News From 2005

RALEIGH -- Poultry and cattle farmers will gain the latest production recommendations from state and regional experts during educational seminars and a trade show set for April 21 in South Mississippi.

The Magnolia Beef and Poultry Expo will take place at the Smith County Agricultural Complex on Highway 35 South in Raleigh. Organizers expect producers from across the area to come hear health and marketing recommendations as well as methods to improve production efficiency.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

The best group of landscape zinnias, the Profusion series, just got better thanks to two new varieties: Fire and Apricot.

The Profusion series put zinnias back in the mainstream garden of America. The Cherry, Orange and White each earned the All-America Selections Gold Medal award. The Profusion series is disease-resistant and blooms from spring until frost. The Fire and Apricot varieties look to have the same superior performance.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Entrepreneurs who dream of creating and manufacturing food products can learn how to make those dreams reality at a one-day conference in Brandon in April.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A catfish hatchery owner with a little time on his hands developed a cheap and easy solution to a problem that nags producers.

Hatcheries typically place catfish egg masses in mesh baskets in metal troughs, and flow water over them with rotating metal paddles placed between the baskets. The paddles move water to simulate the care male fish give eggs.

Jim Steeby, aquaculture specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said this technique, while simple and effective, poses some danger to workers.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Cheryl Read's biology students are enthusiastic about their new outdoor classroom because their high school "doesn't even have windows."

The recent winners of the Governor's Award for the Community Pride program, members of the Raleigh High School 4-H Envirothon Team said they can study many subjects around their fish pond. First, they name topics such as plants, fish and insects, but eventually they will tell of the valuable lessons they learned about community.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Students at Mississippi State University's College of Veterinary Medicine will hold their 21st annual open house April 1 and 2 at the Wise Center, located on the south side of campus off Spring Street.

The theme of the open house is "Explore the Possibilities." 2005 marks the 31st anniversary of the establishment of the MSU College of Veterinary Medicine by the Mississippi Legislature.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist

Geraniums were among the showiest plants at the recent Jackson Garden and Patio Show. Exhibits had just about every color and kind you could want, including scented ones. Judging from the carts going out the door, they were a hit with the shoppers, too.

Large containers of geraniums welcomed visitors to front doors in landscapes all over the state last year. Whether a container is all geraniums or mixed with other spring-bloomers, these are showy flowers that can be admired from a great distance.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi's animals are in continuously trained hands, thanks in part to distance education programs offered by Mississippi State University's College of Veterinary Medicine.

MSU Extension veterinarian Dr. Stanley Robertson said the veterinary college hosts distance education programs two to four times each year. Presentations are given by CVM faculty members, and the Mississippi Veterinary Medical Association gives a two-hour continuing education credit for each program.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- One Mississippi State University professor, already an international leader among her peers, is assuming responsibility for advising nationally in several aspects of toxicology, the environment and research funding decisions.

Dr. Jan Chambers, a professor in the Department of Basic Sciences in MSU's College of Veterinary Medicine, serves as president of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences, an international organization of 200 Fellows. Membership in the Academy is based on a strict peer review of applicants' credentials.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- When homeowners look out in the spring and see more weeds than grass, it's time to take action to beautify the lawn.

Winning the battle of the weeds begins with a two-part effort. Eliminate existing winter weeds in yards and apply pre-emergence herbicide to prevent summer weed seedlings from establishing.

"If you've not done anything before, you've got to jump in at some point in time if you want a well-groomed, manicured lawn," said John Byrd, weed specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Flowers blooming and birds courting are signs of spring's arrival, but swarms of termites are the more ominous indicators.

Blake Layton, an entomologist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said termite colonies normally remain unseen, shunning light and quickly plugging any holes or openings to the outside world. But each spring, well-established colonies send out swarmers to reproduce, spread and begin new colonies.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Two Mississippi State University veterinary science researchers hope to help prevent a portion of the 76 million cases of food poisoning in the United States each year.

Hart Bailey and Bob Wills are researchers in MSU's College of Veterinary Medicine Department of Pathobiology and Population Medicine. They focus their research efforts on preventing food-borne illnesses during the production phase.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Designing mixed containers has become a frenzied passion nationwide, and I have to admit I'm hooked, too. Nothing can liven up a porch, patio or deck like a large container filled with several species of blooming flowers.

Part of the appeal of mixed containers is that they allow those of us with cement-like soil to grow beautiful bouquets with ease. There are hardly any rules to container gardening, but good drainage is of paramount importance.

By Linda Breazeale

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- One Mississippi State University researcher is hoping electromagnetic fields hold the key to reducing the side effects of traditional cancer treatments.

"In addition to the life-threatening aspects, many people may fear cancer diagnoses because of the necessary levels of chemotherapy and radiation that can make patients very sick and then drastically reduce their quality of life," said Dr. Cody Coyne, a researcher at MSU's College of Veterinary Medicine.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Ignoring safety precautions when using hand or power tools can turn a routine task into a painful or even deadly experience.

Herb Willcutt, a Mississippi State University Extension Service safety specialist, knows from personal experience the importance of using safety equipment when operating power tools. He was using a portable grinder one Saturday afternoon when a sliver of metal lodged in his eye.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Red-leafed bananas and citrus of all sorts were among the hottest plants at the Gulf Coast Garden and Patio Show in Biloxi.The Jackson Garden and Patio Show has expanded to three days, March 11-13, and looks to have jaw-dropping displays as well as highly sought-after plants.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Fruit and vegetable growers can learn how to produce the safest food possible during upcoming workshops in north and south Mississippi.

The workshops are slated for April 15 in Waynesboro and April 20 in Hernando. Each workshop will review food safety issues including good agricultural, handling and manufacturing practices that will meet food safety requirements during production, harvesting and grading. The afternoon sessions will be devoted to each producer developing an individualized manual and documentation needed for their food safety programs.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Look around and you will quickly spot the old and still wonderful heirlooms we prize in today's garden. Mississippi and much of the South provide some outstanding old homesteads with long-standing plants announcing spring's arrival.

VERONA -- M.D. Phillips will celebrate his 90th birthday this year. For more than half of those years, he has been a member of the North Mississippi Producer Advisory Committee.

The committee meets annually to give input to the Mississippi State University Extension Service and the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station on the research and education needs of agricultural producers in 27 north Mississippi counties.

Phillips was at the first committee meeting in 1953 and was one of about 160 producers attending the 2005 gathering.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Weed control is synonymous with glyphosate use to many row crop producers, but a resistant weed in the Delta is making producers change their management strategies.

John Byrd, weed scientist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said mare's tail or horseweed has become resistant to glyphosate applications in the Delta. Tennessee and Arkansas are fighting resistant strains of this weed, too, and Arkansas has just confirmed glyphosate-resistant populations of common ragweed.