What pecan varieties should I plant?

Varieties selected for Mississippi are based on disease resistance and nut/meat quality. The primary varieties recommended for the Mississippi Delta are Owens and Kiowa, followed by Forkert, Cape Fear, and Choctaw. South Mississippi growers prefer Kiowa and Sumner as the primary varieties followed by: Melrose, Jackson, and Elliot.

Publications

Publication Number: P2858

Disease and Insect Control for Homegrown Peaches and Plums

Publication Number: P3055

Fertilizing Pecan Trees

Publication Number: IS1608

Fruit and Nut Review Bunch Grapes

Publication Number: P0376

Growing Peaches in Mississippi

Publication Number: IS1434

Fruit and Nut Review - Peaches, Nectarines, and Plums

Get training, certification on Produce Safety Rule

Filed Under: Commercial Horticulture, Commercial Fruit and Nuts, Farmers Markets, Greenhouse Tomatoes, Organic Fruit and Vegetables, Other Vegetables August 17, 2017

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Produce growers, packers, industry suppliers and others can learn the requirements of the new federal Produce Safety Rule during one of three upcoming workshops around the state.

MSU workshop teaches basics of winemaking

Filed Under: Commercial Fruit and Nuts, Fruit August 4, 2017

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- A group interested in learning more about the ancient and popular art of winemaking will attend an upcoming workshop on the topic Sept. 15 at Mississippi State University.

The Growing, Making and Improving Wines Workshop will be at the A.B. McKay Food Research and Enology Laboratory on the MSU campus. The MSU Extension Service and the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station are offering the daylong workshop.

MSU offers muscadine field day on Aug. 26

Filed Under: Commercial Fruit and Nuts, Fruit August 4, 2017

MCNEILL, Miss. -- Mississippi State University invites muscadine grape growers and those interested in growing these vines to an Aug. 26 field day in Pearl River County.

Topics for the annual Muscadine Field Day include pests, new varieties and vine management. MSU Extension Service, Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, and U.S. Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service personnel will speak.

Natasha Haynes, Mississippi State University Extension agent in Rankin County, advocates choosing one local ingredient to spotlight in a menu, such as this squash growing at the Southern Heritage Garden at the Vicksburg National Military Park on June 13, 2017. (Photo by MSU Extension Service/Bonnie Coblentz)

Highlight local foods in bed-and-breakfasts

Filed Under: Commercial Fruit and Nuts, Farmers Markets, Agri-tourism, Food, Nutrition July 12, 2017

VICKSBURG, Miss. -- Foods grown on Southern farms should end up on Southern tables, especially when those tables are in the state’s many historic bed-and-breakfasts.

That was the message Mississippi State University Extension Service personnel sent home with participants in a recent workshop.

“Nobody wants to go to a Southern B&B and not experience the food, so think about serving local foods,” said Brent Fountain, Extension nutrition specialist.

These blueberries at the Blueberry Patch in Starkville, Mississippi, are shown in a fruit coloring stage on May 17, 2017. Mostly warm winter conditions caused this year’s harvest to be unusually early in most parts of the state. (Photo by MSU Extension Service/Kevin Hudson)

Warm weather speeds state's blueberry harvest

Filed Under: Commercial Fruit and Nuts, Fruit May 19, 2017

WAYNESBORO, Miss. -- The demand for fresh Mississippi blueberries may grow this year after a mid-March freeze hampered production in neighboring states.

Freezing temperatures during the crop's early growth stage on farms east of the state, especially in Georgia and North Carolina, caused production losses of up to 50 percent.

Meanwhile, 85 percent of Mississippi's blueberry crop was either in good or excellent condition as of May 15, according to a weekly crop progress and condition report published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.