Delta & Pine Land Company of Mississippi
Offices of Delta & Pine Land Company in 1939
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| Industry | Agribusiness |
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| Headquarters | Scott, Mississippi, United States |
| Products | Cotton and soybean seeds |
| Parent | Monsanto (2007-present) |
In 1886, Delta & Pine Land Company was chartered in Mississippi as a land speculation company, but was inactive until 1919, when a British textile company acquired the name. In the 1920-1930s, the company operated one of the largest cotton plantations in the Mississippi Delta, with headquarters in Scott, Mississippi. In the latter half of the 20th century, the company divested its farm lands, concentrated on research and development of cotton and soybean seeds, and became world-renowned for its development of Deltapine cotton varieties.
The original Delta and Pine Land (D&PL) Company was chartered in 1886 in the state of Mississippi, under laws that allowed almost unlimited land holdings by a single company. State laws were later changed to restrict land acquisition and ownership, but did not apply to companies that were grandfathered in under older laws.
In 1911, Fine Cotton Spinners’ and Doublers’ Association Ltd. (FCSDA) of Manchester, England, purchased large tracts of land—38,000 acres (15,000 ha)—in the Mississippi Delta for cotton production. In order to comply with state law regarding land ownership, FCSDA created three companies—Lake Vista Plantation Company and Triumph Plantation Company owned land, while Mississippi Delta Planting Company leased the land and operated it as one unit. In 1919, FCSDA acquired the inactive charter of D&PL, and merged its three smaller companies under that title with headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1927, D&PL moved its headquarters to Scott, Mississippi, where it remained.
In the 1930s, D&PL operated the largest cotton plantation in the U.S., with more than 9,000 acres (3,600 ha) under cultivation. The average yield for cotton in the 1920s was less than 200 lb (91 kg) per acre (0.4 ha), but D&PL was producing an average of 650 lb (290 kg) of cotton fiber per acre (0.4 ha) and 980 lb (440 kg) of seed by the 1930s. D&PL introduced their Deltapine cotton variety in 1942. After World War II, D&PL cotton varieties were being planted throughout the southern U.S., from Texas to North Carolina.
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