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For the father-son duo of BeaverdamFarms, the decision to sell at farm-ers markets is both ethical and eco-

nomical. “It’s a four-month process to grow one

tomato,” Jerry Pinion, the farm’s founderand operator said. “If I take it to thegrocery store, I get 75 cents a pound. Thenthey sell it for a dollar. Now, that doesn’tseem right.”

At the Downtown Greenwood FarmersMarket, where the Pinions sometimes setup shop, in addition to markets inJackson, Starkville and elsewhere in thestate, a booth costs a farmer one flat feebased on how often he chooses to partici-pate — weekly, bi-monthly or monthly.After that, he keeps all that he earns.

Greenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdamssaid the fee goes to pay the market man-ager, cleanup and tents. The city doesn’tearn anything from the market, whichopened for the year on Saturday, besidesthe flow of people coming to Greenwoodfrom out of town and spending moneyelsewhere.

That’s a much better deal for the farmerthan selling to a grocery store, Jerry said.

Selling wholesale eliminates the middleman, a step that leads to both fairer pricesfor farmers and, said Jerry’s son Dustin,cleaner, more healthful food for consumers.

According to Dustin Pinion, farmersmarkets let consumers buy directly fromthe source, an option that allows greatertransparency as food moves from farm totable.

“Just being able to be one on one withyour customers, having your customersknow where their food comes from, howit’s grown, with or without pesticides ...you don’t get that from the grocery store,”he said.

The Pinions, whose 10-acre farm is

located in a rural enclave in Indianola,started growing tomatoes because theywere “poor and broke and needed a job,”said Jerry.

Jerry’s elderly father had some land,and what was once a hobby soon became acareer. The Pinions now also have a satel-lite farm in Starkville with pigs, chickensand rabbits.

The fruit, however, is sometimes notworth the labor.

“It’s not the cheapest product to grow,”Jerry said, pointing to a $250,000 green-house that provides temperature-con-trolled conditions for hundreds of tomato,cucumber and bell pepper plants. Thegreenhouse looks like something that’slanded from outer space, and it might aswell, since the Pinions are among just ahandful of farmers in the region using thetechnique of insulated growing.

The vegetables are protected from the

usual farmer’s ills of bugs and bad weath-er, eliminating the need for pesticides orfertilizers of any kind. Although thePinions argue that such conditions pro-duce much healthier food, the vegetablesgrown under such meticulous standardsare bound to be pricier than a run-of -the-mill beefsteak tomato.

“Some people might not like the prices.They’re a little higher, but you’re buyingfrom a small local farm,” Dustin said.“People who understand, who are worriedabout where their food comes from, don’tcare about price.”

“Plus,” he added, “you either pay us orpay the doctors in the long run,” referringto the illnesses and long-term side effectshe and others in the organic food contin-gency believe are borne from foods grownwith the aid of chemicals and genetic mod-ification.

One of the biggest problems on

Beaverdam Farms is the plethora of Deltafarmers surrounding it that do not adhereto a no-spray policy. The Pinions arealways worrying about picking up driftfrom cropdusters, said Jerry, and twoyears ago, the farm lost $150,000 worth ofproduct from chemicals sprayed onto itssoil.

The Indianola airport is just one mileaway from Beaverdam Farms.

“In the Delta, that’s all they know isspray,” said Jerry. “They want to spray justone turnrow, but the wind makes it hit usreally strong. It’s our biggest struggle.”

Although such obstacles, coupled withhigh asking prices on vegetables, makeclean growing seem like a futile pursuit,Jerry and Dustin are steadfast in theirmission to grow chemical-free food.

“You get what you pay for,” Jerry said. “What you pay for” to Dustin is much

more than just food. It’s a lifestyle thatembraces symbiotic relationships amongfarmer, consumer and earth.

“We all live together and work togetheron this planet,” he said. “We should restorethe environment through agriculture, notdestroy it.”

Dustin said farmers markets keep foodsgrown in the Delta in the Delta. “We havethe most fertile soil in the world for grow-ing food and we export all of it,” he said.“We also have the highest number of dis-eases from bad health. It doesn’t makesense.”

