Clarion Ledger pushes Max Phillips for Ag commissioner

Clarion Ledger pushes Max Phillips for Ag commissioner

Mississippi still is a rural state, but agriculture is no longer dominant, and the post of commissioner of agriculture and commerce is itself something of a relic.

Gone are the days when the department was created in 1906 and 90 percent of the population either was farming or depended on it.

Mississippi now imports more food than it produces, the number of citizens who farm fulltime is a miniscule percentage of the population and the agency which oversees ag production in the state has lost its way.

Clarion Ledger
7/27/11