News

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A Mississippi State University researcher is directing two international studies that could help scientists better understand the role of the body’s natural immune system in preventing heart disease and the rise in drug-resistant bacteria.

Our gardens and landscapes are heating up, and for hot summer color, you just can’t beat the annual vinca.

In my opinion, vinca is one of those perfect landscape plants. It produces loads of color and handles the high heat and dry conditions of our Mississippi summers.

Some of the very best vinca plantings I have seen were growing in raised beds. But in some years, entire planting beds of vincas seemed to fail almost overnight. A common characteristic of these failures is wet soil. Vinca plants do not like to grow with their feet wet.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Three row crop field days scheduled for July will highlight new and developing weed and insect control technologies.

Mississippi State University row crop specialists will discuss these and other agricultural issues, beginning at the first filed day on July 7 at Douglas and Chris Hood Farms in Dundee.

The second field day is scheduled for July 15 at the MSU Black Belt Branch Experiment Station in Brooksville. The station is located 2 miles northeast of Brooksville and 20 miles south of Columbus on Highway 45.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Stories about Asian carp abound, but what exactly is an Asian carp and why should we be concerned?

Asian carp is a vague title assigned to a category of fishes native to Southeast Asia that have been introduced into the U.S. for their beneficial uses in aquaculture. This group of iconic fishes includes the common carp, grass carp, black carp, largescale silver carp, and silver and bighead carp. The species of most concern are the silver carp and the bighead carp, which I will refer to as “bigheaded carps.”

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Miss. -- Delta Farmers Advocating Resource Management will host the Monsanto Water Conservation Field Day July 7 from 10 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.

Attendees will meet at Simmons Planting Company on state Highway 438, 3.7 miles east of the U.S. 61 intersection near Arcola. They will then go to Murrell Farms to see the latest rice irrigation practices and surface water irrigation systems.

DECATUR, Miss. -- Max Anderson has set an auction date. Soon, he will sell all of his 150-cow dairy herd.

Anderson will then mark the end of 38 years in the dairy business after taking over his family’s Newton County farm. After a widespread dairy economic crisis in 2009 that put him and many of his peers in debt, he finally bounced back after a profitable 2014.

“It would be foolish to dig that hole again,” Anderson said. “No one in the next generation wants to take over the dairy, and it seems like the time is right. There are more reasons to get out than stay in.”

JACKSON, Miss. -- The Early Years Network is hosting a grand opening for the new Hinds County Resource and Referral Center on June 25.

The event will begin at 350 West Woodrow Wilson Ave. in Jackson Medical Mall Suite 480 at 2 p.m. with a brief ceremony to introduce staff and Early Years Network personnel. At that time, the network will accept a donation from United Health Care that will help extend network support to Mississippi’s children. The center will be open to the public to meet the staff and review available resources.

Small, rural towns often face the challenge of providing a quality-of-life standard needed to attract new residents, while some communities on the fringe of large cities may struggle to meet the infrastructure demands that come with population spillover.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Keeping kids healthy during the summer can be a chore, but it does not have to be a bore.

Cool summer snacks for kids can be made easily and provide children with healthy benefits. It can be hard to get children to eat certain types of food, but if the snacks look delicious the task becomes easier.

BROOKSVILLE, Miss. – Farmers, scientists and crop consultants are encouraged to attend the Agronomy Field Day and Tour on June 24 at the Black Belt Branch Experiment Station.

Sessions last from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Black Belt Branch in Noxubee County is 2 miles northeast of Brooksville on Highway 45.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Many drivers have experienced the flash of fur and squeal of brakes that ends with an injured dog, but for Starkville pet owner Cindy Callahan, there was just a squeak when Siba was hit in the driveway.

“It happened when we were backing out of the driveway,” Callahan said. “Siba loves tennis balls, and we think he must have dropped his ball and it rolled under the car. He must have tried to get it as we were backing out."

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The American Kennel Club Humane Fund has awarded the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine with a grant to support the college’s Safe Haven for Pets program.

The grant will cover some of the program’s expenses in providing care to the pets of women escaping domestic violence. Dr. Sharon Fooshee Grace, the MSU-CVM clinical professor who applied for the competitive grant, administers Safe Haven for Pets along with MSU-CVM assistant clinical professor Dr. Christine Bryan.

Tropical plants, like elephant ears, just scream for attention and attract interest in any landscape. Most gardeners love elephant ears because they are easy-to-grow tropical plants that make a big impact.

There are three species commonly found in Mississippi landscapes: Alocasia, Colocasia and Xanthosoma. Colocasia is my favorite elephant ear variety and the focus of this column. Most Colocasia plants feature big leaves and big texture, but they’re not all green. In fact, there are Colocasia varieties with black leaves.

POPLARVILLE, Miss. -- Frequent rains have complicated harvests and triggered some disease issues, but Mississippians’ love for blueberries will not be dampened.

Luis Monterde, a blueberry grower near Purvis, said it takes a lot of patience to grow blueberries.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Boxes of supplies can provide important lifelines when storms and other disasters threaten to uproot a household.

It has been 10 years since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina occurred, but the disaster still affects the lives of many individuals today. Christian Stephenson, an agent with the Mississippi State University Extension Service in Hancock County, said he was not on the coast when Katrina struck, but he still remembers the aftermath of the event.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- A Mississippi State University Extension Service nutritionist has earned two rare designations in his field.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Growing skunk populations in Mississippi are causing a stink in the Magnolia state.

Striped and spotted skunks, which are both found in Mississippi, are among the most common and widely distributed mammals in North America. Skunks are solitary and typically nonaggressive, and they have not historically been a serious threat to homeowners, agricultural producers and other wildlife. However, that could change.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi State University entomologist John Guyton actually wears them on special occasions in a tie, and some people collect them for science experiments, but homeowners typically want nothing to do with termites.

Termites are estimated to cause $40 billion in damage to wooden structures every year. In the U.S., that figure is $2 billion to $3 billion, and several million dollars are lost to termites each year in Mississippi.

BAY SPRINGS, Miss. -- When Hope James decided to stay home with her children and offer child care to parents in the Bay Springs area, she had no idea her decision would result in her business being recognized as one of the top in the state.

James, owner of Tot Shop of Bay Springs, recently received a 5-star rating from the Quality Rating and Improvement System. The evaluation is based on a national standard and scale, and James’s is one of the few centers in the state to achieve this level of quality.

With all of the annual flowering plants being displayed in garden centers, you might be distracted and pass right by the gorgeous foliage colors of caladium. And this makes the caladiums feel bad.

Caladiums are among the most misunderstood plants in landscapes and gardens. Do you plant them in the sun, shade or some kind of mixed sun and shade? The answer will be revealed later.