McAdams suggested, however, thathealthful, pesticide-free foods aren’t theonly draw for customers at the farmersmarket.

“It’s the camaraderie of bringing thecommunity together,” she said. “You go outthere and see the community minglingwith our visitors, you see kids out thereblowing up balloons.” n

Growers reap success selling at farmers markets

Beaverdam Farms

Natural process

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Cover Story: Ralph Lembo “Bo” Prestidge

325 yearsof family tradition

Ralph Lembo “Bo” Prestidge andhis family have been involved infarming for a long time.

“On my daddy’s side, somebody hasbeen farming in this country since1688 — even before this was a country,”said Prestidge, 53.

A native of Tyronza, Ark., Prestidge isalso following in the footsteps of hismaternal grandfather and namesake,Ralph Lembo.

“He moved here in the early 1900s. Hisdaddy was a merchant. When he was ayoung man, he would buy land. He ven-tured off into farming. His sister and theother family members stayed in the mer-chant business,” Prestidge said.

The Lembo family, full-bloodedSicilians, settled in Itta Bena in 1905and operated a clothing and whole goodsstore, he said.

Prestidge’s grandfather, who died in1960, had two passions in his life. “Onewas he loved the blues music and theother was farming,” Prestidge said.

Blues historian Steve LaVere saidLembo operated a small recording studioout of the back of the Itta Bena store.

The farmer and blues lover also actedas a roving talent scout and agentthroughout the Delta, recruiting note-worthy bluesmen such as Rube Lacy andBukka White.

Lembo also owned a record and music

store in Greenwood, LaVere said.“He played a big part in starting the

blues in this state,” Prestidge said.He said when Lembo began building

his farming empire, the nature of farm-ing was different than it is today.

“When he started farming, there was alot of hand labor and a lot of differenttypes of farming and no irrigation,”Prestidge said.

Lembo, he said, focused on four maincrops: rice, cotton, soybeans and wheat.Lembo started farming rice in 1956.

This year is the first time inPrestidge’s 32 crop seasons in the Deltathat he has not planted rice as part ofhis crop because of wet weather.

“Not a lot of rice is planted anymore.We get a lot of chemical damage anddrift. It’s hard to farm that now,” he said.

Lembo had a daughter, Agnes LemboPrestidge, Prestidge’s mother. She mar-ried Teddy Prestidge, who farmed inArkansas.

v v v

Farming is not for everybody, BoPrestidge said.

“It’s just a way of life, and peoplealmost have to live it to understand itbecause it is such a different way of life,”

Prestidge not discouraged by trials of farming

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Soybeans reign againSoybeans are once again expected to be the top

crop for Leflore County, with close to the sameacreage planted as 2012, Mississippi State

University Cooperative Extension Service agent JerrySingleton says. Last year, farmers planted 112,000acres of soybeans.

“We don’t have numbers yet for this year, but it looksabout the same, or maybe up a little,” he said.

Next to soybeans comes corn, with 74,500 acresplanted last year in the county.

“Before the wet weather, acreage would have been alittle more, but we don’t know how much wet weatherhas affected it,” Singleton said.

For both soybeans and corn, prices are not yet asgood as last year so far, he said. “Last year the higherprices came as a result to the drought and poor yieldsin the Midwest.”

After soybeans and corn comes cotton, with only25,200 acres planted last year, then wheat, with 13,000acres, and last is rice, with 5,900 acres planted in 2012.Even fewer acres will be planted this year, Singletonsaid.

“Cotton acreage will be off a third to a half, comparedto last year,” he said.

“Corn and soybeans are less risky than cotton, andlook more profitable. It costs $100 an acre in insecticideto grow cotton, and it is more labor intensive.”

Bubba DeLoach of DeLoach Farms said he and hisfather Carl won’t plant any rice or cotton for the secondstraight year. Last year was the first time they hadn’tplanted either crop.

“Price-wise, it hasn’t been feasible for us to grow cot-ton and rice. We can get by with less labor and equip-ment to grow corn and soybeans,” Bubba DeLoach said.

The development of new varieties of corn, as well asthe increased demand for corn, has helped expandplanting.

