Attractive grain prices have Mississippi Delta farmers putting as much of their land as possible in production this year. They need good returns on their investment with input costs soaring as well.

Soybean prices have topped out at $13 a bushel; wheat prices are around $10 a bushel, and rice at $8 a bushel, according to Shawn Payne, staff chairman of the Phillips County, Ark., Cooperative Extension Service.

“Farmers are cutting corners every way possible to increase their net income,” Payne said, especially because they’re dealing with fuel prices that have virtually doubled in the past year.

No-till is the standard planting practice today, whereas 20 years ago full-blown tillage was still the norm.

Not only does no-till cut down on the production costs, it conserves the soil better. That’s where the Natural Resources Conservation Service enters the picture.

Steve Monteith, of Jackson, Tenn., an NRCS soil scientist, has been gathering samples of soil along the Mississippi side of the Mississippi River to update the records.

“Some of the records go back to the 1960s,” Monteith said Thursday. “We’re working to revise the soil date for the entire Lower Mississippi River Valle.”