An unusually warm and dry spring is accelerating planting progress across parts of Mississippi, allowing farmers to move ahead of their typical schedule while also raising concerns about crop resilience and shifting acreage decisions.
On his farm in Sunflower County, Adron Belk’s planters are already running at full speed as conditions remain favorable.
“If everything goes well, the weather keeps on like it’s going, by the end of this week we should have all of our corn in the ground and probably all of our grain sorghum or milo,” Belk says.
Farmers Hit by March Freeze
Belk notes this year’s planting pace is slightly ahead of normal for his operation, though not unprecedented.
“It depends on who you ask… for us, this is about on time. Typically we’re a little bit later. I’d say maybe we’re a week earlier than normal,” he says. “A bit south of here, some guys planted a couple weeks ago and then we got an unexpected freeze.”
That freeze is now creating challenges for some producers. Reports from nearby fields suggest damage to early-emerged corn, with some needing to be replanted.
“There’s a lot of talk going around right now of some of the corn looking like about 20% has got to be replanted, which was kind of a surprise,” Belk says. “Most of the time when you get freezes like that, the corn comes out of it.”
Buggy-whipping often occurs as corn recovers from freeze. This happens as new growth temporarily hangs on dead vegetation. They should soon pull free with little adverse effects.
— Erick Larson (@MStateCorn) March 26, 2026
For reference, the corn in the last photo still made over 250 bu/a despite severe hail damage. 🌽 pic.twitter.com/ptAO0nxYst
Focus on Fertilizer
Despite broader concerns about rising input costs across the U.S., Belk says his operation has avoided major supply issues so far.
“We book fertilizer early, and we’re very much in the South, and so we have not had any problems so far with getting supply,” he says.
While Belk is maintaining a relatively steady crop rotation — roughly a 50/50 split between corn and soybeans — other parts of the Mississippi Delta are seeing more dramatic changes.
Cotton Acreage Changes
Just north in Clarksdale, crop consultant Andy Graves says cotton acreage is expected to drop sharply this season.
“In this area, this is cotton country… it’s supposed to be,” Graves says. “We’re going to be about 50% off of what we planted in 2024.”
Graves says the reduction is significant, especially considering many growers typically plant thousands of acres of cotton each year.
“I’ve got guys that have been growing cotton — my average customer is going to grow three to four thousand acres of cotton every year — and a lot of these guys are going down to 500 to 1,500 acres,” he says.
He points to a combination of economic pressures behind the shift.
“The only reason they’re doing that is because they’re tied into a gin or they have a million-dollar cotton picker sitting there that they can’t park,” Graves says. “With what’s going on with fertilizer and fuel prices right now, it makes it even more unattractive to plant the stuff. The market isn’t there.”
Dry Conditions Aid Planting Progress
It’s not just the dry spring causing many farmers in the region to make strong progress and run slightly ahead of their typical planting window, it’s also how dry it’s been. According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor, 84% of the South is seeing dry conditions as of March 26, 2026. If you look just at Mississippi, 68% of the state is seeing some level of drought.
Farmers say there’s enough topsoil moisture to plant the crop, but the drought picture this early in the year is a concern.