News

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- An Extension program trying to identify future medical leaders in Mississippi is succeeding at its goal.

Rural Medical Scholars is a five-week summer program offered by the Mississippi State University Extension Service in cooperation with the state's 15 community and junior colleges through the Mississippi Rural Health Corps. It recruits students entering their senior year of high school, offering them a brief college experience and a taste of life as a medical doctor in Mississippi. To date, 144 students have completed the program.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Spraying chemicals is a significant part of the cost and control of modern farming, and calibrating the implements can make a difference in efficiency.

Herb Willcutt, agricultural engineer with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said calibration is a simple procedure that can potentially save thousands of dollars and protect the environment.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

A reporter once asked me, "If you could convince all garden centers to sell one perennial, what would it be?" The answer was simple for me: the Joe Pye weed.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Entrepreneurs who dream of creating and manufacturing food products can learn how to make those dreams reality at a day-long workshop offered in Southwest Mississippi in September.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Horse enthusiasts will find a lot to like at the Sept. 25 Fall Horse Sale at the Mississippi Horse Park, AgriCenter and Fairgrounds.

Sale-day activities begin at 9:30 a.m. with an equine nutrition program, followed by a lunch sponsored by Cargill Animal Nutrition. The sale begins at 1 p.m. and features almost 50 horses from the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station research herd.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Low shrimp prices and high fuel costs may share the blame for the reduction in commercial fishing boats in Mississippi waters.

Aerial surveys by the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources on opening day June 9 revealed 538 shrimp boats in Mississippi waters compared to 1,067 on the first day last year.

Richard Gollott of Golden Gulf Fisheries in Biloxi said shrimp prices are at 1960s levels and fuel costs have skyrocketed.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Veterinary practices for years largely ignored dental problems, but a movement within the profession now is giving it the attention it deserves.

Dr. Bill Nalley, veterinarian with Animal Care Hospital in Long Beach, said periodontal disease is the most common disease in small animals.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A Mississippi State University veterinary researcher is enlisting the help of mice to unlock the mystery of a mental disorder that affects more than 2 million American adults.

Jeffrey Eells, an assistant professor with MSU's College of Veterinary Medicine, recently received a $55,000 grant from the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression. Eells' study focuses on a strain of mice that have a gene mutation similar to that found in schizophrenic humans.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- The Brown Loam Branch Experiment Station's annual Cattlemen's Field and Hay Day is scheduled for Aug. 14.

The experiment station is located off Hwy 18 west of Raymond in the Oakley community.

Registration is at 8 a.m. and the program begins at 8:30 with a beef quality assurance injection site lesion demonstration by Dr. Terry Engelken of Mississippi State University's College of Veterinary Medicine and Brandon Carter with Elanco.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Two upcoming meetings will help prepare growers and vendors for the new farmers market coming to Jackson next spring.

The Mississippi State University Extension Service and the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce are organizing the evening meetings. The first meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 24 at the Forrest County Extension Office on Sullivan Drive in Hattiesburg. The second meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 31 at the Agriculture and Forestry Museum on Lakeland Drive in Jackson. Each meeting will last one hour.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

One of the lyrics in a Jimmy Buffett song says, "I have a Caribbean soul I can barely control," and I must admit to the affliction, too!

Sure, the water and the laid-back atmosphere are great, but the plant life is what I love. It was in the Caribbean that I first discovered a passion for gingers, especially hedychiums.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- The battle against an inevitable soybean disease has begun in Mississippi, with researchers and specialists ready to attack rust once it appears in the state.

Soybean rust is a fungal disease spread by spores. It can be carried on the wind for hundreds of miles, transported on people or machinery, or spread by infected plant material. Left untreated, it completely defoliates and often kills a plant, reducing yields by as much as 80 percent.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- June rains made it hard for turfgrass producers to do any work, but weather the rest of the year has been good to the industry.

Wayne Wells, turfgrass specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said rains made mowing impossible at times and made conditions poor for lifting sod.

"There were some leaf diseases caused by the rain, but surprisingly we have not had much insect or disease problems this year," Wells said. "I think growers have been pretty pleased with what they've been able to do this year."

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- The new school year provides parents with an opportunity to help their children establish sound study habits to improve chances for academic success.

Louise Davis, child and family development specialist with Mississippi State University's Extension Service, said good study habits are best learned early in a child's academic career. Older students also may benefit from parental encouragement before encountering problems in their schoolwork.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Homeowners know summertime means mowing time, but it is also the time to improve the health of the lawn and prepare it for fall.

Wayne Wells, turfgrass specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said water, nutrients, proper mowing, and pest and disease management are the four keys to having a good lawn.

"Summer is the time to grow grass, and measures can be taken now to catch up for missed work in the spring or to prepare the turf for winter," Wells said.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

One of the hottest plants for container gardens is the old-fashioned vinca. Maybe I should not say old-fashioned because the popularity is coming from selections like Illumination and Mojo's Gem.

It seems like it was only yesterday that the word vinca brought to mind the Madagascar periwinkle, now known botanically as Catharanthus, the common periwinkle we use as a groundcover. Now we look at the common periwinkle as a hot, new plant for large, mixed containers.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Diseases have challenged Mississippi tomatoes throughout the 2004 vegetable season, forcing growers to work harder to produce adequate yields and quality.

Rick Snyder, Mississippi State University research and Extension horticulturist in Crystal Springs, said the rains and high humidity triggered more disease problems this year than normal. Tomato spotted wilt virus, which is impacted by thrips populations rather than weather, was especially challenging.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Most people ignore eating disorders until a celebrity, close friend or relative falls victim. Awareness is an important first step in reducing this physical and emotional threat before it is too late.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Loblolly pine is the primary source of pulpwood for the entire U.S. paper industry and the most economically important crop of any kind in the Southeast.

Despite its economic importance, little is known about the genome of loblolly pine. The term genome refers to the DNA that defines an organism, including its genes and the DNA sequences containing "blueprints" for all the heritable characteristics of the organism. In short, the genome is what makes a human a human, a cat a cat and a pine tree a pine tree.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

The hyacinth bean is one of those vines that, once it starts growing in the fall, everyone wishes they had planted. If you don't want to be left out, get yours started quickly.

The hyacinth bean was a favorite of Thomas Jefferson, and you also will love it once you start growing it. This heirloom, also known as Egyptian Bean, Indian Bean and Bonavist, originates in tropical Africa and once had the botanical name Dolichos lablab. The name now in favor is Lablab purureus.