News

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- While the Rotary Classic Rodeo is a competitive tournament featuring bull riding, barrel racing, steer wrestling and other contests, the event offers something for the whole family.

Hosted by the Starkville Rotary Club, the annual rodeo sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association is returning to the Mississippi Horse Park Feb. 7-8.

General admission is $15 at the door and $12 in advance.

Blueberry growers and others interested in growing blueberries commercially can learn more about the crop during an upcoming workshop.

Mississippi farmers and gardeners who want to learn about plant propagation and seed starting are invited to attend the next Alliance of Sustainable Farms field day.

Renee Collini began her role with the Mississippi State University Extension Service as a climate science educator Jan. 1.

In the gym this morning, I noticed there were many, many more people exercising than usual. It struck me that these folks were following through on their New Year’s resolutions to improve themselves for 2020 -- at least for a while.

As we approach the end of the year 2019, I’ve been reflecting on gardens and gardening in general. I wrote several weeks ago about the changing attitudes and current perceptions that home gardeners have about their landscapes and gardens

Our Mississippi landscapes and gardens really had a tough year in 2019.

When most people think about tarpon, they probably picture a giant, shimmering, 6-foot fish leaping up towards the sky from the crystal-clear waters of southern Florida. What many people don’t know is that tarpon are also found just off our beaches in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Although tarpon are not considered table fare in the United States, they are prized by recreational anglers because of their large size and acrobatic behavior. Tarpon generally swim in schools and make long coastal migrations from the southern Gulf of Mexico to the north in the late spring before migrating back south in the fall.

In 2019, Mississippi’s agricultural industry faced the prospect of dipping below $7 billion for the first time in eight years, but federal payments pushed its value up enough to post a slight gain over 2018.

The estimated value of Mississippi agriculture in 2019 is $7.39 billion, a 0.2% gain from last year’s $7.37 billion. Included in the total is an estimated $628 million in government payments, the largest amount of federal assistance Mississippi producers have seen since 2006

Overcoming every challenge that comes its way, Mississippi’s poultry industry maintained its 25-year streak in 2019 as the state’s No. 1 agricultural commodity.

Mississippi’s timber industry remained its second highest producing agricultural commodity again in 2019.

Coming in with an estimated production value of $1.15 billion, timber followed the state’s poultry industry, which generated an estimated value of $2.78 billion in 2019. Timber’s value of production is estimated by monthly severance taxes collected by the Mississippi Department of Revenue.

I’m continuing to catch up with my landscape and garden work after an extremely busy fall and early winter season. This past weekend was perfect to get some much-needed cool-season color planted.

Winter is finally here, whether you go by the meteorological date of Dec.1 or the upcoming astrological date of Dec. 21. To me, it means that I’m going to enjoy the freshly harvested cool-season greens from my little urban farm.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The Mississippi State University Extension Service invites growers and  financial professionals in the agricultural industry to the 2020 Agricultural and Rural Outlook Conference.

The conference will be held Jan. 7 at the Bost Extension Center auditorium on the main MSU campus in Starkville. It begins at 8:30 a.m. and concludes by 3:30 p.m.

Financial management, farm policy, trade and agricultural commodity outlooks will be among the topics covered.

The Mississippi State University Extension Service has hired two new community wellness planners.

Mynelle Gardens will be the host site for an Alliance of Sustainable Farms produce safety training Dec. 13.

I love when the calendar strikes December 1, because it means we are officially in the Christmas season. Now, I know it seems like many stores have had their holiday decorations out since before Labor Day, but none of that counts until we get to December.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Experts from the Mississippi State University Extension Service will offer a workshop designed to help food-related business owners prepare for disasters.

“Food as a Business: Disaster Preparedness for Food Businesses” is for anyone who currently operates or is interested in operating an agriculture-based food business, including retail, cottage food or food processing operations.

Topics include financial preparedness, risk management, record keeping, crisis communication planning, emergency-action planning and food recall and traceability planning.

For cool-season color, you can’t beat the old-fashioned plants our grandparents called Johnny jump-ups. We now call these pansy cousins violas, and they give the home garden big color.

A few, simple preparations can mean the difference between achieving a healthy success or suffering a major disaster during the traditional biggest meal of the year.