“It used to be that the type of soil determined whatcrop to plant. Now different varieties of corn can beplanted on any type of soil,” DeLoach said.

“New corn varieties will produce on heavier as well

as lighter soil. Now we can make as many bushels ofcorn as rice.”

Much of the corn grown in the Delta is purchased bythe commercial poultry industry in South Mississippi.

“Most of ours goes to the chicken plants throughExpress Grain,” DeLoach said.

In addition to all of the market considerations,DeLoach Farms had another reason for getting out ofcotton. “Two years ago, our cotton picker burned. Wedecided not to replace it.”

DeLoach said that while some farmers in the Deltaare still planting cotton, and the price is up recently,many are not, which will make it difficult for cotton toever return in a major way.

“Once you lose your infrastructure for cotton, it willtake too many years to rebuild it,” he said

In the hills of Mississippi, as well as in other south-eastern states, where there is drier land, farmers arestill growing cotton. “Georgia, Alabama, and theCarolinas still have lots of cotton,” Deloach said.

As for rice, DeLoach said the crop is expensive.“Getting the land ready to grow again costs a lot more.”

Prices are not yet what they were last year, DeLoachsaid, but it’s possible they will increase.

“The highest last year was over $8 a bushel, andnow it is about $5. Recently the highest prices havecome around harvest time,” he said.

Many factors go into pricing, but the chief one is theexpected yield.

Before heavy spring rains, rice acreage was expectedto be up this year, Singleton said, “but because of wetweather, it will probably be about the same.”

DeLoach said the wet weather has them aroundthree weeks behind, but all of the corn is planted,although there is some damage due to wet weather.“There are some thin spots,” he said.

As of mid-May, the DeLoaches were half-planted insoybeans.

Beside the top five crops, small amounts of peanuts(890 acres) and grain sorghum (430 acres) were plant-ed in Leflore County, Singleton said. n

Corn, cotton, wheat, rice round out top 5

Leflore County’s Top Crop

P has feas to g and can less

pqlov=_v=orqe=gbkpbk=n melql=`lroqbpv=lc=hfj=abil^`e

he said.Prestidge said he’s encouraged his son,

Ral, to do what he wants to do outside offarming.

“Farming, at this point, is just morestressful than it used to be. Years ago, thefinancial stress of producing a crop was notthere. Your inputs of making a crop are somuch greater on the same acres than whatit was just five years ago,” he said.

Despite all the negatives farmers arefacing, Prestidge said his son has chosento farm.

The father-and-son team is the heartand soul of Prestidge Farms II, which haseight employees at the height of farmingseason.

Since 1981, Prestidge has expandedfrom the original 1,500 acres that his

grandfather farmed in the Delta to around4,000 acres today.

Despite the unseasonably wet weather,Prestidge has managed to get some 1,500acres of corn planted.

While most of the 2,500 acres of soy-beans are already in the ground, he’spressing to get the remaining 800 acresplanted before the next rain moves in.

Prestidge said the Delta is poised to be amajor player in corn production, perhapseventually outpacing the Corn Belt of theMidwest.

“I think we have an opportunity, withirrigation, to be a lot more consistent thanthe Midwest. That’s proven so in the pastcouple of years because of irrigation. That’ssomething that is not offered in theMidwest,” he said.

Delta farmers have other things goingfor them, as well.

“We can plant earlier; we can harvestearlier; and our crops are more consistentin normal years. I think that’s a big advan-tage for us. ... The Midwest hasn’t even

started planting yet, so they’re alreadyway behind,” Prestidge said.

He said, his crews are scurrying to layirrigation pipe while hoping to avoidanother shower.

“Usually, one extreme follows the other.The farmers know from historical fact thatone extreme follows another,” Prestidgesaid.

The upcoming dry spell, he said, willlast as long as the current wet spell.

Prestidge said all of his fields are preci-sion graded and irrigated to ensure thebest possible outcome.

He said it is important to rotate cropsfrom year to year.

“You’ve got to rotate. It’s a key factor incrops. It keeps your soil built up. The cropscomplement one another,” Prestidge said.

v v v

The importance of farming will increasein the coming decades, and Americanfarmers will have an increasingly big role

to play, Prestidge said.“We’re the No. 1 producer in the world.

