Mississippi producers can learn how to serve the farm-to-school market at an Alliance of Sustainable Farms event Oct 19.

CHOCTAW, Miss. -- Agricultural professionals and educators can learn how to expand their marketing and sales skills at two workshops in September.

The Alliance of Sustainable Farms will present “Expanding Marketing Opportunities: Marketing, Branding and Social Media” at the National Center for Appropriate Technology demonstration farm at the Piney Woods School Sept. 4 and at the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians reservation Sept. 5.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi’s roadsides are seeing more farmers markets, produce stands and pickup trucks filled with fruits and vegetables.

Commercial horticultural crops, commonly called truck crops in the agricultural industry, include berries, fruits, melons, nuts, potatoes and vegetables. Last year, they combined with other horticultural crops -- flowers, sod and Christmas trees – for a total production value of $107 million, according to statistics gathered by the Mississippi State University Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The Mississippi State University Extension Service has launched an Internet microsite that delivers information on each facet of the state’s local foods industry.

TAYLORSVILLE, Miss. -- Before the first batch was picked on June 22, two fields at Ford Farms were covered with red and yellow watermelons. That wasn’t the case a year ago.

Any kind of melon crop at the Smith County farm is an improvement over 2017.