Extension Matters: Volume 3 Number 4

Photo by Jonathan Parrish

During a short break from August rain, Bubba Simmons, a partner in Simmons Planting Company in Hollandale, begins harvesting corn. Altogether, Simmons farms about 6,000 acres of corn, soybeans, and rice in Washington County.

Eunice Blake has spent more than 35 years serving Amite County citizens in the tax assessor and collector’s office.

In those years, she’s looked to the Mississippi State University Extension Service for support.

Noah Carpenter will tell you himself that he wouldn’t have the life skills he has today if not for 4-H.

“My involvement in 4-H has taught me responsibility, teamwork, and leadership skills,” he says. “I’m better at communicating with others because I’ve built self-confidence through showing horses.”

When Beth and Michael Foose decided to open Little Bluestem Farm in 2016, they knew they needed training to help them manage the business side of the farm.

Beth first attended the Extension-facilitated Women in Agriculture Workshop Annie’s Project, a course that teaches problem-solving, record-keeping, and decision-making skills for agriculture-related businesses. 

The people who know Virgil Walker look up to him. The Covington County native is a leader for his church and several local organizations. He loves his wife, his children, and his grandchildren, and he values his way of life.

“It’s just in my blood to walk out and see a cow on my farm,” he says on a humid, late-summer afternoon. “It’s five generations, counting my son’s kids. The one who’s 9 or 10, I gave her a calf, and she wants to come every day to look at it. I believe she’ll be the one to come and live on the farm. It would be rewarding for me. Where I’m living, I’ve been here for 50 years.”

For anyone relying on Pinterest, Facebook, or other online recipe sites to plan healthy meals, Marilyn Lunsford is encouraging those home cooks to look in a different, more local place.

Tiara and Jeremy Brown, former 4-H’ers from Clay and Oktibbeha Counties, respectively, discuss how the 4-H youth development program has something for everyone.

Tiara and Jeremy are both from families that were very involved in 4-H. They met while attending Mississippi State University, graduated, and married. Jeremy went on to work as a mechanical engineer at Yokohama Tire Manufacturing in West Point, and Tiara works as a special education teacher at Central School, also in West Point.

When Mississippi achieved statehood in 1817, its cotton industry was only beginning to take off. By 1917, boll weevils were devastating the state’s cotton crop and its economy.

Publicity was not on the mind of Mike Sturdivant III in 1974 when he began farming, so his response to being named the 2017 Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Ag Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year for Mississippi was one of surprise.

Ruby D. Rankin spent 33 years leading, serving, and working hand in hand with the people of Kemper County. Her position with the Mississippi State University Extension Service linked her to the community and made her unforgettable to the people who knew her.

When Mississippi’s Giant Houseparty kicked off at the end of July, hundreds of exhibitors displayed thousands of items that showcase their handiwork to the Neshoba County Fair’s many visitors.

The Exhibit Hall, organized and operated by the Neshoba County office of the Mississippi State University Extension Service, annually displays the handiwork of adults and children in several categories, including fresh fruits and vegetables, field crops, food preservation, arts and crafts, posters, and food and nutrition.  

Dave Stewart may not have followed professionally in the footsteps of his grandfathers, both of whom operated sawmills, but he is building a legacy property that combines timber and wildlife habitat as a tribute to the men who taught him to love the land.

Arboretum Celebrates 20 Years with MSU Extension • Plant Disease and Nematode Analysis Fee Changes • Improving Mississippi’s Fiscal Health • Know Your Roots to Attract More Customers

When she started volunteering with Tate County 4-H almost 15 years ago, Joy Magness didn’t know much about the youth development program delivered by the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

She was home-schooling her two children, Samantha and Eli, and her fellow home-schooling parent and friend Adelia Gaines asked Magness if she’d like her kids to join 4-H and if she’d like to volunteer.

Since joining Mississippi State University as a development officer nearly 2 years ago, alumnus Will Staggers has been hard at work cultivating private support for the MSU Extension Service.