Feature Story

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Row crop growers in Mississippi expect to plant more corn in 2025 than they did last year, but not as much cotton or as many soybeans.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service, a unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, released its annual prospective plantings report March 31. Surveys are conducted with farm operators nationwide during the first two weeks of March each year to collect data on which row crops they plan to plant and how many acres.

GULFPORT, Miss. -- Every day at Gaston Point Head Start Center starts the same as teachers and staff strive to prepare each child for excellence in school.

The day at each Mississippi State University Extension Head Start center begins long before the first child arrives as classrooms are prepared for the day. Activities are set up, lesson plans finalized and hall decorations checked to make sure there is a warm, welcoming space for children and families.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Entering this spring, beekeepers will be tasked with rebounding from the worst winter in over a decade for winter bee mortality.

A nonprofit organization, called Project Apis m., surveyed more than 700 U.S. commercial beekeepers and found they lost 62% of their colonies between July 2024 and February of this year.

Fruit production requires considerable effort, and some fruits require much more care than others -- facts specialists with the Mississippi State University Extension Service keep in mind as they provide research and information support to the industry.

MSU has ongoing blueberry research at the South Mississippi Branch Experiment Station in Poplarville and the Beaumont Horticultural Unit, and muscadine research at Beaumont and the McNeill Research Unit. MSU also has trials and research on blackberries, wine grapes, elderberries, passion fruit and strawberries.

SENATOBIA, Miss. -- The Mississippi State University Extension Service will offer free bacteria and chemical screenings for private water well owners in Tate County during an upcoming workshop.

Mississippi’s native subterranean termites have started swarming, and these structure-destroying insects will continue to swarm across the state over the next few months.

John Riggins, professor of forest entomology in the Mississippi State University Department of Agricultural Science and Plant Protection, said termites swarm to produce new colonies when the weather warms up, often after a rain.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Until an avian flu vaccine for chickens or other alternative is federally approved, commercial poultry operations in the U.S. will have to keep “stamping out” entire flocks with a confirmed case to prevent further exposure -- just like one in Noxubee County recently had to do.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Practice was in session Friday at Mississippi State University’s Humphrey Coliseum as a group of local people with disabilities worked on their basketball shots.

The participants were guests of the MSU Athletics Department and MSU Extension’s REACH program, which stands for Resources of Extension Accessing Communities for Hope. Jim McAdory, MSU Extension agent in Winston County, organized the event.

“We want you to be a part of the Bulldog family,” McAdory told the guests.

PICAYUNE, Miss. -- The public is invited to celebrate part of the Mississippi State University Crosby Arboretum’s history during the Strawberries & Cream Festival April 13 in Picayune.

STONEVILLE, Miss. -- Will Eubank’s new role as an assistant professor and Extension rice specialist at Mississippi State University’s Delta Research and Extension Center, or DREC, is a full-circle moment.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The American Relief Act of 2025 extended the 2018 Farm Bill’s benefits until September, providing agricultural producers $31 billion in economic aid. However, farm owners and operators are advocating for improvements as U.S. legislators draft the next Farm Bill.

In late February, producers representing a range of commodities testified before the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee to share their concerns. The series, “Perspectives From the Field: Farmer and Rancher Views on the Agricultural Economy,” lent that forum to growers in all corners of the country.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- A statewide citrus quarantine was issued recently for Mississippi after one of the most serious citrus plant diseases in the world was detected in the state. Citrus greening, also known as Huanglongbing or HLB, was confirmed earlier this year, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or USDA APHIS. There is no cure for the disease, which is caused by a bacterial infection spread by the Asian citrus psyllid, a gnat-sized insect. Infected trees die within a few years.

An ongoing challenge in farming is finding a way to manage weeds without creating populations that are chemical-resistant.

The scale of modern farming requires the careful use of chemicals as part of the overall management plan to harvest good yields and make a profit. Although an array of government agencies regulate and oversee the use of these chemicals, farmers themselves are among the most cautious with their use.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- A team of Union County 4-H members recently achieved a feat that has not been accomplished in 20 years for Mississippi competitors of the youth development organization’s national scholarly contests. The Quiz Bowl Team, made up of Maddie Willard, Abby Grant, Levi Thompson and Karley Harrison, is one of just a few teams in the state to ever earn an undefeated first-place win in the Western National 4-H Roundup Horse Bowl competition.

Water management specialists with Mississippi State University have extensive advice for those implementing different irrigation techniques, but they all agree that using soil moisture sensors is the best way to irrigate.

VERONA, Miss. -- Each year, producers come to the North Mississippi Producer Advisory Council meeting to share their research and educational needs with agricultural faculty and specialists at Mississippi State University, and of all the commodity group sessions, the one on beef cattle usually has the highest attendance.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- An instructor and tourism specialist with the MSU Extension Center for Government and Community Development, or GCD, has been recognized professionally for her contributions to rural sociology.

Rachael Carter was honored with the 2025 Excellence in Research Award by the Southern Rural Sociological Association, or SRSA, during its annual meeting in January.

The career achievement award credits Carter’s work in advancing the study of rural development in the South and efforts to drive meaningful improvements in rural communities.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- A large group of agricultural producers and industry professionals met with Mississippi State University personnel during the 2025 Central Mississippi Producer Advisory Council meeting Feb. 18 in Raymond at the Central Mississippi Research and Extension Center. The annual forum provides clients, MSU administrators, researchers, specialists and Extension agents an opportunity to meet in small commodity groups to discuss the research and educational needs of producers in the region.

As happens in every other industry, when costs rise and markets stay flat or decline, farmers look for ways to either cut costs or increase income.

At the Row Crop Short Course hosted in December by the Mississippi State University Extension Service, those in attendance heard about a double-cropping system not yet tried in Mississippi. One presenter gave research data on growing corn and then soybeans in South Carolina as a way to increase the annual income from the same acreage.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The Mississippi State University Extension Service has a new leader at the helm of its programs aimed at early childhood education. Jamila Taylor was named executive director of Early Childhood Extension Programs in the MSU School of Human Sciences Feb. 16.