Before near-record crop yields were harvested by U.S. farmers, the seed, plants and soil had received major scientific attention in laboratories located on an obscure country road in rural Washington County, Mississippi.
In the hamlet of Stoneville, one mile west of the town of Leland, research by federal and state agricultural scientists has provided the spark for successful farming and a leading-edge mechanization of harvest across the U.S. farm belt, and in nations that are major competition for our farm commodities on the world market.
For example, Brazil and Argentina have nearly taken away our soybean farmers’ sales to China, the U.S.’s premier foreign customer. Much of the best soybean research was performed at Stoneville by the late Edgar Hartwig, Ph.D., who gained the worldwide title of “Mr. Soybean” for the many soybean varieties he developed during decades with the USDA.
Hartwig was among a large corps of all-star state and federal government-funded agricultural scientists who have long toiled at Stoneville. They’ve developed almost every celebrated variety of the major row crops grown by the American farmer for the same period, perhaps excepting some corn and other grains.
Numerous farm discoveries have also been made in private laboratories. Within view of the government labs is Stoneville Pedigreed Seed Co., a leading developer and seller of cotton seed since the 1920s. The firm was the first to commercialize genetically engineered cotton seed.
The Stoneville federal installation is also known as the premier catfish research station anywhere, offering world-class study of aquaculture in a facility named for the late U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, who pushed for the innovative fisheries studies.
Just as unique and even longer in existence is the U.S. Cotton Ginning Laboratory, where engineers still seek improvements first realized by Eli Whitney in 1793, separating cotton fiber from seeds before bales are sent to textile mills.
These and other federal research projects are currently being reviewed for federal budget reductions. I wonder why. All they do is feed and clothe mankind.
Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, a member of both the appropriations and agriculture committees, is among watchdogs trying to ensure any cuts are minimal.
“The Senator and staff are monitoring this situation but … USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden has said they expect the reorganization to be finalized in 2026,” Hyde-Smith spokesman Chris Gallegos said in January.
Last fall, Hyde-Smith, a Brookhaven cattle farmer and former state agriculture commissioner, said she did not expect any office or lab closures at Stoneville. She called the work there “second to none,” and added that Congress, perhaps more so than the USDA, will decide what happens.
A privately run operation at Stoneville that most assuredly will be watching this issue is Delta Council. Its membership includes regional farm and business leaders who realize that the area’s economy depends on the success of the tedious work accomplished in the research settings.
