News

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Couples may think tight wedding budgets mean only friends and family can provide food for receptions, but professional caterers offer options at any price level.

Vicki Leach, chef instructor in the Culinary Arts Institute at Mississippi University for Women, said caterers may even be willing to work with the couple’s family and friends.

“Business is business, and most caterers are looking for opportunities for people to taste their food,” she said. “Caterers can get referrals from even the smallest jobs, and that helps them build their client base.”

By Justin Ammon
Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- All college students run a high risk for serious financial problems, and a Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station study indicates that older students are actually less financially secure than younger ones.

By Patti Drapala
MSU Ag Communications

BRANDON – Rankin County Master Gardeners enjoy converting plain spaces into landscapes that draw attention, so they jumped at the chance to transform the county Extension office into a focal point for good gardening.

January is a good time to take a look at your landscape because views are not obstructed by much foliage. When we can get a really clear view of what lies beyond our own yards, we sometimes don’t like what we see.

Many times we see the neighbor’s house or some view we’re not interested in. These views are hidden in the summer but seem to stare back in the winter. You may notice some traffic noise that gets blocked out by summer foliage.

You could build a privacy fence or wall, but these can seem a little cold and stark. It may be time to plant a living screen.

By Cheree Franco
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Most Mississippians spend their lives swatting mosquitoes, but each fall scientists from all over the world flock to Mississippi State University to learn to raise hardy mosquitoes, flies and other insects.

In 1999, professor emeritus Frank Davis and a handful of his colleagues in the entomology department recognized a lack of mass insect-rearing facilities at universities. They approached Vance Watson, then Vice President of Agriculture, with a proposal.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – An old-time family tradition of turning sugar cane into molasses earned a Jefferson Davis County man honors as the state’s top syrup producer for 2010.

Hosea Brown owns and operates My Paw Paw’s Ole Fashion Molasses in New Hebron. He grows about 1.5 acres of sugar cane on his Bradley Hills Farm and processes the cane into syrup molasses each year.

“I do this as a hobby because my grandfather has done it for years,” Brown said. “I’m just trying to keep it going as a family heirloom, and I have somewhat taken on the family responsibility.”

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Four qualified 4-H=ers who want to learn more about state government will have the chance to be pages for one week in March during the 2011 Mississippi legislative session.

The Mississippi State University Extension Service 4-H program and the Center for Governmental Training and Technology are sponsoring the opportunity for 4-H youth to serve in the 2011 Legislative Page Internship Program March 14-18. Program coordinators hope to select two male and two female 4-H’ers for the positions.

The brand-new year is the perfect time to make gardening resolutions.

My job at Mississippi State University’s Coastal Research and Extension Center in Biloxi gives me the opportunity to answer a lot of questions and solve many garden problems. Based on this experience, here’s my list of resolutions Mississippi gardeners can make to be more successful in the new year.

Gardening, be it vegetables or flowers, is a popular pursuit. But as enjoyable as gardens can be, there are times when gardeners have problems. Here are some of the traps that gardeners fall into from time to time, and tips to help you avoid them.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Dairy producers in Mississippi and Louisiana are invited to participate in a management conference designed to help them learn to increase their profits.

The Mississippi-Louisiana Dairy Management Conference will be held Jan. 13 at the Southwest Events Center in Tylertown. The 9 a.m.-1 p.m. event is open to all dairy producers, dairy managers and dairy farm employees.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi State University is merging the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology to promote cost savings and further strengthen research efforts.

The faculty-led Select Committee on Efficiencies and Innovations made the department merger recommendation after consulting with departmental faculty from both units.

Formed in fall 2009, the Select Committee on Efficiencies and Innovations was appointed by MSU President Mark Keenum to address financial challenges.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi farmers are finding out not only what a difference a year makes, but also what a difference a decade makes.

Agricultural economists with Mississippi State University’s Extension Service predict a record $6.9 billion production value for the state’s farm enterprises. The figure represents a 19 percent increase, or $1.09 billion, from 2009’s disastrous bottom line. After adjusting for inflation of agricultural prices, it is 45 percent, or $1.55 billion, better than in the year 2000. The previous record of $6.4 billion was set in 2005.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Soybeans remained the state’s most valuable row crop in 2010, bringing an estimated $821 million to growers, a 16 percent increase over the previous year.

The increase came despite a somewhat late start and a very hot, dry summer. The Mississippi Agricultural Statistics Service estimates 1.95 million acres of soybeans were harvested, yielding a state average of 39 bushels per acre. The average market year price is estimated to be $11.45 a bushel.

By Patti Drapala
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE – The estimate for this year’s forestry year-end harvest value is better than last year’s dismal showing, and if the forecasted improvement in the overall economy is accurate, this trend could continue for the next few years.

The preliminary estimate for forestry’s overall harvest value is $1.078 billion, which is comparable to 2008’s value of $1.079 billion. The harvest value for 2009 was $864 million, the first time in 16 years the value dipped below the billion-dollar mark.

By Karen Templeton
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi’s poultry industry remains the state’s top agricultural commodity by responding to export market changes and meeting the needs of consumers.

Poultry ended the year with an estimated $2.5 billion production value, an 8 percent increase from 2009. That figure includes a broiler value of $2.3 billion, eggs at $178 million and chickens at $5 million.

By Cheree Franco
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Despite a bleak economy, career outlooks are promising for agricultural students.

Ag business is big business in the state of Mississippi and according to experts, it’s only getting bigger. Increased diversity and enrollment numbers at Mississippi State’s Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine indicate that young adults recognize this potential and are thinking far beyond the family farm.

With their brightly colored bracts full of holiday cheer, poinsettias are truly the quintessential Christmas plant.

The range of available poinsettia colors is truly phenomenal. Red, white, pink, maroon, speckled and marbled are just the tip of the iceberg. Recently, you may have noticed orange and even blue poinsettias with sparkles. Growers use plant dyes to change the bract colors and expand the variety of colors available to consumers.

By Karen Templeton
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Feral swine, commonly called “wild pigs,” can do more than damage crops and property; they also can transmit diseases to humans and domestic animals.

Feral swine are a non-native, highly adaptable species found throughout the country. They have been seen in Mississippi since the 1980s and have caused significant agricultural and environmental damage.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – The myth that a single type of person uses food stamps was examined in a recent Southern Rural Development Center study that impacts how to best reach those in need of food assistance.

The report, “One-size doesn’t fit all: Different reasons drive food stamp use in areas across the South,” looks at certain characteristics of food stamp users in the Borderland in Texas, the Appalachia region in West Virginia, the Delta in Mississippi and Louisiana, and the Black Belt in Alabama.