown crops in the United States is hay. Mississippi contributed to the country’s hay industry in 2022 by growing 590,000 acres of the crop. This, in turn, produced $148,680,000 in value for the state of Mississippi. However, it’s hard to be the top producer of hay in the country, given that so many states grow it! Texas takes the first place spot, producing over a billion dollars in value in 2022.
3. Cotton
The cotton produced in the United States is generally exported to be turned into textiles that are made into apparel or furnishings.
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Cotton takes the third-place spot for the most valuable crop grown in Mississippi. Farmers in Mississippi produce primarily upland cotton, which, in 2022, brought in $488,803,000 in value. They harvested 525,000 acres to create that value. Mississippi farmers also produced $126,224,000 of cottonseed. Texas is also the biggest cotton grower in the US, though Mississippi is the third-largest. Georgia takes the second-place spot.
2. Corn
The corn in the United States is used to feed livestock, produce oil, and create ethanol.
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The most valuable crop in the United States is Mississippi’s second-most valuable crop! That crop is the ever-so-versatile corn. In 2022, farmers harvested 565,000 acres of grain corn, resulting in $643,253,000 in value. While this is an impressive harvest, the Corn Belt beats Mississippi out for corn production. Iowa, Illinois, and Nebraska are the top three corn-producing states. In fact, 90% of Iowa’s land is used for corn growing!
1. Soybeans 1,718,874,000
Despite growing so many soybeans, Mississippi isn’t even in the top ten growers of soybeans in the country!
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Finally, the most valuable crop grown in Mississippi is the soybean. The soybean is a versatile crop that is one of the most valuable in the United States. Farmers in Mississippi harvested 2,290,000 acres of the crop, producing 1.7 billion in value in 2022. The Midwest region of the United States is the champion of growing soybeans, with Illinois taking the first place spot for production in 2022.
Summary of the Most Valuable Crops Grown in Mississippi
Here’s a quick summary of Mississippi’s most valuable crops:
| Crop | Value ($) |
|---|---|
| Soybeans | 1,718,874,000 |
| Corn | 643,253,000 |
| Cotton | 488,803,000 |
| Hay | 148,680,000 |
| Rice | 104,628,000 |
| Sweet Potatoes | 91,540,000 |
| Wheat | 33,345,000 |
| Peanuts | 17,136,000 |
