Mississippi Cotton and Corn Statistics

Historically high prices for corn have persuaded more farmers to plant historic cotton land in Mississippi to corn.  The result for the past three years has been an inverse relationship in cotton yield vs. acres planted as the very best land is increasingly used for cotton.  Conversely, the corn yields have increased as additional cotton land has been planted to corn.  Data from 1866 to the present shows the yield in cotton increased 11.9 times and corn 15.8 times over this time period.  The yield increase in corn was exponential in 1982-2002 while the yield of cotton was relatively stable during the same period.  Cyclical production has been a characteristic of cotton farming in Mississippi with a high of 4.142 million acres harvested in 1930, almost the same as the current total of all cultivated crops in 2008.  The acres of cotton harvested in 2008 were lower than any period since official records started in 1866.  Classified satellite imagery demonstrates the crop location changes over the past three years and describes the strong land-use relationship between corn and cotton cultivation in Mississippi.