December 2024

Reruns

I don’t know about you but I get tired of reruns. The drought of 2023 and the rerun drought of 2024 was more than enough for me. While nowhere near as bad this year it still was a stressful time for plants (and humans). Speaking of reruns, I never understood what people found attractive about ‘Friends’. It ran for something like 8 years and people fawned over it, defending it against superior shows. It had high ratings, but I never could understand it. The acting was bad, the writing was bad, the direction was bad, just bad all around. It just seemed so phony to me. Oh well, at least a television program from 30 years ago is a harmless diversion. Let’s hope we don’t have any more droughts in the near future, or any other disastrous reruns. Our upcoming educational events won’t be disasters so hopefully you will be able to attend some or all of them.

2025 Annual Blueberry Education Workshops

The Mississippi State University Extension Service will be hosting 2 workshops for blueberry growers in 2025 — an in-person workshop in Hattiesburg and an online workshop . The dates and times for the in-person workshop will be January 29, 2025 from 9-12pm. The Virtual workshop will be February 7 from 1-2pm. Right now things are in the planning stages with more information to follow. If you have received this newsletter via email, you will get notification of the workshop details. The workshop will also be advertised via other outlets as well. Stay tuned for more information. Look on Pages 2 and 4 for information on committed virtual workshop speakers and their topics.

2025 Virtual Blueberry Workshop Speakers

(Click PDF to view speakers)

Dr. Rebecca Melanson, Mississippi State University
Associate Extension Professor & Plant Pathologist
Title: IPM Resources for Commercial Blueberry Production

Dr. Elizabeth Canales, Mississippi State University
Associate Professor & Extension Economist
Title: Consumers preferences: sensory drivers and barriers to fresh blueberry consumption

Dr. Blair Sampson, USDA-ARS
Research Entomologist
Title: Bushes wearing denim: cotton-based nanofibers for protecting blueberries from freeze damage, crop pests, and disease

Virtual Workshop will be on Friday, February 7, 2025 from 1-2pm. Registration will be needed to attend. The registration will be available after the first of the year. Stay tuned.

2024 Specialty Crops Conference

Click PDF to view details of conference.

2025 Mississippi Blueberry Education Workshop

Where?
MSU Forrest County Extension Office
952 Sullivan Dr, Hattiesburg, MS 39401

When?
Wednesday, January 29, 2025 from 9-12PM

Who?
Dr. Eric Stafne — Mississippi State University

Topic:
Considerations for Sustainable Blueberry Production
Dr. Blair Sampson — USDA-ARS Poplarville

Topic:
Bushes wearing denim: cotton-based nanofibers for protecting blueberries from
freeze damage, crop pests, and disease
Dr. Christin Coker — Mississippi State University

Topic:
(TBD) Organics and Sustainability
Dr. Elizabeth Canales — Mississippi State University

Topic:
Consumers preferences: sensory drivers and barriers to fresh blueberry consumption

How much?
Free

How to Register?
No prior registration necessary, just show up at the stated time and place.

The Mississippi Vaccinium Journal is a quarterly, digital publication of Mississippi State University Extension Service. Subscriptions may be obtained by sending an email address to eric.stafne@msstate.edu. All articles and images are copyright of Mississippi State University Extension Service. Mississippi State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, or veteran status.

Reminder to Check out IPM Resources
Eric Stafne, MSU-ES

I try to make it as easy as possible to find the latest information we put together as part of the Southeast Region Small Fruits Consortium (smallfruits.org). However, I am often surprised at the number of questions I get that can be readily answered by reading the online guides. So here is the link again. It is updated at least annually and usually more often when new information is available: https://smallfruits.org/ipm-production-guides/. (Click PDF to view image).