News

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Winning first place at a state-level competition earned senior-level Mississippi 4-H’ers a unique, four-day trip across the state.

From July 15–18, 60 young people will tour the state in the 2014 4-H Cooperative Business Leadership Conference.

Canna lilies are valued for their large, tropical foliage and showy, brilliantly colored flowers. They are an easy landscape plant that everyone should have in their gardens.

Many gardeners are familiar with the big cannas that have to be grown in the back of the planting bed. With their upright growth habit, cannas have an almost statuesque presence in the landscape. But the plant breeders have been at it again, developing selections that have dwarf characteristics.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- People like graduate student Alyssa Barrett are turning the Mississippi State University goal of international outreach into reality.

Barrett, a master’s student in agricultural and Extension education from Wiggins, went to the West African nation of Ghana in March to collect data for her thesis, which is examining the effectiveness of an agricultural education program. In 2013, she traveled to Nigeria to teach the same agricultural program.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi producers planted more of the state’s major row crops than they planned in March, and the majority of them are in good condition.

Every winter, Mississippi producers estimate how many acres they will plant of each crop they intend to grow. The U.S. Department of Agriculture tabulates these in March and issues the planting intentions report. On June 30, USDA released actual planted acre figures for the state.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Cattle and hog prices are soaring to record highs, causing producers to debate whether to sell their valuable animals or expand their herd sizes for the future.

“It’s hard not to sell when prices are this good and the pull of the feedlot is so strong,” said John Michael Riley, an agricultural economist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

As producers continue to reduce herd sizes nationally, prices should remain strong, but the result will be fewer animals available to sell in the future.

The lazy days of summer are winding down, and shiny new school supplies are greeting us on our weekly grocery runs. When the school bell rings this year, students will need to pack more than just their lunches and new school supplies. They also will need to pack technology.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A common question in all county Extension offices this time of the year is, “Will the weeds in my pond hurt my fish?” As the water in ponds warms up, the vegetation starts growing.

Is vegetation growing in a pond a problem for the fish? Not necessarily.

GOODMAN – Fruit and vegetable growers who sell their produce at local farmers markets and to schools or retailers can learn about food safety training, certification programs and new government rules during a July 18 field day in Goodman.

The Alliance for Sustainable Agricultural Production Demonstration Farm will host the field day.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A biochemist with 37 years of experience has been named head of Mississippi State University’s Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology and Plant Pathology.

VERONA -- The North Mississippi Research and Extension Center’s Agronomic Row Crops Field Day on Aug. 7 will present the latest research to area farmers and consultants.

The field day will be from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Lee County Agri-Center Magnolia Conference Center on Highway 145 South in Verona.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Students who struggle with math rarely consider it interesting or fun, but 30 Mississippi teachers spent 80 hours of intensive training in June learning how to change those students’ attitudes.

IMPACT2, or In-depth Mathematical Practices and Content Teacher Training, is a professional development opportunity for teachers to meet the requirements for their “highly qualified” certification in mathematics.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – A Mississippi State University undergraduate student and research scholar has won the Harold Weaver Undergraduate Student Excellence Award for his research on the flammability of hardwood forests.

Senior forestry major Zach Senneff of Caledonia, received the honor from the Association of Fire Ecology at the Large Wildland Fires Conference in Missoula, Montana.

When it’s hot in the summer months like it has been lately, I always look for low-maintenance plants that carry the color load. I imagine I’m not alone.

Plants that look good massing over a landscape bed are smart choices. My go-to plant for these conditions is the colorful sweet potato vine.

I’ve been growing ornamental sweet potato vine for about 20 years. The first selection I ever planted was Margarita, which has large, lime-green leaves. I like the vigorous growth, but to say this plant is unruly is an understatement.

BILOXI -- Mississippi shrimpers had an excellent opening day, a fact that had them pleasantly surprised.

Based on reports from just two of Biloxi’s three shrimp dealers as of July 1, fishermen landed 790,000 pounds of shrimp in the first week. Last year, all three Biloxi shrimp dealers reported total first-week landings of 541,000 pounds of shrimp.

Dave Burrage, professor of marine resources with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said hot, dry spring weather is considered good for shrimp crops, but the state got the exact opposite this year.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Some of Mississippi’s future medical professionals demonstrated their dedication by taking college-level classes the summer before their senior year in high school.

This year, 23 academically gifted high school students participated in the five-week Rural Medical Scholars program at Mississippi State University. Since the program began in 1998, 317 students have participated, experiencing college life and shadowing doctors and other medical professionals for an on-the-job view of their professional lives.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Fire ants are more than aptly named, given the reddish-orange color of their bodies and the painful, burning sting they can give.

Fire ants were unintentionally introduced to the United States from South America. The first documented release of fire ants occurred near Mobile, Alabama around 1918, and by the late 1930s, most of Mississippi had them.

Fire ants are very small and aggressive. When disturbed, they swarm, bite and sting, producing a painful or itchy pustule within hours.

PICAYUNE -- Visitors to the Mississippi State University Crosby Arboretum can view the work of area artists in the arboretum’s new art gallery.

Located in the recently remodeled visitor center and gift shop, the gallery opened June 21. It displays artwork that celebrates the natural world, and much of the art was made on or inspired by the arboretum grounds in Picayune.

BROOKHAVEN -- Mississippi’s cold, wet winter and spring gave the state’s new tea farm its first test.

Owner Jason McDonald and business partner Timothy Gipson started the farm in October. Their 250 one-gallon plants and 10 three-gallon plants are thriving this summer, despite some losses.

JACKSON -- Proposed changes to the nutrition facts label should make it easier for consumers to make decisions about the food they eat.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is updating the label for the first time since it appeared on packaged foods in 1993. The only major change made to the label in its 20-year history was the required addition of trans fats in 2006.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Steak lovers beware: scientists have discovered certain tick bites can cause an allergy to red meat.

Jerome Goddard, medical entomologist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said the lone star tick species carries a sugar that can be transmitted through its bite. The transmission of the sugar may cause people to become allergic to red meat.