News

News reports of a new, invasive hornet spotted in the Northwest has heightened people’s awareness of flying insects recently.

Following nationwide closures of pre-Ks and early childhood education centers due to coronavirus, millions of parents are now caring for their young children at home.

Many Mississippi parents are wondering how to continue their young child’s learning, said Louise Davis, a Mississippi State University Extension Service professor with the School of Human Sciences. With a little bit of structure and some fun activities, young children can continue to develop the skills they need for school and beyond.

May 4 marks a milestone for me and my wife as the last Star Wars movie, “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker,” is being released straight to digital, thanks to COVID-19.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The beginning of May brought a welcome sight for Mississippi producers: sunny skies and drying fields.

For the second straight year, precipitation levels well above normal in the winter and early spring have slowed planting significantly across much of Mississippi. Gaps of days between rains have not been long enough until now for many fields to sufficiently dry. Some fields have been under water for more than a year. 

Mississippi State University Extension is helping U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly (R-Tupelo) and other partners in launching a new FARM Corps program to connect furloughed or unemployed veterans and members of the National Guard, Reserve and all service branches with local farm and ranch jobs

More would-be gardeners than ever before are planting with hopes of a summer crop of vegetables, but getting to that harvest means handling the inevitable insect pests, weeds, disease and fertilizer needs.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The Mississippi State University Extension Service’s cancellation of in-person educational meetings and events through August 1 does not affect events hosted by other organizations, which Extension personnel and clients may participate in.

All scheduled Extension face-to-face educational events and meetings through that date have been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Agricultural economists with the Mississippi State University Extension Service will address row-crop markets and budgets for 2020 during a May 12 webinar.

I’m sure Southern Gardening Nation knows that Supertunias, especially Vista Bubblegum, are among my favorite summer color because they are reliable performers in my coastal Mississippi garden and landscape.

But there’s another great group of petunias that I haven’t written much about, primarily because I haven’t been growing them lately. That group is the family of Wave petunias.

Floral enthusiasts and professional floral designers can broaden their design skills in a three-phase horticulture course that has online, in-person, and volunteer components.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The Mississippi State University Extension Service will continue operations as it has through the statewide shelter-in-place order, but has canceled all face-to-face events, meetings and trainings through August 1 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The cancellation includes all scheduled Extension in-person conferences as well as 4-H youth programs on and off campus.

Wet weather that won’t let up has resulted in a very slow start to Mississippi row crop planting, and time is running out for corn.

Starkville High School senior Christian Leach has photographic proof of the day he sat in his front yard and signed to run track for Mississippi College this fall.

Easter Sunday’s severe weather and tornadoes left landowners in eight south Mississippi counties with battered timber stands. According to estimates by the Mississippi Forestry Commission, around 13,000 total acres of timber in Covington, Jasper, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Lawrence, Marion, Smith and Walthall counties suffered about $14.9 million in damages.

Mississippi does not have to deal with plagues of locusts like those ravaging other parts of the world, but it does have to contend with a stinging caterpillar that is on the increase this spring.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Food supplies in the U.S. are abundant and safe, despite some challenges in packaging and distribution related to COVID-19.

Robert Johannson, chief economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, acknowledged “widespread worries that the disease could threaten the nation’s food production and supply systems and stoke inflation” in a statement issued April 16.

There are a few must-have plants for my summer Mississippi garden and landscape. You can count on me having Vista Bubblegum supertunia, marigolds and all kinds of zinnias to provide color for my yard. But another great plant that doesn’t get a whole lot of attention is melampodium.

When confronted with the need to change or adapt to life’s circumstances, people cope with the resulting stress in many ways. David Buys, health specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said the domino effect of multiple changes caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic may result in trauma.

“Usually trauma is a major life event that leads to intense stress reactions,” Buys said. “But we are seeing so many changes in such a short time it’s a struggle to manage our feelings and thoughts without falling into anxiety and depression.”

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- One of Kim Hancock’s routine jobs is assisting 4-H’ers in Jones County with their livestock projects. On Easter Sunday, she was helping some of those same young people and their families sort through the rubble of what was once their homes.

Thirty-two counties in Mississippi reported damage from a tornado outbreak April 12 that resulted in 12 fatalities, many injuries and catastrophic destruction to residential, commercial and agricultural property.

An April 24 webinar with experts from the Mississippi State University Extension Service will address pressing questions about the effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic on food production in the U.S.