Agriculture

Benefiting from unusually rich alluvial soil and a prime location near the Mississippi River, the cotton industry is perhaps the county’s oldest stock and trade, and is steeped in Delta history.  Today hundreds of people in the area still are employed in the planting, harvesting, ginning, buying/selling and shipping of one the world’s most essential products. Mississippi County remains the second-largest cotton-producing area in the nation. Farm business also is dominated by soybean production—a crop with a diversified and expanding market. Modern technology—from irrigation systems to state-of-the-art implements—has drastically changed the dynamics of the agricultural production in Mississippi County, home to the largest cotton gin in the world, which is located just west of the Greater Blytheville Area in the community of Leachville, but whether it’s cotton, beans or rice, agriculture is a major industry and a major part of the culture of Mississippi County.