Registration is open through July 31 for enrollment in the second class of Mississippi’s premier agricultural leadership program.

Three years ago, participants in the Mississippi State University Seed Technology Short Course familiarized themselves with each step of a seed’s journey from bin to bag. This year, the course will focus on the same process from field to bin.

Some Mississippi watermelon producers lost crops or got a late start because of wet spring weather. But consumers should find the sweet, summer treats on shelves in time for the July 4 holiday.

Although numbers on paper look about right for Mississippi row crops, the reality is actually quite grim in places.

STONEVILLE, Miss. -- The third week of March is usually the beginning of rice planting season in Mississippi, but fields were not dry enough to hold tractors until May in most locations.

Many growers were still scrambling to get rice in the ground by early June due to unusually high rain amounts in the first quarter of 2019. While more than 90 percent of the crop had been planted as of June 3, only 74 percent had emerged, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This is well behind the five-year average of 92 percent emerged by this date.