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Submitted by singer on April 29, 2016

RAYMOND, Miss. -- The sight of a hummingbird darting from flower to flower announces spring’s arrival and offers hours of entertainment all summer long.

Many of us provide hummingbird feeders to increase the numbers of the tiny birds we see around our homes before they migrate back to their winter homes in Mexico and Central America.

Hummingbird feeders attract tiny migrating visitors to Mississippi yards, but anyone who is not willing to keep fresh feed in a frequently cleaned container should consider planting a hummingbird garden instead. (MSU Extension Service file photo)
Pretty Much Picasso is a beautiful supertunia that is sure to attract butterflies and hummingbirds looking for a tasty treat. (MSU Extension Service file photo)

Submitted by singer on April 29, 2016

CRYSTAL SPRINGS, Miss. -- Record-breaking rain and cloudy skies this spring increased disease problems in most of Mississippi’s strawberry crop and decreased the sweetness of the popular berries.

“It’s been one of the wettest Marches in years statewide, and the wettest March in history for Jackson,” said Bill Evans, a horticulture researcher with Mississippi State University. “When strawberry plants get wet and stay wet, they get diseased.”

These Merced variety strawberries growing at the Mississippi State University Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station in Crystal Springs looked good on April 21, 2016, despite rainy spring weather that has increased disease pressure on most of Mississippi’s crop. Researchers at the station are conducting a strawberry variety trial to help Mississippi producers choose the best performing varieties for the state. (Photo by MSU Extension Service/Susan Collins-Smith)

Submitted by singer on April 27, 2016

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Choctaw Central High School senior Jasmine Hickman has known for a while that she will be a student at Mississippi State University next fall, but she didn’t know about the range of careers she could pursue in agriculture and natural resources.

Hickman is now reviewing all these options after having her eyes opened through a new MSU mentor program that she and 20 other Choctaw teens recently participated in.

The Choctaw Agriculture Professionals Program for Students, or CAPPS, is the culmination of a relationship Mississippi State University Extension Service agent Jim McAdory has been working to foster between the tribe and MSU for several years. (Photo by Kevin Hudson/MSU Extension Service)

Submitted by singer on April 27, 2016

HOUSTON, Miss. -- Participants in the state’s first 4-H fishing program have not wet a line yet, but they are already getting outside more often and learning life skills in the process.

Scott Cagle, Chickasaw County coordinator for the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said 4-H membership in his county saw immediate growth after he started the program in February.

Chickasaw County Emergency Management Agency Director Linda Griffin, second from right, teaches 4-H members how to use found objects to save someone who is drowning during a meeting of the 4-H sportfishing club April 14, 2016, at the Chickasaw County Agricenter. (Photo by MSU Extension Service/Kat Lawrence)

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