Forestry
The Extension Service is a vital division of every land grant university in the United States. Each state has a land grant university system. Mississippi State is part of the land grant university system in Mississippi. In Michigan, it's Michigan State, in Georgia it's the University of Georgia and in Pennsylvania, it's Penn State University.
As part of the land grant university system with Alcorn State University, Mississippi State has the responsibility to extend the research accomplished at the university to those in the state that can't come to the school. To do this, the Extension Service, formerly known as the Cooperative Extension Service, occupies a major division of the university. The Extension Service Director has a network of county offices throughout Mississippi that house county Extension faculty and staff who serve local clientele with information on many topics including agriculture, family and consumer sciences, economic and community resource development, and 4-H/youth development.
Extension Forestry faculty are part of the MSU Department of Forestry and serve the Extension Service through the Director and county faculty by conducting forestry educational programs, writing publications, and other educational activities.
Publications
News
A few sassafras trees across Mississippi have started to show signs of dieback, and Mississippi State University is asking for help in identifying affected trees. The trees are suspected of having laurel wilt, a disease caused by a fungus that has already proven deadly to the state’s redbay trees. The fungus is carried by the redbay ambrosia beetle, an invasive species native to Asia.
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Seed industry representatives, agricultural professionals, producers, crop consultants and research scientists are encouraged to attend the Seed and Agricultural Technology Short Course at Mississippi State University Aug. 15-16.
Hosted by the MSU Extension Service and the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, the short course will be held at the Bost Extension Conference Center at MSU.
RAYMOND, Miss. -- Mississippi has gained new timber mills over the last 18months, and producers have seen timber prices rise since last year.
RAYMOND, Miss. -- Agricultural producers and industry professionals met with Mississippi State University personnel in the coastal region to discuss research and education priorities at the 2022 Producer Advisory Council meeting. The annual event aims to help clients improve their productivity. Attendees gathered in small commodity groups at each event to share their ideas with agents, researchers and specialists with the MSU Extension Service and the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.
Leaves are the primary characteristic that can help you identify trees.
Do you want to learn to identify trees? Do you want to be one of those people who can spot a tree, point at it, and name it with certainty? Always start with the leaves. Leaves are one of the most important aspects of tree identification.
Success Stories
The benefits of prescribed burns on Jim Currie’s longleaf pine land in Hancock County were short-lived. He needed something extra to keep the understory vegetation from growing back so quickly.
Annual forestry show gathers industry, highlights best logging practices
Year after year, the Mid-South Forestry Equipment Show attracts thousands of visitors. Canceled in 2020, as most large gatherings were because of the COVID pandemic, the show opened in 2021 with about 3,500 former and new attendees ready to discover the latest forestry equipment, safety guidelines, and timber-harvesting methods.
Training a priority for third-generation logger
Logging can be a dangerous profession, but Brian Smith makes safety a priority.
Flora brothers bring small-town values to big industry
Jason and Jeremy Flora have been logging so long, they may have sawdust in their veins.
Tree farmer of the Year collaborates with Extension
Bobby Watkins’s selection as the Mississippi Forestry Association’s 2015 Tree Farmer of the Year was the culmination of a career in forestry and a lifetime commitment to his family tree farm in Aberdeen. The Mississippi State University alumnus and retired forestry technical specialist for BASF now dedicates most of his time and resources to overseeing and maintaining Coontail Farm.
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