BY FRED T. COOK, JR., GORDON ANDREWS, AND ROY MEEKS

MSU Delta Research and Extension Center

The Mississippi Delta is known for the fertility of its soil and is quite often compared with the Nile Valley. While such comparisons are valid, many people, particularly prospective farmers coming to this region, are unaware of some of the problems associated with farming in the Mississippi Delta. While we could make a detailed list of these problems, most problems stem from the extreme erratic swings of our weather pattern from year to year. Generally, the problem is too much or not enough rainfall and to a lesser extent with variable temperatures. For many years the problem of excessive rainfall was associated with poor drainage. However, this problem is significantly less than it once was in the Central and North Delta as improved drainage and land forming is proving to be of considerable benefit.

Traditionally, land preparation for a crop begins in the late winter and early spring. On rare occasions we are able to do some work in February, but most of our land preparation takes place in March and April with cotton planting beginning in April and continuing through May. Soybean planting, up until the development of Group IV and V varieties, took place in May and June. It is clear that it is very important that we get our corn planted in March if we are to expect good yields. This is particularly true when we look at the question of the need for irrigation and perhaps more importantly, temperatures at pollination time for corn.

Increased farm machinery size has been a significant contribution to accomplishing land preparation in a timely manner in many years, but we still have some problems with an unusually wet spring. More on this later. Perhaps the greatest single improvement in the technology of crop production in the Mississippi Delta has been development of fast-fruiting, early-maturing cottons; the introduction of Group IV and V soybeans: and much faster-maturing, short-strawed rice varieties. these earlier, faster maturing varieties have been associated with significantly higher yields when compared with those of 10 years ago.

We will briefly address each of our major crops and factors that affect maturity.

cotton

Cotton, in general, benefits from as early a practical planting date as possible. Unfortunately, it is not unusual for cotton to be planted too early and result in a need for replanting. Cotton should be planted, depending on where you are in the Delta, starting when soil temperature is correct and you have a prospect of receiving 50 DD60Õs over the next 7 days. A key factor in earliness of cotton is the use of systemic insecticides and early-season insect control. Of course, mid-season insect control is also critical to development of a good yield and early maturity. A great deal of research has been done on the economic consequences of delayed cotton harvest at the Delta Research and Extension Center at Stoneville, Mississippi. This data clearly shows that when we have a wet harvest season, cotton yields and grades are significantly reduced.

Rice

While we still plant rice at approximately the same time period as we did 15 or 20 years ago, we now have short-strawed, faster-maturing varieties which allow us to harvest beginning in late August and through September. Before the development of these varieties, rice harvest was not usually initiated until late September, and it was not unusual for harvest to extend well into November. As most rice is grown on heavy clay soils which become boggy, late harvest resulted in harvesting rice in mud which significantly increased harvest costs and did a great deal of damage to the combines. This also caused significant rutting which in turn greatly delayed land preparation for rice planting in the following year.

Soybeans

Again, prior to the late 1980Õs, most soybean varieties grown in the Mississippi Delta were maturity Group VI and VII which resulted in a need to harvest these crops in October and November and sometimes in December. Again, this created a problem with mud, rutting and delayed land preparation the following spring.

Corn

A combination of favorable prices, lower production costs, and improved corn varieties for the South have resulted in a significant and rapid increase in the acreage of corn grown in the Mississippi Delta. However, to achieve acceptable yields corn must be planted in March and even earlier in the South Delta. Corn, of course, in most years will require irrigation, but it is very important that early planting occurs in this rather narrow window of opportunity. This allows corn to mature during the highest probability of rainfall and pollinate before temperatures become excessively high (above 92 degrees). One of the great advantages of corn is that, in general, the crop will be harvested from mid-August through early September at a time when there is a relatively low demand for labor and power equipment for other crops.

The Economic Importance of Earliness

As mentioned earlier, delayed harvest in cotton results in decreased yields and lower grades. The same is true for rice, soybeans and corn. Earliness and the associated earlier harvest times appear to have created a favorable succession for the ability to reduce the cost of farming in the Mississippi Delta especially where custom harvesting of corn is utilized. This means that we have a window in which our labor and power supply on the farm can be utilized to prepare the land for the next crop, either corn or cotton. Most of this can be done prior to the beginning of cotton harvest. The earlier planting and utilization of soybeans which are principally grown on heavy clay soils means a soybean harvest in late August or September and would permit land preparation prior to the start of the rainy season after the 20th or 25th of October. This is especially advantageous due to the lower rainfall during this time period and the limited number of days suitable for field work in the spring. The same scenario would apply to rice harvest. This would be especially true in facilitating rice planting the next spring where rice is planted following soybeans. A limited amount of tillage is required in most soybean fields to prepare it for the planting of either rice or soybeans in the following year.

Forty years ago, cotton harvest did not get underway in an extensive manner until after the first of October, and harvest quite often continued through November and December with significant yield and grade reductions as mentioned previously. The earlier, faster-fruiting cottons, coupled with more high performance 4- and 5-row pickers, have allowed cotton harvest to begin as early as the 10th and 15th of September; and if we do not have excessive rainfall, we can usually expect to complete harvest by the 20th or 25th of October. While very few farmers have sufficient labor to harvest their cotton and begin to prepare land for the next crop, this opportunity does not exist and needs to be examined. It is hoped that research addressing the whole crop mix and utilization of earliness and limited tillage will be initiated at the Delta Research and Extension Center within the next year. The authors strongly believe that this research has significant potential to reduce the cost of operating a farm in the Mississippi Delta.

As always, it is necessary to point out that with variable weather such regimes will not be practical in some of our years. But, even more important, it must be remembered that things can be carried too far including earliness. If earliness begins to affect yield and profits, then we have gone too far. The authors are reminded of a saying by a friend to the effect that ÒAnything carried to a logical conclusion becomes an absurdity.Ó DBJ

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