|| Catfish farming came to the Mississippi
Delta in the 1960s. Cotton, rice and soybeans were becoming
less profitable to farm, so naturally, Delta farmers began looking
for alternatives. When they couldn't find what they were looking
for in the world of agriculture, they turned to the watery world
The Mississippi Delta has an abundant supply of fresh groundwater,
clay-based soils and plenty of folks with good old-fashioned
pioneer spirit. These were the building blocks of the first
catfish farms. By the 1970s, catfish had become one of Mississippi's
major cash crops, but the industry lacked organization and
leadership. That would soon change.
Delta Pride was founded in 1981, when a group of Mississippi
catfish farmers decided to stop competing with each other.
They realized the best way to get their fish to market was
to work together. They began cooperative processing and marketing
operations in 1981, and the rest, as they say, is history.