News From 2012

TYLERTOWN -- Beef and forage producers in Mississippi and Louisiana can learn how to improve their beef herds and pastures at a May 19 event in Walthall County.

The Mississippi/Louisiana Beef and Forage Field Day begins at 8:45 a.m. at the Livestock Producer’s Sale Barn located on Highway 98 East in Tylertown.

Topics include clover, heifer development, expected progeny difference in bull selection, herbicides, and alfalfa varieties for South Mississippi.

By Kaitlyn Byrne
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Tech-savvy 4-H’ers in Mississippi are using their skills to help their communities get connected.

The Mississippi 4-H tech team is composed of 25 senior 4-H’ers who lead technology workshops on such topics as social media and digital filmmaking. Team members are selected through a competitive process and undergo intensive training.

Spring is in the air, and graduating seniors are fighting off senioritis as they prepare to take their final exams. Many of these students are in the process of looking for summer jobs or their first full-time jobs. With a tough job market, students need to use every resource available to market themselves to potential employers, including social media, such as Facebook.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Local gardeners will have the opportunity to select spring bedding plants and support students in the horticulture club at Mississippi State University during the annual plant sale this Friday and Saturday.

This year’s sale will take place from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. Friday, April 13, and from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. Saturday, April 14, in the campus greenhouses behind Dorman Hall on MSU’s main campus.

A wide variety of plants will be available such as summer annuals, perennials, herbs and vegetables.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- The 13th annual Mississippi 4-H Golf Classic will be at the Lake Caroline Golf Course in Madison on Tuesday, May 22.

The annual golf classic is a fundraiser for the Mississippi 4-H youth development program, part of the Mississippi State University Extension Service. Development officer Morris Houston said the event was moved to the new location to make it more convenient and accessible for participants.

If you’re thinking about what you want your porch or deck to look like this summer, consider how you can use Mandevilla, a vining plant best known for its showy displays of summertime flowers.

You can find these plants in red, pink and white at garden centers. Flowers are displayed against a backdrop of dark green, leathery foliage. Leaves can be quite large -- up to 8 inches long. Some selections have smaller leaves. The plants are sometimes sold as Dipladenia, which rhymes with gardenia.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- An early strawberry season delights consumers, but growers must keep an eye on this spring’s fickle weather to protect their delicate and valuable crop.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A glass of milk may not look like preventive medicine, but daily calcium intake can build strong bones that are less likely to break.

“Osteoporosis is a loss of bone density to the point where fractures occur earlier and more easily. While more prevalent in women, men can also have osteoporosis,” said Diane Tidwell, associate professor in Mississippi State University’s Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion. “As the baby boomers get older, we’ll see a lot more osteoporosis, simply because our society is aging.”

Having grown up in a very small town where everybody knew everyone else’s business, I have come to appreciate the anonymity of big (or rather, bigger) city life, and Google is threatening that anonymity for many of us.

Granted, my current residence is not New York City, but I come from a town that counted the people twice and the cows and tractors once in an effort to keep the post office. As a result, I’ve learned to appreciate the ability to go out to dinner with someone and not hear it on the prayer list Sunday morning.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A Mississippi State University meat scientist is describing recent media reports as irresponsible journalism that casts a shadow over established practices that make certain ground beef products healthier and safer.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Take a look at 4-H livestock show rings anywhere in the state. There are nearly as many goats as hogs, sheep or steers.

“We’ve increased the numbers of goats shown by about 25 percent each year since the first year,” said Kipp Brown, area 4-H livestock agent and meat goat specialist with Mississippi State University’s Extension Service. “It’s helping the kids, the producers and the 4-H program.”

I think every gardener should take advantage of verbena, a plant that provides three seasons of color.

Verbena is a great flowering plant and belongs to a group of versatile plants that have been proven garden staples for years.

One of verbena’s best attributes is its flowering potential. These plants provide abundant color starting in the early spring and continuing right through the fall. If you protect them from frosts, you can extend their flowering well into late fall. Verbena also attracts butterflies all flowering season.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Crop rotation benefits and market prices remain the driving forces behind farmers’ planting decisions.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s prospective plantings report, released March 30, forecasts 4.67 million acres planted in nine Mississippi crops, an increase of 3 percent from total acreage in 2011.

John Michael Riley, agricultural economist with Mississippi State University’s Extension Service, said farmers probably are making their decisions to plant or not to plant soybeans and corn based on rotational needs.

Older adults are sometimes hesitant to adopt smartphones, but smartphones can eliminate one of their most common cell phone problems: text too small to read.

By Kaitlyn Byrne
MSU Ag Communication

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Miss Dixie National and Miss Rodeo Mississippi are both current Mississippi State University students striving to raise awareness about the importance of livestock and agriculture.

Paige Nicholson, Miss Dixie National, is a junior agricultural information science major in the College of Agriculture and Life Science. Samantha Golden, Miss Rodeo Mississippi, is a sophomore pre-accounting major.

Nicholson said she hopes to use her education to lend a strong voice for agriculture.

BILOXI -- Mozambique’s farmers can now preserve and better market their mango harvest thanks to training provided by a Mississippi State University specialist.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi State University’s gardening public image has taken several forms over its 27-year history, but what is now known as “Southern Gardening” with Gary Bachman has a long history of impacting landscapes in Mississippi.

“Southern Gardening” is a weekly newspaper column, radio segment and television feature produced by the MSU Extension Service. Bachman, the current host, is a horticulture specialist at MSU’s Coastal Research and Extension Center in Biloxi.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Before heading down the trail on a nature hike, take time to protect yourself and your pets from ticks and the diseases they carry, advised Mississippi State University experts.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A charter faculty member of Mississippi State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine has been inducted into the state’s veterinary profession’s Hall of Fame.

Dr. Clyde Taylor, a native of Natchez, was named to the Mississippi Veterinary Medical Association’s Hall of Fame at their recent winter meeting in Starkville. He spent his entire career in Mississippi, working first in the Department of Agriculture, then in private practice in Brandon and finally on the faculty at MSU.

Home gardeners show a growing interest in using native plants in the landscape, as these have a high tolerance for local environmental conditions. While they have a better chance of survival, they are sometimes limited in their ability to create excitement in the landscape.

I want to introduce you to some native plants that have no problem adding pizazz to a landscape. Two you should consider are butterfly weed and Virginia sweetspire. Both have been named Mississippi Medallion winners for their superior garden and landscape performance.