By Mark H. Stowers She was told by her mother not to marry a farmer, – much less an ag pilot. But Vicki Lawson did both as her husband Grover Lawson III was an ag pilot for years while farming, but now keeps his flying feet firmly on the ground of his Sardis area farm. […]
By Patrick R. Shepard During their winter planning, Delta and other Midsouth growers should consider using the 5% Rule. Several years ago SouthernAg Consulting, headquartered in Mississippi, took a step back and asked the really hard questions, reevaluating just about everything that these independent crop consultants do. “Nothing is sacred, we questioned everything,” explains Mitt
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By Greta Sharpe Pecans play a starring role in most Southern holiday tables. From roasted and salted pecans for snacks to pecan dressing to everyone’s favorite Karo Pecan Pie, the holidays just wouldn’t be complete without them. They are often part of treasured memories and traditions. “My mother made wonderful pecan pies and I make
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By Mark H. Stowers Family farms abound in the Delta with some dating back generations with more than a century of labor. In Rolling Fork, Kin Growers may one day reach that plateau but for now, the second-generation farm is rolling along. With roots planted in 1971 when Robert Rutherford, a Farm Service Agent, rented
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By Aimee Robinette There is nothing Grenada Extension Agent III Jan Gray Walton appreciates more than educating others to improve their quality of life. Whether it is helping a high school 4-H Club member select the right field of study for college or empowering a woman to take control of her personal finances, Walton finds
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By Erin Williams If one could go back in time to the 1970s and walk the grounds of a Delta farm, the differences in management, technology, and day-to-day practices from those of modern farms today – now some 50 plus years later – would be astounding. To those in the farming industry, change is undeniable.
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By Hank Burdine The Mississippi Delta, as we know it, is the alluvial floodplain of the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers—bounded on the north by the Chickasaw Bluffs below Memphis, the east by the Loess Hills and Yazoo River, and the west by the Mississippi River. For eons, annual floodwaters inundated the flat land with excess
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Bringing CLASS to the Mississippi Delta By Angela Rogalski • Photography by Rory Doyle MirTech Harvest Center was founded in 1996 by Colorado native Robert Krattli and his wife Natalia. The large dealer group has a multilocation operation in Eastern Europe and has had a longstanding history with CLAAS Manufacturers. MirTech established its first branches in the Delta in 2016. Along with CLAAS, MirTech is the official dealer and distributor of manufacturers known worldwide, such as MacDon, Manitou, Salford, and many others. In July 2018, MirTech opened its Boyle, Miss. location and continues to expand its footprint in and across the entire Delta. John Oursler is the branch manager in Boyle. Oursler says that MirTech had three existing locations in the region before opening up in Boyle: Jonesboro, Ark., Stuttgart, Ark., and Sikeston, Mo. “We came to Boyle to establish our fourth location,” Oursler says. “We’re a full line CLAAS dealership. We sell combines, tractors, hay equipment, all types of mowers; so we’re a full line agriculture dealer here in Boyle.” Oursler says some of the other services they provide are 24/7 infield parts support, 24/7 service support, and continuing education for their service techs about the equipment they sell. And they are very proud to offer CLAAS to this particular area of the Delta. “CLAAS is brand new to this area,” Oursler continues. “My goal with our branch is to continue to grow our presence and our footprint in the Mississippi Delta. We want to continue to develop relationships with our customers. And since July, we’ve actually experienced growth already with our business. Not only from selling new machines, but from the service side as well. We go out in the field and repair equipment, work on existing combines , so being here in Boyle, centrally located in the Delta, we’re able to service our customers from the north end of the Delta to the south end of the Mississippi Delta.” And offering farmers replacement parts for the equipment they sell is a significant part of their 24/7 service support. “Customers can come in and buy their replacement parts right here and we’re a distributor for many other manufacturers as well. We also sell a full line of things like grain parts, seed tenders, sprayers, planters, and we have accessories that go with the equipment, such as attachments.” Mirtech’s Boyle location is open 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., MondayFriday and also has an afterhours number that customers can call and reach a MirTech associate. “But during harvest season,” Oursler says, “our store location is open quite a few more hours and on Saturday.”
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