We supply the whole world with the besttechnology. Just from the growth of thepopulation, the day will come that wewon’t be able to export anything — ourown country will use everything that wegrow,” he said.

Regardless of whether his son stays infarming or whether his son-in-law, JaceHamilton of Calhoun City, joins in thefamily farming operation, Prestidgeremains optimistic about farming andbeing a farmer.

“I tell my son, the American farmer willbe needed. I feel more positive today aboutthat than when I started 32 years ago,” hesaid.

Prestidge, a licensed Realtor and owner ofMossy Oak Properties Wildlife & Ag LandInc., says he accepts the limitations anduncertainties that come with being a farmer.

“We don’t own this land, God does. Hejust lets us borrow it while we’re here,” hesaid. n

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“Price-wise, it hasn’t been fea-sible for us to grow cotton andrice. We can get by with lesslabor and equipment to grow

corn and soybeans.”_ìÄÄ~=aÉiç~ÅÜ

“We’re the No. 1 producer in the world. We supply thewhole world with the best technology. Just from the

growth of the population, the day will come that we won’tbe able to export anything — our own country will use

everything that we grow.”_ç=mêÉëíáÇÖÉ

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What to Plant?

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Challenges galore

Leflore County farmers face allkinds of challenges this year whenit comes to selecting crops for

planting.Some managed to get their corn planted

while others, hampered by rain and dampfield conditions, have been left strugglingto get soybeans and cotton planted.

Most farmers can adapt among theregion’s three top crops — corn, soybeansand cotton — said Jerry Singleton, anagent with the Leflore County ExtensionService.

Planting, he said, is the easy part.“They’ll use that same planting equip-

ment for corn, soybeans, cotton, and tosome extent, peanuts,” Singleton said.

The real challenge will come at harvesttime.

Combines can be used for both corn andsoybeans, the only difference being thatthe combine head must be changeddepending on which crop is harvested.

Cotton harvesting requires cotton pick-

ers, which cannot be used on grain crops.This year, Singleton said, cotton was

less profitable when compared to corn andsoybeans.

As a result, cotton planting will likelybe 40 to 50 percent lower than in 2012.

In 2012, 25,200 acres of cotton wereplanted in Leflore County. This year,Singleton said, the number might be15,000 or less.

Some cotton that has already beenplanted will need to be replanted becauseof wet field conditions, he said.

Last week, farmer Billy Whittingtonwas pressing on with the last of his soy-bean planting.

His corn crop was already plantedbefore the last round of wet weather hit.

“We’ve got parameters that we workwith. We like to have corn in by the end ofMarch while we could wait until April,”Whittington said.

Soybeans have a later window fromearly May through early June.

Whittington said corn and soybeansprovide an ability to change quickly,depending on rain or other factors, unlikecotton.

Cotton, he said, ideally should be plant-ed by May 10.

Whittington said seed companies eager-ly try to anticipate which seeds the farm-ers will need. “They are scrambling tomeet their customers’ demands.”

Farmer Riley Poe said he wasn’t facinga planting dilemma this year.

“I got the corn planted that I wanted toplant,” he said.

Poe was busy last week trying to catch upon his fertilizing and herbicide applicationsfor his corn because of the wet weather.

He also was behind in planting hisbeans. “Let’s put it this way: we’re furtherbehind that I want to be.”

Poe said changing crops might be diffi-cult if farmers had already pre-bookedtheir corn crop and couldn’t get into thefield to plant it. “You’d be looking toward

soybeans,” he said.Farmer Kerry James said while this

year corn started out strong, the wetweather has been a problem.

“Our objective was for a lot of cornacres. We’re about half to three-quartersplanted. We’re just now getting our firstshot of fertilizer on it,” he said.

Of 1,200 acres planned for corn, only800 got planted, James said.

Late planted corn just won’t yield asmuch, so he’s transitioned to soybeans.

James said he is facing a problem, sincehe strongly pre-booked the 2013 corncrop.

He said most grain elevators providesome flexibility. “A lot of times, they’ll letyou roll it over to the next year.”

