Extension Matters: Volume 10 Number 1

Folks expect the Outstanding Logger of the Year to have a stellar safety record, a powerful love of the land, and a passionate, resilient work ethic. What they may not expect is a logger who cares about the look of the job. 

A broken-down car on a Sunday afternoon in 1983 led two attorneys to purchase forestland in Hancock County. Forty years and about 500 acres later, La Terre Farms in Kiln has wide-ranging industries that include a holiday greenery business and cut flowers grown for florists across the Gulf Coast and New Orleans.

Dining with Diabetes covers healthy eating, physical activity, disease monitoring, medication compliance, and risk reduction, and the course empowers participants by giving them access to nutrition knowledge and resources for food preparation. Classes include research-based education, cooking demonstrations, and healthy recipe tasting. These tools can help people make positive changes by planning menus, counting carbohydrates, controlling portions, and reading labels.

Being a municipal clerk isn’t easy. In Mississippi, these city officers are appointed by local aldermen and the city mayor, who hire and fire these financial recordkeepers at will. When voters elect different leaders, those officials can appoint new municipal clerks, who may know only a little about what the job entails.

Just a few years ago, Chantel Stringfellow was a leader in Kemper County 4-H, and, now, she’s readying her leadership skills for entrepreneurship as she completes her studies for her Master of Business Administration at Mississippi State University. Stringfellow credits 4-H with helping her develop the skills she needs for success.

National Rice Month doesn’t just offer rice producers an opportunity to celebrate—it gives them the chance to enjoy the cooked and served finished products, too! There was something for everyone in Merigold on the third Thursday of September at the annual rice celebration in Bolivar County: Rice Fest.

Rainey Dunsford says she was shy when she joined Jackson County 4-H in 2022, but those closest to her would say one year has made a big difference.

A Smithsonian Institution exhibit about rural communities continues its journey in public libraries across Mississippi.

Susie Harmon laughs when she relates her granddaughter’s observation of her favorite pastime.

Cruising into Madison County, you see a cultivated urban landscape full of brick edifices and manicured lawns spring up around you. Your cell phone announces your turnoff, and you comply, turning onto an older road that soon turns to gravel.

You don’t have to have diabetes to benefit from the principles of the Dining with Diabetes (DWD) program.

When her husband moved to Columbus in 2006 to research Civil War history for his next book, Melissa Beck was happy to move, too, and explore, learn, and connect with her new neighbors in Lowndes County. An avid kayaker, Beck loves being on the water, enjoying nature and racing.

Extension was a key part of Bobbie Seal’s life—over the years in her native Neshoba County, she was a client, volunteer, and employee of the Mississippi State University Extension Service.