Farms & Ranches Situated on the fertile northeast "black prairie" region, our area holds some unusually fertile Black Belt (or Prairies) soil which is produced by the weathering of an exposed limestone base known as the Selma Chalk, the remnant of an ancient ocean floor. Catfish production in Mississippi, exclusive of the Delta, is concentrated in the Black Belt, mainly in Noxubee, Lowndes and Kemper counties, which are in the heart of the Black Belt. Also predominant in the area are some of the largest & finest row crop farms and cattle ranches in the state.