Feature Story

South Mississippi Delta residents are in recovery mode after returning to homes that have been under water for nearly six months, but they need materials and assistance as they try to resume their normal lives.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Home gardeners and professional landscapers can tour display gardens and attend educational seminars during an upcoming horticultural show.

The Fall Flower & Garden Fest is set for Oct. 11 and 12 at the Mississippi State University Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station in Crystal Springs. The fest runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day. Admission and parking are free. The station is located at 2024 Experiment Station Road.

GULFPORT, Miss. -- Mississippi producers will have an opportunity to learn about the square-foot gardening method and tour an organic garden model on the Gulf Coast.

The Alliance of Sustainable Farms will host A Garden Tour and Square-Foot Gardening/Intensive Planting Demonstrations Sept. 20 at the 34th Street Wholistic Gardens and Education Center in Gulfport.

The president of the World Aquaculture Society is the latest in a long line of Mississippi State University connections to this organization.

The Mississippi State University Extension Service welcomed two new agricultural economists Aug. 16.

2019 has been an extraordinarily bad year for agriculture, and the extra mental stress it has placed on producers sends many of them looking for relief, not always in good ways.

Every approach to cleaning a house after a flood has its pitfalls.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- A new group of 12 Mississippi agricultural professionals has been selected for the second class of the Thad Cochran Agricultural Leadership Program.

The Mississippi State University Extension Service, in partnership with the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation, established the two-year, nine-seminar program to help emerging leaders in the state’s agricultural industry develop leadership skills and policy knowledge while visiting agricultural systems in Mississippi and abroad. They will also visit legislators in Jackson and Washington, D.C.

 Incoming college freshman think of almost every possible new experience they could encounter in their new world; however, some neglect the dreaded “freshman 15.”

The annual Alabama-Mississippi-Tennessee Rural Tourism Conference will be in Natchez Oct. 21-23.

From agricultural damage to financial challenges, the effects of a natural disaster can be physically and emotionally overwhelming for farmers and residents of an impacted region. As those in the Mississippi Delta and surrounding areas continue to cope and begin recovery from recent devastating floods, faculty and staff in Mississippi State’s Extension Service and Department of Psychology are extending reminders that can help.

Mississippi’s 259 rice-producing farms rank the state No. 5 nationally in rice production, a fact highlighted in September when Mississippians are urged to “Think Rice.”

The Mississippi State University Extension Service plans to ease the transition to school for families with young children through a new Head Start program on the Gulf Coast.

Between her job and her home, Tracey Porter has not had a break from dealing with flooding in the last six months.

Porter is the deputy director of the Warren County Emergency Management Agency, and her husband, Rodney, farms in the southern Mississippi Delta. Excessive rain last winter and spring kept 250,000 acres of farmland out of production this year. During the time when he would normally prepare for planting season, Rodney Porter was building sandbag levees to protect flood waters from invading their home. She helped him when she was not on the clock assisting other affected people in her community.

Floral enthusiasts and other interested individuals can attend a luncheon event that showcases holiday and seasonal-themed floral arrangements.

The next Alliance of Sustainable Farms field day will feature a roundtable discussion on farm management and tour of Yokna Bottoms Farm.

People can learn about timely topics related to muscadine vines during the 2019 Muscadine Field Day Aug. 29 in Carriere.

Mississippi forage producers can grow a bountiful crop, but they are fighting wet weather and pests to harvest all of it.

Rocky Lemus, forage and grazing specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service and researcher with the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, said hay harvest is about 5% behind where it was this time last year.

While the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is closing the Bonnet Carré Spillway this week, economic impacts of its months-long opening are expected to be felt in the seafood industry for years to come.

Turfgrass managers will soon have an opportunity to learn the latest research from Mississippi State University on landscape care.