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BATESVILLE, Miss. -- Farmers can learn about financial management and a new produce safety program during the upcoming Alliance for Sustainable Agricultural Production field day July 15.

The on-farm field day will be at the Cotton Warehouse Farmers Market, located at 550 Highway 6 West in Batesville. Start 2 Finish Community Farms’ Happy Foods Project is co-hosting the event.

Most of the time, I write about what I think are great landscape plants for gardeners in Mississippi to try in their landscapes. But this column is a bit different as I’m writing about a plant I don’t recommend for the home gardener.

So I ask your pardon while I turn to my alter ego as a plant nerd.

At the South Mississippi Branch Experiment Station in Poplarville, a very unusual plant is going to bloom shortly. Called a titan arum, this plant originates a long way from Mississippi -- in Indonesia.

STARKVILLE, Miss. – During the summer months, few activities are more appealing than a dip in the pool to escape the heat, but safety must be the top priority.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, toddlers have been known to drown in as little as a bucket of water. Swimming pools can pose the greatest drowning riks to toddlers.

Despite the dangers associated with swimming, the good news is that drowning is preventable.

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POPLARVILLE, Miss. – Horticulture researchers at the Mississippi State University South Mississippi Branch Experiment Station anticipate the first bloom of the rare titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) will happen soon.

The plant will not likely bloom again for several years.

POPLARVILLE, Miss. – Horticulture researchers at the Mississippi State University South Mississippi Branch Experiment Station anticipate the first bloom of the rare titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) will happen soon.

The plant will not likely bloom again for several years.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi residents are not alone in their appreciation of hiking trails and water activities during the hot days of summer. Wildlife, including snakes, are right there with them.

As outdoor recreation picks up, so does water recreation. Where there is water, there will be snakes. There are all different kinds of snakes people encounter in Mississippi. Some are potentially dangerous and others are completely harmless.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Watermelons need ample water to grow, but rains also contribute to disease pressure, and cloudy skies reduce the melons’ sweet taste.

David Nagel, a horticulturist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said dry conditions hurt the size of melons that were not irrigated, but their flavor should be excellent.

JACKSON, Miss. -- Mississippians are stepping in to support dwindling Eastern monarch butterfly populations with a nationwide program aimed at reestablishing their diminishing North American habitat.

VERONA, Miss. -- North Mississippi farmers and consultants can learn about the latest row crop research and the potential for using unmanned aircraft systems in crop production during a free field day program in Lee County.

Experts with the Mississippi State University Extension Service and Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station will host the biennial North Mississippi Research and Extension Center Agronomic Row Crops Field Day on Aug. 11 from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. 

VICKSBURG, Miss. -- After raising five children, Bobbie Beard began to concentrate on her second passion -- gardening.

“I’ve been digging in the dirt since I was 7 years old,” said Beard, who lives in Vicksburg. “I’ve always loved plants -- flowers, shrubs, trees. When my kids were grown, I decided it was my turn to do something for myself.”

Instead of keeping the beauty of her garden to herself, Beard decided to share it with others. At age 52, she began what is now The Flower Center Nursery in her own backyard.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The Mississippi State University Extension Service invites state row crop producers to a seed technology short course to be held Aug. 2-3 at MSU.

Seed Tech 2016: From Bin to Bag will cover techniques in seed cleaning, separating and sorting. There will also be equipment demonstrations and workshops focusing on testing, labeling, intellectual property, legal issues and litigation.

The workshop will offer professional development credit. Commercial applicator recertification courses will be available for seed treatment or demonstration research.

By Michaela Parker
MSU Extension Service

STARKVILLE. Miss. -- The iconic design of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Nutrition Facts label will stay the same, but the content of the label will soon be updated to reflect new scientific information.

The FDA announced on May 20 the final changes to the Nutrition Facts label for packaged foods. The label will keep many of the same nutritional facts it has displayed for more than 20 years, but several new features will give it more up-to-date, research-based data.

Hibiscus has to be one of the best groups of plants you can have in your garden and landscape. Here’s several reasons why.

BILOXI, Miss. -- Selling directly to the public takes longer, but it allows fishermen to make some profit from a shrimp season that has been below average so far this year in Mississippi.

Dave Burrage, commercial and recreational fisheries specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said shrimp landed in Mississippi have been small through mid-June.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The life of a fish is more complicated than most people realize. It needs places to hide from predators, ambush prey, spawn and guard young fish, and just loaf and relax.

By Vanessa Beeson
Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Nearly half of all rice produced in the U.S. is exported, so Mississippi farmers need rice variety options to ensure strong foreign demand for their harvests.

In 2015, Mississippi growers harvested nearly 150,000 acres of rice across more than 250 farms. The crop had a production value of $132 million.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac says the official start of summer is June 20 at 6:34 p.m., but after this past weekend, I’m convinced we’re already into summer.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- It was clear by early June that spring’s wet, cool weather caused few issues for Mississippi’s rice crop, as growers got it planted on time and the emerged crop  looks good overall.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that as of June 5, the crop was 99 percent planted and 97 percent emerged. Of that acreage, 78 percent was in good or excellent condition, and 20 percent was in fair condition.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Warmer days motivate many people to tackle cluttered closets, disorganized garages and idle storage buildings. But before pulling out neglected boxes of junk, consider who -- or what -- might have taken up residence in the dark, undisturbed piles.