Feature Story from 2013

PICAYUNE -- Patricia Drackett has a life-long love of playing in the dirt with worms, nature’s original gardeners, and she has the picture to prove it.

The photo of a little girl covered in dirt and holding a long earthworm is old and faded, but it remains one of Drackett’s most treasured possessions, especially after it survived Hurricane Katrina. She said her love for plants started with pulling weeds in her grandmother’s garden.

“People in plant-related fields often look back to their childhood for the origins of their career path,” she said.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Part of a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant is funding research at Mississippi State University that will help develop a process to create a clean, renewable energy source.

Researchers at MSU and Ohio State University received $6.5 million to work together on the project. They plan to develop a process to convert methane gases produced from leftover plant materials, or biomass, into cost competitive liquid fuels that more closely resemble diesel and gasoline.

JACKSON -- With a wide range of venue types, Mississippi couples can tie the knot in the setting of their dreams.

Beth Bell, child and family development area agent with Mississippi State University’s Extension Service in Tallahatchie County, said couples are choosing less traditional venues for many different reasons. Some couples anticipate more guests than can be accommodated at a small church or have demanding schedules that spare no time to plan a wedding. Other couples simply want a one-of-a-kind experience.

VERONA – Mississippi State University’s North Mississippi Research and Extension Center will host its annual Producer Advisory Council meeting Feb. 21 at the Magnolia Conference Center in Verona.

This yearly meeting allows growers, producers, ranchers and other agricultural clients to meet with scientists and specialists from MSU’s Extension Service and the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station to share concerns, ask questions and provide feedback about research and Extension programs.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi State University graduate students studying applied row crop agriculture will present their research findings before industry representatives at a new contest.

The first Future of Agriculture Graduate Student Competition will begin at 7:55 a.m. Feb. 7 at the Bost Extension Center. The master’s competition features two groups speaking from 8 to 11:30 a.m. and one doctoral competition from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. An awards reception will follow the final presentation.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi State University is hosting about 500 waterfowl biologists and wetland scientists for the North American Duck Symposium and Workshop in Memphis.

The event runs Jan. 27 to 31 at the Peabody Hotel, home of the world-famous mallard ducks.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Two Mississippi State University graduate students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences took home honors from the 2013 Beltwide Cotton Conferences.

Zach Reynolds of Starkville, a master’s student in agronomy, won first place in the poster competition at the Weed Science Technical Conference. He presented his research evaluating the effectiveness of pre- and post-emergence herbicides on Palmer amaranth, commonly called pigweed.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – An undeveloped courtyard at Mississippi State University’s landscape architecture facility provided the challenge for student teams in Design Week 2013.

The theme of the annual learning competition was Art into Nature. The teams, composed of landscape architecture and landscape contracting students and a faculty advisor, competed to design the best courtyard based on the space and needs. The challenge was to create an artistic and ecologically integrated design for the landscape architecture facilities, then present it to the judges in a compelling fashion.

By Alicia Barnes
MSU School of Human Sciences

WEST POINT – Registration is under way for veterans seeking non-traditional animal-assisted activities to address physical or mental challenges as a result of military service.

International Equine Services for Heroes will be offered through the Mississippi State University Extension Service 4-H Therapeutic Riding and Activity Center, which promotes educational and research-based equine activities.

RAYMOND -- Tomato growers from around the world will attend Mississippi State University’s 23rd annual national Greenhouse Tomato Short Course March 5 and 6 at the Eagle Ridge Conference Center in Raymond, Miss.

INDIANOLA -- A Feb. 7 workshop will familiarize participants with some of the resources available to assist Mississippi manufacturers who want to begin or expand export activities.

Mississippi State University’s Franklin Furniture Institute is hosting the Getting to Know Your Export Resources workshop. It is funded by the Delta Regional Authority.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – The Mississippi State University Extension Service has hired a new associate in response to Mississippians’ growing interest in returning to traditional methods of food preparation and preservation, sewing and home arts.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Today’s agricultural careers are a long way from the chisels and plows our great-grandparents used, and much of that progress is thanks to people like agricultural engineer Filip To.

JACKSON -- Agricultural producers in central Mississippi are invited to evaluate and provide direction on educational programming and research provided by Mississippi State University.

Producers of various commodities are invited to participate in the Central Mississippi Producer Advisory Council Feb. 26 at the McKenzie Arena in Raymond. Representatives from the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station and MSU’s Extension Service will discuss current issues and answer questions.

BILOXI -- Coastal area commodity producers are invited to meet with Mississippi State University experts during the fifth annual Commodity Advisory Council Feb. 25 at the Coastal Research and Extension Center.

Producers will have the opportunity to evaluate and provide direction on Extension programming and research by the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station for their products and crops. Representatives of MSU’s Extension Service and MAFES will discuss current issues and answer questions.

by Karen Templeton
Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine

MISSISSIPPI STATE – In the midst of one of the country’s worst flu seasons in recent history, work is already well under way to develop next season’s influenza vaccines.

Seasonal flu causes approximately 24,000 deaths and more than 200,000 hospitalizations in the United States each year. Dr. Henry Wan, an associate professor at the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine, wants to make the development of vaccines a more efficient and economical process.

By Meg Henderson
MSU Forest and Wildlife Research Center

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Results from a Mississippi State University study of mallard ducks in the state’s south Delta revealed information that could help shape conservation and habitat management programs.

For several years, Brian Davis, assistant professor in MSU’s Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture and researcher in MSU’s Forest and Wildlife Research Center, has been studying how mallards use the overall landscape and how the landscape affects their survival.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Some Mississippi State University students may be able to eat their own homework as they transform a hayfield into a student farm.

MSU’s newly established student farm is located on about 24 acres of the H. H. Leveck Animal Research Center, commonly called South Farm. The student farm is a project guided by the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, MSU’s Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, and MSU’s Department of Landscape Architecture.

HATTIESBURG -- Mississippi producers expect peanuts to remain a strong commodity in years to come with a steady global demand and new marketing opportunities.

“The demand for peanuts will stay in place because of global economics and population,” said Mike Phillips, plant and soil sciences department head at Mississippi State University. “International markets rely on the United States for this product. And a global population that is expected to exceed 9 billion by 2050 will drive this commodity to be successful.”