George Jeffords, farm manager forTommy Gary, said he was lucky in gettinghis corn crop planted.

“We didn’t have to change anything.We just finished planting soybeanstoday,” he said. n

Weather forces farmers to make tough choices

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Bill Litton

Staying involved

Bill Litton wasn’t expecting to bechosen as president of DeltaCouncil last year, but when he was

notified of his selection, he was ready toserve.

The 63-year-old president of Wade Inc.estimates he has been involved in DeltaCouncil in one capacity or another formore than 30 years, including working onvarious committees and once serving asvice president. His father-in-law, GeorgeWade, was a Delta Council president inthe 1970s, and his stepfather, Jerry Sayre,held that title in the 1950s — so he grewup knowing what the organization did.

Also, as head of a business that hasdealerships all over the Delta and else-where, he shares the council’s interest inthe livelihood of the region.

“Delta Council’s not an organizationthat blows its horn a whole lot,” Littonsaid, but he added that “if you’re civic-minded or Delta-minded, that’s an organi-zation you want to be a part of.”

He said he didn’t have any expectationsabout the job going in, other than that itwould require a lot of work — and it did.Now he switches over to chairman, andhe plans to stay involved.

“Whether it’s something about agricul-ture, conservation, environment, wildlife,fisheries, if it’s about the Delta, if it’s aboutnational farm policy, Delta Council is rec-ognized throughout the nation as the go-tofarm organization,” he said. “No questionabout it.”

v v v

Litton said he received valuable assis-tance from past Delta Council presidents,including his predecessor, Bowen Flowersof Coahoma County, and Tommy Gary.

Also, although he knows the importanceof issues such as transportation and floodcontrol, he said he’s not as well-versed inthose areas as some others. So he foundpeople who had served on those commit-tees for years and listened to theirinsights.

“I knew it was going to be a lot of work;I knew I was going to have to rely on a lotof people, and a lot of people were there tocertainly help me,” he said.

Litton said Delta Council also has a veryefficient staff that helps make the job easi-er.

Delta Council works on projects in manydifferent areas, and few of them are start-ed and completed within a year, Littonsaid. More often, the council is working inthe background with other entities ratherthan taking the lead.

But Litton said he had seen evidencethis year of progress being made in someimportant areas with the council’s help.

For example, about seven years ago, theLegislature was trying to devise a new for-mula for funding the state’s universities.But the formula proposed then was notfavorable to Delta State and MississippiValley State. So, at the urging of then-Delta State President John Hilpert andothers, the Institutions of Higher Learningpostponed acceptance of the formula to re-evaluate it. After years of study, a new for-mula has been suggested — and Hilpertand MVSU Acting President AlfredRankins Jr. have said that although it’snot perfect, it’s better for them than theearlier version would have been, Littonsaid.

Delta Council was one of the groupsinvolved in those discussions years ago,

After year as Delta Councilpresident, moves to new role

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and the improvements just took time toget through the system, he said. MVSUand DSU are important to the region, and“I think we can report that our regionaluniversities are faring a lot better in this(formula) than the old one,” he said.

v v v

Delta Council also has pushed workforcetraining.

About five years ago, then-Lt. Gov. PhilBryant and state Rep. Willie Bailey ofGreenville took the lead in establishing aDelta workforce cabinet. They started apilot project to engage private businessesin the workforce development network ofstate and federal agencies, so employerswould have better access to training.

Recently, Bryant and the MississippiDevelopment Authority have announcedthat the Delta’s model has been a successand will be replicated in three other cabi-nets elsewhere in Mississippi.

Delta Council likes to get involved inprojects where the impact can be mea-sured, and this was an example of that,Litton said.

“It was something we saw; we tried it;we got the state to try it; it worked. And sonow they’re taking it elsewhere, and sothat’s great,” he said. “That’s just greatnews for us, and I think it’s great news forthe state.”

Delta Council keeps in contact with fed-eral officials to ensure that projects suchas I-69 aren’t pushed into the background,Litton said. It is involved in the push for aNational Heritage Area designation forthe Delta so it can receive the properrecognition from the National ParkService. And the group helped form theDelta Health Alliance, to make health ser-vices more accessible to those in need.

