News

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Gift cards are gaining on clothing as the most popular gift to give at the holidays, but this seemingly fail-proof present often is not as popular with those who receive them.

Consumer Reports found in a recent survey that more than 23 million Americans have unused gift cards from last year worth a total of at least $972 million. Almost 1 in 5 of those who received a gift card in 2005 has not yet cashed it in for merchandise.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Grandparents and even children can feel on the outside of the consumer whirlwind that seems to pick up intensity at the holidays.

Retailers tell consumers that the holidays are about spending lots of money to buy fabulous presents. Mississippians participate in this buying frenzy, and many spend more money than they should but still don't get the peace and goodwill they want on Christmas.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- With attention focused on the many football games played during the holidays, people might not realize they may need their own game plan when it comes to eating.

Brent Fountain, human nutrition specialist with Mississippi State University's Extension Service, said as the number of tempting foods during the holidays increase, so should the effort to make wise food choices. Consider quantities, quality and frequency of foods consumed.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Christmas trees need special attention before, during and after their magical season under the lights.

Steve Dicke, forestry specialist with Mississippi State University's Extension Service, said producing Christmas trees is labor intensive. Growers have to be good retailers during the holiday season, and good farmers during the entire year.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Christmas tree growers are facing a new and welcomed challenge in the coming years: keeping up with the increasing demand for their fresh products.

Steve Dicke, forestry specialist with Mississippi State University's Extension Service, said growers have been surprised by the recent surge of interest in live trees.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- While more than one singer has longed to “go home with the armadillos,” most Mississippians just want the annoying beasts to leave their yards alone.

Jerry Jeff Walker popularized the line in “London Homesick Blues,” but homeowners with a yard full of divots each morning feel no such love.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A new endowed scholarship has been established at Mississippi State University in honor of Mississippi Farm Bureau president David Waide of West Point.

The scholarship is in recognition of Waide’s commitment to and efforts on behalf of Mississippi agriculture, said Vance Watson, MSU vice president for agriculture, forestry and veterinary medicine.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi’s fruit and vegetable growers can take part in the annual Deep South Fruit and Vegetable Conference and Trade Show Dec. 6-7 in Mobile, Ala.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

With the holidays practically upon us, time is running short to plant cool season flowers that will welcome friends and family. Serious frost across much of the state took the beauty from some favorite perennials. In many cases, these plantings are right near the front door, porch or main entryway.

By Robert H. Wells
Delta Research and Extension Center

STONEVILLE -- A new antibiotic for aquaculture may become twice as useful against deadly bacterial infections plaguing farm-raised catfish if it receives proposed additional labeling.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- With demand for biodiesel on the rise, researchers are looking for ways Mississippi agricultural production can contribute more to this growing market.

Brian Baldwin, a Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station researcher, is identifying alternative crops that can grow in Mississippi and produce large quantities of oil. The highest oil-producing crops are tropical, but there are other plants that can be grown in Mississippi and yield more oil per acre than those currently being grown.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

My repeated encouragement to take advantage of pansy planting time in the South may have motivated you to purchase these beautiful cool-season plants, but also left you wondering what to plant with them. Pan American Seed, one of the industry leaders, has come up with a novel approach to this question called Pansy Pals.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Teaching and research capabilities in Mississippi State University’s Poultry Science Department have been expanded with the opening of a new poultry processing laboratory.

The facility is a scaled-back version of what students will find when they begin working in the poultry industry, said research coordinator Donnie Zumwalt.

“The laboratory contains the same type of equipment that industry is using and some they will use in the future,” he said. “It will give our students real-world experience while they are on campus.”

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- With just the click of a mouse, furniture manufacturers can “test drive” a management system to make their factories more productive. 

A computer simulation training model developed by researchers at Mississippi State University will be demonstrated during a Nov. 15-16 workshop at the Franklin Center on the MSU campus. The Simulating Lean Transformation in the Furniture Industry Workshop will include training with “lean production” principles. Lean production refers to the ability to produce more with less.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- There are always exceptions from one field to another, but Mississippi's cotton should produce near the five-year average despite the summer's drought, mostly because irrigated land boosted yields.

Mississippi farmers will harvest 1.21 million acres of cotton, which is about 10,000 acres more than last year. The predicted yield average is 833 pounds per acre, which is just under last year's yield and the five-year averages of 859 pounds and 869 pounds, respectively.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A degree program that requires students to spend extensive time on the golf course got an academic boost with the recent donation of a piece of state-of-the-art equipment to evaluate golf swings.

Denver-based GolfTEC Enterprises donated a $22,000 SEVA system in September to Mississippi State University's Professional Golf Management program. GolfTEC founders Joe Assell and Mike Clinton are PGM graduates who are sharing the success of their company with their alma mater.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

During a recent greenhouse visit, I could pick out my favorite mix of pansies while I was still 30 or 40 yards away. It's been several years since a mix of any certain crop stirred such frenzy in me, but that is precisely what happens every time I look at Coastal Sunrise.

The Coastal Sunrise mix is in the Matrix series. The Matrix series only hit the market last year, and already they have skyrocketed in popularity for several good reasons.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Universities often offer parenting classes, but Mississippi State University recently held an international workshop focused on rearing the tiniest offspring: insects.

Initiated in 2000, MSU has hosted nine intensive short courses to teach people from all over the world the lessons crucial to rearing insects in a laboratory setting for research and commercial sales. The workshop is the only formal education on insect rearing provided by any university in the world.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi sweet potato farmers were not expecting a good crop after this year's drought, but producers are pleasantly surprised as harvest nears completion.

Benny Graves, executive secretary of the Mississippi Sweet Potato Council, said the crop should be fair to good overall. The drought should make the potatoes sweeter than normal.

“We're not going to have a bin-buster because of the drought stress, but quality is good,” Graves said.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Fake spiders receive special attention in Halloween decorations, but Mississippi's real spiders are true sources of tricks and treats all year long.