News

JACKSON, Miss. -- Mississippi farmers can learn how to improve their financial skills during a two-day workshop in Jackson.

The Holistic Management and Risk Assessment Workshop for Dairy Farmers is set for Feb. 21 and 22. The workshop will be at the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation Building.

Topics will be geared toward dairy producers, but all Mississippi agricultural producers are welcome. The workshop begins at 9 a.m. and ends at 3:30 p.m. each day.

CARTHAGE, Miss. -- Farmers can learn about spring planting, high tunnels and field production methods during the Feb. 17 Alliance for Sustainable Agricultural Production field day.

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians will host the field day at Farm I in Carthage.

One of five farms operated by the tribe, Farm I is a certified organic farm that produces tomatoes, tomatoberries, cucumbers, eggplant, kale and collards in seven high tunnels, one greenhouse and one open field acre.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Agricultural producers interested in purchasing auxin-containing herbicides intended for in-crop use on 2,4-D- or dicamba-tolerant crops must first complete mandatory online training.

The free, online educational training, offered by the Mississippi State University Extension Service and approved by the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce, will be available to producers starting Feb. 13. This training will help growers safely maximize the benefits of these recently approved auxin technologies.

So far, it's been an interesting spring season in January for our gardens. New Year's weekend, more than 13 inches of rain fell in my Ocean Springs garden, followed a week later by freeze-magedden. By late January, we were in the middle of really nice, moderate weather.

So what plants do you think are showing up at garden centers? If you guessed vegetable transplants, you’re correct. Last week, I even saw large tomato plants full of flowers for sale in 6-inch containers.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi livestock producers have a new resource for research-based information to help them manage their businesses.

Josh Maples has joined the faculty of the Mississippi State University Department of Agricultural Economics as an assistant professor with Extension responsibilities in livestock marketing and agribusiness. Maples, a native of Alabama, received his bachelor's and master's degrees in agricultural economics from MSU and a doctorate from Oklahoma State University.

VERONA, Miss. -- Hunters love to pursue waterfowl, they are doing it in record numbers, and destinations in the South provide excellent opportunities to harvest birds.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi high school juniors considering medical careers in their home state have the opportunity to take part in an intense and revealing summer program at Mississippi State University.

The five-week Rural Medical Scholars summer program at MSU will seek to identify the state's future primary care doctors and help them become members of the medical school class of 2026. Applications for the May 28 through June 29 program must be submitted by March 20.

VERONA, Miss. -- Jane Parish will take the reins at the North Mississippi Research and Extension Center on Feb. 1.

Gary Jackson, director of the Mississippi State University Extension Service, and George Hopper, director of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, jointly announced her promotion from the Prairie Research Unit. Parish served as research and Extension professor at that unit since 2014.

BILOXI, Miss. -- James E. Henderson has been selected head of the Mississippi State University Coastal Research and Extension Center.

When Henderson assumes his new role on Feb. 1, he will oversee the daily operations of the MSU Extension Service and Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station in the southeastern region.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi State University Extension Service health specialist David Buys will be a panelist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's largest annual meeting.

The USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum hosts more than 1,500 attendees each year. Buys, also a researcher with the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, will be one of more than 100 speakers and moderators at the forum.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Education is part of the solution to the unfortunate paradox facing many areas in Mississippi that struggle with high obesity rates but healthy food is not easily accessible.

Saucer magnolias and other flowering, deciduous magnolias start to peek out of their buds every spring, usually in late February or early March. The rush of colorful pinks is always a welcome sight.

So, imagine my surprise when the saucer magnolia at the Mississippi State University Coastal Research and Extension Center in Biloxi exploded into bloom three weeks early in mid-January.

COLUMBUS, Miss. -- North Mississippi homeowners with private wells will have two opportunities next month to learn how to improve the functionality of their drinking water sources.

Private well owners can get their water screened for bacteria and can attend a workshop in Lowndes County to learn how to better manage, operate and protect their private wells.

The Mississippi Well Owner Network, a program of the Mississippi State University Extension Service, will be held 6-9 p.m. Feb. 21 at the MSU Extension office on 485 Tom Rose Road in Columbus.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- A new way of growing rice keeps costs down while maintaining yields, and Mississippi State University researchers say the method does not hinder application of the key fertilizer.

Alternate wetting and drying, or AWD, is a method for growing rice that allows fields to dry out before farmers flood them again. The conventional method of growing rice uses a continuous flood over the paddy.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Many hunters share my favorite recreational activity: bow hunting white-tailed deer.

I am a fan of every benefit offered by archery, which can have a lasting impact on your life. My journey started when I got a youth model compound bow around the age of 12.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Scientists are seeking producer input on future agricultural research and outreach programming at three Mississippi State University Research and Extension Centers.

Producers of more than a dozen commodities will meet with specialists and researchers from the MSU Extension Service and Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station during Producer Advisory Council meetings in Verona, Raymond and Biloxi.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Greenhouse tomato growers and other interested individuals are invited to attend the 27th annual Mississippi Greenhouse Tomato Short Course March 7 and 8.

Experts with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, and Auburn University will present the latest production information. Experienced growers and industry professionals from around the U.S. also will speak.

The short course will be at the Eagle Ridge Conference Center, located at 1500 Raymond Lake Road in Raymond.

They seem to show up at my house every day, whether in sunny, rainy, warm or cold weather. They're relentless. I'm not referring to home-security sales folks; I'm talking about gardening catalogs.

These catalogs arrive in all shapes and sizes, in full color or black and white, and they all encourage us to make sure we're ready for spring. This spring marketing blitz is targeted at gardeners suffering from cabin fever. And the catalogs do succeed in us getting ready, maybe a little too ready if we succumb to their temptations.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Heavy winter and spring precipitation can result in water runoff from roads, homes, lawns and parking lots, washing more than water downstream.

CRYSTAL SPRINGS, Miss. -- When impatiens planted as part of a Mississippi State University variety trial died within two weeks, researchers acted quickly and described a pathogen never before seen in this flower.

"We were growing SunPatiens, which are hybrid impatiens immune to downy mildew. This disease has been a big problem for the industry," Broderick said. "The plants were doing really well, but in July they started to look like they were wilting. The stems were collapsing and dying, and in a two-week period, they went from looking relatively healthy to dead."