Agriculture and its related industries

are a critical part of the Delta’s economy,and improved tourism offerings will help,too, Litton said. But the region also needsindustry to complement agriculture, andluring new employers requires the kind ofregional approach that Delta Council uses,he said.

“If you get a big plant in Indianola,Greenwood’s going to benefit from it,” hesaid. “There’s going to be people who livehere that go over there.” n

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Farm Bureau Federation

Not just for farmersDo you eat food or wear clothes?”

This is the question BrittonHatcher, regional manager of the

Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation,asks someone who is on the fence aboutbecoming a member of the LefloreCounty Farm Bureau.

“Agriculture affects all of us, eitherdirectly or indirectly,” Hatcher said.

The Leflore County Farm Bureaurecently began revitalizing its presencein the community to increase awarenessabout its mission and its membership.

Farm Bureau is a grassroots politicalorganization that looks out for the bestinterest of the agriculture community,including the residents of ruralMississippi and commodity producerssuch as catfish, cattle, pork and cropfarmers.

The Mississippi Farm BureauFederation was established in 1922, justthree years after the nationwideAmerican Farm Bureau Federation wasestablished as a voluntary organizationof farm families seeking solutions to theproblems that affected their lives, bothsocially and economically.

The organization continues to servefarmers and other members through pro-grams, public policies and economic ser-vices today.

The Mississippi Farm BureauFederation, based in Jackson, is thelargest general farm organization in thestate with 199,502 members and com-prises 82 offices, one for each county.Each office is led by the county’s localfarming community.

The Leflore County Farm Bureauoffice is headed by President PutnamStainback, First Vice President MarkKimmel and Second Vice PresidentHugh Arant, all Leflore County farmers.

“Farm Bureau is an excellent way toget your voice heard on a lot of issues atthe county, state and national levels,”Arant said.

Farm Bureau has lobbied for manylegislative efforts on behalf of agricultureat both the state and national levels.

Many of the issues and ideas broughtto Jackson and Washington were firstvoiced at a county Farm Bureau office.

“What’s good for ag is good for thestate,” Stainback said. “Farming has atrickle-down effect.”

Agriculture employs manyMississippians in one way or another.Many businesses, even those not in thefarming industry, see positive economiceffects when farming is prosperous.

“Agriculture is a tremendous assetthat our country and county have,”Arant said.

Leflore County residents been involvedin the organization for years. Arant’sfather, the late Hugh M. Arant, a formerfarmer, was the president of theMississippi Farm Bureau Federationfrom 1972 to 1988, after serving as presi-dent of both the Farm Bureaus of LefloreCounty and Central Mississippi.

Arant has continued to be active in the

organization, like his father, and hasbeen a Farm Bureau member for thepast 40 years.

“It was important to me to belong toFarm Bureau,” Arant said.

Putnam, the current Leflore CountyFarm Bureau president, has similarfamily ties to Farm Bureau. Putnam’sfather was a Farm Bureau member.After returning from college to his homein Leflore County to farm near MinterCity, Putnam became a member. He hasbeen a Farm Bureau member for 25years.

The Leflore County Farm Bureau isalso renewing its efforts to educate chil-dren about agriculture with its Ag in theClassroom Program. The program is ledby Gail O’Neal, chairwoman of the FarmBureau Women’s Committee.

“Many of our children do not knowwhere their food and products come

from,” said O’Neal. “With fewer peopleliving on the farm, exposure to the vari-ous crops produced in Leflore County islimited.

“If you ask a child what is made usingcotton, they may say a fluffy candy on astick.”

The program includes coloring con-tests, the Commodity of the Month andeducational hands-on activities likeplanting a seed in soil and watching itgrow.

“It is very exciting for them to see thisprocess,” O’Neal said.

A new project the program will featurein June for Dairy Month, is a paintedwooden reproduction of a cow that canbe “milked.” O’Neal plans to make themodel available throughout Greenwoodduring the month. The reproduction willallow children to see what is it like tomilk a real dairy cow.

Members of Farm Bureau pay anannual fee and receive an array of bene-fits and discounts.

The Leflore County Farm Bureauboard of directors has four meetings ayear. The organization holds an annualmembers meeting in the fall.

