Feature Story from 2023

When bedbug outbreaks make headlines, many travelers feel itches that may not exist because of the psychological trauma these pests inflict. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has long classified bedbugs as a public health pest. These tiny parasites feed on the blood of humans and animals. Adult bedbugs are reddish-brown, have six legs and two antennae and are about the size of Abraham Lincoln’s engraved head on a penny.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- A Mississippi State University Extension Service specialist was recently recognized for her work with the rural tourism industry. Rachael Carter, tourism specialist with the MSU Extension Center for Government and Community Development, or CGCD, received the Agnes Zaiontz Rural Tourism Leadership Award from the Alabama-Mississippi-Tennessee Rural Tourism Conference committee.

Although few consider what makes it possible to turn on the tap at home and get abundant, clean water, there is an entire critical infrastructure operating smoothly to make that happen.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- The Mississippi State University Extension Service recently received a second cycle of funding for a project that has worked to combat obesity by helping people eat healthier and participate in physical activity. The AIM for CHangE program was awarded a five-year, $4.4 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help continue efforts to combat obesity in 10 target counties.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- The Mississippi State University Extension Service Center for 4-H Youth Development recently received a grant that will help close the digital divide in the state. The one-year, $53,000 grant from the National 4-H Council and Verizon will help implement the 4-H Tech Changemakers program. The program enlists 4-H members to teach digital skills that can provide more opportunities, including better jobs, to adults in their communities.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Commercial vegetable growers have a new mobile-based resource to help them manage pests and diseases in their crops. The MyIPM for Vegetables app is the latest in the MyIPM app series. MyIPM for Vegetables currently offers resources for tomatoes and cucurbits, which includes cucumbers, pumpkins, squash and watermelons.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Healthy lifestyles and healthy homes may seem like two separate concepts, but both components are important for overall well-being. David Buys, health specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, encourages people to consider giving their homes a checkup in the new year.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Current and prospective greenhouse vegetable growers can learn about the specialized production method during Mississippi State University’s 2024 Greenhouse Vegetable Short Course on Feb. 27-28. The course will be held at the North Mississippi Research and Extension Center’s Magnolia Building in Verona from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. It is open to greenhouse vegetable producers throughout the Southeast.

JACKSON, Miss. -- For five years, AIM for CHangE has turned federal dollars into park updates, playgrounds, food pantries, ride-sharing programs and community produce gardens for underserved areas in Mississippi.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Agricultural specialists with Mississippi State University will share updates and forecasts for 2024 on the state’s largest industry during a conference in January.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Mississippi’s 2023 timber harvest is expected to set a record for the 21st century. “We are on pace to exceed 36 million tons of timber harvested, which would be the highest level we have experienced this century, surpassing the previous high set in 2005 prior to the Great Recession,” said Eric McConnell, an associate professor of forest business at Mississippi State University. The increased harvest helped Mississippi’s forestry industry remain in third place among the state’s agricultural commodities, with an estimated production value of $1.5 billion. That is a 9.6% increase from 2022.

Mississippi’s poultry took an estimated 23% loss in value in 2023; though production was strong, a failure to meet the previous year’s record high prices was responsible for the hit. Poultry generated an estimated $3.1 billion to Mississippi agriculture in 2023, down from the $3.9 billion generated in 2022.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi agriculture’s value of production fell 10.3% in 2023, but still posted its second highest result on record at $8.8 billion.

Though the value of poultry production fell more than 22% from nearly $4 billion in 2022, the agricultural commodity still dwarfs all others in the state with an estimated value of $3.1 billion this year. The state’s forestry industry took its usual place as the state’s third most valuable agricultural product at $1.5 billion, an increase of nearly 10% from $1.4 billion in 2022.