Milton Parrish farmed with his dad and brother in Holmes County, Miss., until 1986.

"We started renting some land in the Delta, and in 1988, I started farming in the Delta while my brother and dad stayed in the hills area," Milton said. "From there, our immediate family formed a partnership that involves my wife, my son, Drew, and my daughter. We've been farming like that ever since and have gradually grown through the years."

Drew has been working with his father on the farm since he was young, but he officially joined the operation in 2015.

"I graduated from Mississippi State University in 2008 and worked for Monsanto, now Bayer, from 2009 to 2015 doing research and testing hybrids," Drew said. "I came back to the farm and have been able to apply some of the research I was learning to our operation."

Milton and Drew still own land in the hills, which consists of pine trees and hay, but their row crop farmland is mostly in the Delta.

"There are a few acres still in row crops, about 60 acres last year," Milton said. "We are pretty much all in the Delta now. As equipment got larger and wider, we started looking for land here in the early 1980s. The northern Holmes County area is mostly small fields, and it is hard to move equipment on the small, gravel roads. To be more efficient, we moved to flatter ground, which is also easier to irrigate. We own some land, but we rent most of the land we plant."

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