Vicki Morgan was recently hired as thecounty coordinator to assist the board ofdirectors in continuing to develop waysto keep the Leflore County FarmBureau’s community presence thriving.

“We have a number of good ideas thatwill get the word out that the LefloreCounty Farm Bureau is an importantpart of Greenwood and Leflore County,”Morgan said.

For more information about Ag in theClassroom, call Gail O’Neal at 455-4944.For more information about the LefloreCounty Farm Bureau, located at 934U.S. 82, call the office at 453-6416. n

Leflore County branch aims to increase awareness

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“What’s good for ag is good for the state.Farming has a trickle-down effect.”

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On-farm Grain Storage

Growing trendFarming has changed in many ways

since the time when cotton wasking in the Delta. For one thing,

commercial grain storage facilities weresufficient for the acreage of beans, cornand rice.

“When I came to Greenwood in 1996,the only on-farm storage was for rice, andit was small,” Mississippi State UniversityCooperative Extension Service agent JerrySingleton said. “We weren’t growing muchcorn, only 11,700 acres in 1995, and didn’thave long lines at the facilities.”

On-farm storage for rice started about50 years ago, Singleton said. “As riceacreage continued to increase, then moreon-farm storage has increased.”

One big change in the Delta area hasbeen the growth of corn as a major crop.Corn from this area is sold largely toSouth Mississippi’s commercial poultryindustry. Some corn goes to the river forexports, mostly for animal food overseas,and some goes to an ethanol plant.

Corn acreage was 74,500 in 2012,Singleton said.

“At first, when corn started increasing,guys were only concerned with the longlines at the facilities,” he said.

Since that time, soybean and cornacreage has greatly increased, so commer-cial storage space is limited, and having towait in long lines decreases farm efficiency,Singleton said. “We started to see a needfor on-farm storage to improve harvestefficiency.”

Commercial storage facilities want farm-ers to sell as close to delivery as possible,he said. “Having on-farm storage givesfarmers market flexibility, so they can takeadvantage of improved prices after har-vest,” Singleton said.

“Mississippi acreage is small comparedto the rest of the country, Singleton said,“so although prices start to drop aroundharvest time, we still get good prices.However, some farmers may want to holdtheir soybeans or corn for delivery at alater date in hopes of better prices.

Just as cotton storage changed firstbecause of the module, and now the cotton

picker turning cotton into a round bushel,covered, and dropped onto the field, thereare now more than one option for corngrowers. One is the on-farm grain bin; theother is the plastic bag concept, whichcame into use about 10 years ago. The dis-advantage of the bags is that they aregood for only one storage year, Singletonsaid.

While on-farm storage has grown, com-mercial space has stayed roughly thesame, he said.

Curt Jolly, farm manager of GarryMakamson Farms, said they got into stor-ing their own crops about six years ago.

“Garry had an opportunity to buy twostorage facilities at Money. It was a littlefar from us, but at a reasonable price.That started us. Then about three yearsago, we built three more on the farm atMorgan City,” Jolly said.

Garry Makamson Farms has increasedits corn and soybean acreage slightly, tomake up for the cotton that won’t begrown this year, Jolly said. “Only 2009 andthis year has Garry not grown cotton.”

While it is advantageous for marketflexibility to have on-farm storage, it canbe risky, Jolly said. “If you store it yourselfand it ruins, you have a pile of nothing,”he said, “but at the commercial facility, it’stheir risk.”

However, so far, that hasn’t happened. “It is a little risky, but it isn’t hard to do,”

Jolly said. And it comes in handy duringharvest season. “You don’t have to stopyour combines while you’re waiting for theelevator to get to your crop. Not having towait in lines is a significant advantage.”

Garry Makamson Farms has storage forabout 250,000 bushels.

“We usually fill them up,” Jolly said.“When you’re storing it commercially,you’re paying them. Sometimes you getpushed into selling at lower prices thanyou want.”

However, they still use the commercialfacilities when the harvest is early and thereis a premium placed on early delivery.

“You want to deliver quickly to takeadvantage of that,” Jolly said. n

Increase coincided with rise in grain acreage

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