Feature Story from 2015

BROOKHAVEN, Miss. -- Mississippi tea drinkers are one step closer to experiencing a locally grown product.

The Great Mississippi Tea Company began harvesting a small quantity of leaves from its 2-year old plants in mid-September and will soon share samples with prospective vendors.

BILOXI, Miss. -- The Atlantic hurricane that sunk the cargo ship El Faro in early October highlights the need for sailors to be trained in how to react in an emergency.

Dave Burrage, Mississippi State University Extension professor of marine resources at the Coastal Research and Extension Center, is trained to certify marine safety instructors who are sailors on commercial vessels. Two Mississippi sailors he trained survived an on-the-water collision that sunk one boat in the Gulf of Mexico last year.

By Karen Templeton
MSU College of Veterinary Medicine

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine is celebrating National Veterinary Technician Week October 11-17 by recognizing this growing program and the graduates who have found careers in the dynamic animal health field.

Some of the best choices we can make for reliable late fall and winter color are cabbage and kale. I’m not talking about the regular vegetable garden varieties, though these are quite pretty in their own right. The cabbage and kale you need are the ornamental types, and the time to plant is now.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi sweet potato growers will benefit from Mississippi State University’s work in a U.S.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- One of the most difficult tasks a parent or provider will face is guiding children through the grief and instability brought on by tragedy.

Natural disasters, terrorism, mass shootings, deaths of loved ones, or acts of domestic or physical violence are traumatic for everyone. When faced with these events, children and adults alike experience feelings of fear, helplessness and anxiety. However, children have very little, if any, experience in properly dealing with those feelings.

STARKVILLE, Miss. – They may not wear tights and capes, but greens are super foods.

Kale, collards, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, turnip greens, Swiss chard, mustard greens and all types of lettuce are good sources of nutrients, said Janet Jolley, a Mississippi State University Extension Service agent in Marshall County.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- A new Mississippi State University team scored a major victory in its first season of competition.

The MSU Horse Judging Team was named the Reserve Grand Champion Team at the All American Quarter Horse Congress in Columbus, Ohio, the largest horse show in the world.

Clay Cavinder, equine specialist with the MSU Extension Service and associate professor in the MSU Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences, coached the team for the competition, which involved judging 12 classes of horses, with four horses in each class.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Backyard and exhibition poultry owners can take part in an upcoming biosecurity training session designed to reduce the spread of bird flu and other infectious diseases.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- “Phishermen” do not need lures or worms to get their prized catch; the only bait they need is a good scheme.

Anyone can be phished -- tricked through electronic fraud into unknowingly forfeiting sensitive personal and financial information, such as password and credit card details. In many cases, the result of a successful “phishing trip” is an empty bank account for the victim.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- From live blues music to shrimp and catfish, visitors to the Sunbelt Ag Expo in Moultrie, Georgia, got quite a taste of Mississippi at the annual event.

Billed as North America’s premier farm show, the expo showcases the latest developments in agriculture-related technology, including tractors, trucks and farm equipment. Each year, one of the participating Southeastern states serves as a spotlight state and has the opportunity to put its unique accomplishments and commodities on display.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- When he walks into a hardware store and starts looking at lumber, he could be your average do-it-yourselfer, ready to start a project.

But Dan Seale, a sustainable bioproducts professor in the Mississippi State University Forest and Wildlife Research Center, is no ordinary weekend warrior building a little something for the house.

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Using prescribed fire is an important part of managing private timberland, but doing so correctly requires precision.

The Mississippi State University Extension Service is helping to offer “Fire on the Forty: Applying Prescribed Fire on Private Lands.” This workshop is part of the sixth annual meeting of the Mississippi Prescribed Fire Council to be held Nov. 12 in Hattiesburg.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi State University researchers have spent the last few years on the front lines protecting a $33 million dollar crop in Mississippi.

As grain sorghum production grew, producers had to fight off a new pest.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Farmers know how to handle ongoing threats posed by insects, diseases, and weeds, but new threats continue to surface that keep them on high alert and change the way they operate.

Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station researchers and MSU Extension Service specialists work to monitor the arrival of new crop threats, determine the best way to address the problem, and pass on those recommendations to producers.

Insect pests …

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- For five years, the Mobile Environmental and Energy Lab has taken the latest developments in poultry production technology on the road.

Mississippi State University researchers recently used funding from the MSU Extension Service to make upgrades to the replicated poultry house on wheels and improve the learning experience for everyone who sees it.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi State University’s annual online horse auction opens for preview Nov. 3 and features 24 horses registered with the American Quarter Horse Association.

This year’s sale includes 14 weanlings, five yearlings and five 2-year-olds that have been started under the saddle.

Prospective buyers can view photos, video and a description of each horse at https://auction.msucares.com.

Bidding opens at 8 a.m. on Nov. 16 and closes at 6 p.m. on Nov. 21. Opening bids range from $300 for weanlings to $1,500 for 2-year-olds.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- South Mississippi homeowners in small communities and rural areas without public water supplies can learn how to better manage, operate and protect their private wells during a Dec. 1 program in Harrison County.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Rocky Lemus knows there are times when watching grass grow is incredibly exciting.

Lemus, an associate professor of forage systems with the Mississippi State University Extension Service and Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, is always plotting his next variety trial.

“MSU has the only complete forage testing plots in the United States,” he said. “We have 20 different species, 110 varieties and four different locations.”

PICAYUNE, Miss. -- Attendees of the Piney Woods Heritage Festival in Picayune can celebrate the history and culture of the Piney Woods region located in the central coastal portion of the state.

The Mississippi State University Crosby Arboretum will host the two-day festival on Nov. 20 and 21. Exhibitors will provide live demonstrations of the traditional skills, crafts and arts of the region’s people, including quilting, woodcarving and blacksmithing.