News

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

If you choose the right flowers, your garden can have an exciting, festive atmosphere all summer long. If you’re looking for the life of the garden party, you need to look for the 2009 Mississippi Medallion award-winner Senorita Rosalita.

This outstanding new cleome creates interest and excitement in the garden by offering an intricate, spidery flower structure.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Gardeners across the country cherish phlox, but it is one of dozens of plants that get passed over because it is typically not in bloom when it’s shopping time.

By Karen Templeton
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE – A new Mississippi State University study shows that when it comes to horticulture, the right combination of machinery and human laborers can cultivate positive results for this growing industry.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Exposed, termites are small and defenseless, but hidden and in high numbers, these insects can destroy a house from the inside out, causing homeowners untold expense and grief.

Blake Layton, an entomologist with Mississippi State University’s Extension Service, said termites are a dangerous threat to homes.

By Karen Templeton
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi State University veterinary students learn in the classroom and in the laboratory, but the real test comes when they add in the responsibility of staging the spring open house and teaching the public about animal care and welfare.

For more than two decades, MSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine has welcomed children and families to its annual open house. This year, the April 3-4 event was attended by 3,800 visitors.

By Patti Drapala
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Many south Mississippi farmers have rotated peanuts with corn, soybeans and other crops to get through tough times, and word is spreading that this strategy can work for their counterparts in the northeast part of the state.

Peanuts make a good rotational crop because they are drought-tolerant, require less labor than other alternatives and have good loan assistance support. The marketing assistance loan for peanuts is $355 per ton, which in the minds of many farmers, beats “50-cent cotton.”

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Dr. Lanny Pace, executive director of the Mississippi Veterinary Diagnostic and Research Laboratory System, was presented the National Institute for Animal Agriculture’s President’s Award at the annual meeting March 31 in Louisville, Ky.

The President’s Award is given to an NIAA committee chairman in recognition of exemplary leadership and dedication to the Institute. Pace heads NIAA’s Emerging Disease Committee.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – High market prices and low input costs continue to make soybeans an attractive crop that will gain acres in 2009, but apparently not as many as originally predicted.

John Anderson, agricultural economist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said market watchers have been eager to see soybean acreage predictions. He said the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Prospective Plantings Report released March 31 was greeted “with a lot of anticipation in the marketplace.”

By Patti Drapala
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE – A medical entomologist and a physician spent several months researching a small bloodsucker on the comeback trail and their findings are bringing extensive national attention to the problem.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Producers getting ready to plant soybeans in 2009 can expect fewer problems than they faced last year when they dealt with shortages, poor quality and small sizes.

Trey Koger, soybean specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said poor germination and vigor resulted in a significant amount of seed withheld from sale last year.

“This coupled with extreme demand due to high soybean prices resulted in a shortage of good-quality seed to be planted last year for many varieties,” Koger said.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

As you shop your local garden center this spring, keep your eyes open for the 2009 Mississippi Medallion award-winning Flambé chrysocephalum. It has the ability to make itself at home in your garden, and it is one of the toughest plants you will grow.

The Mississippi Medallion award program began in 1996 when it recognized New Gold lantana and Blue Daze evolvulus. This year’s award went to Flambé for its stalwart performance in Mississippi’s extreme heat.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi's wheat is emerging from the winter with the same potential as last year’s record yield, but many opportunities remain for Mother Nature to spoil the final outcome.

Although the weather at planting time was favorable, the profit potential for wheat was not. The result was a wheat acreage decline of about 50 percent from last year, when growers averaged 62 bushels per acre on 485,000 acres.

By Patti Drapala
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- More than 94,000 Mississippi youth enrolled in 4-H have a lifeline to achievement and purpose because of adult volunteers who help them make their best even better.

“The people in our organization all seem to have one thing in common,” said Harvey Gordon, 4-H youth development specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. “They love 4-H and feel a huge need to share the 4-H experience with anyone who will listen.”

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Scientists at Mississippi State University's Forest and Wildlife Research Center are researching ways in which farmers, through the use of conservation buffers, can help keep butterfly habitats safe and healthy.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Whether you are interested in an edible landscape or a plain old vegetable garden, you will want to try the 2009 Mississippi Medallion award-winning Slim Jim eggplant.

Slim Jim is the fifth vegetable to win the Mississippi Medallion award. The others are Purple Ruffles basil, Mini Charm tomato, Tequila bell pepper and Red Giant mustard. You'll find these and other vegetables and herbs at your local garden center.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Logging professionals throughout Mississippi have opportunities to take required core classes or earn continuing education credits and maintain their expertise.

To earn “trained” status, loggers must complete core classes in four educational areas. These classes cover the sustainable forestry initiative, logging and transportation safety, best management practices for water quality, and business management.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi pecan growers can learn how to maintain their orchards at an April 9 workshop in Crystal Springs.

The half-day workshop begins with registration at 9 a.m. at Mississippi State University’s Truck Crops Experiment Station. Lunch will be provided following the workshop.

Topics for discussion include use of clovers in pecan orchards and crop insurance. Participants will visit clover plantings in the orchard located at the experiment station.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – A newly established poultry assistantship will help Mississippi State University expand its research of animal welfare issues.

KFC and the Yum! Brands Foundation are funding the assistantship at MSU’s Poultry Science Department in memory of J. Paul Thaxton, a former professor of poultry science at MSU and member of KFC’s Animal Welfare Advisory Council. Thaxton passed away in October 2007.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

A trip to any garden center this spring will likely show that petunias are increasingly popular. Though there are dozens of varieties from which to choose, one group rising to the top is the Supertunia.

Many trial reports have given top honors to the bright-pink Supertunia Vista Bubblegum and the reddish-purple Vista Fuchsia. However, shoppers at a recent garden and patio show preferred the Supertunia Raspberry Blast and Supertunia Royal Velvet.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Efforts to beat soybean rust are already under way before the soybean crop is even in the ground in Mississippi, but without federal funding, experts are scrambling to secure money to monitor for the presence of the disease this year.