Director’s Message

Spring 2026 Update

Dear friends,

It’s a new year, and with spring planting right around the corner, Extension boots are already on the ground. As we look back, we’re grateful for everything Extension accomplished in 2025, and we’re going to continue to make even more impacts in 2026.

4-H youth development is growing faster than ever. In the past two years alone, we’ve added 20,000 young people each year, reaching nearly 90,000 Mississippi 4-H’ers statewide. And we’re not slowing down—we’re committed to reaching even more kids this year.

We’re reaching the masses on social media—the Mississippi State University Extension Service has more followers on TikTok than any Extension Service in the entire nation, and we’re number two on Facebook and Instagram. This shows that people value and want our content!

Mississippi row-crop producers self-reported that the information they obtain at the annual Row Crop Short Course is helping their bottom lines and the state’s bottom lines. Attendees estimated that the economic impact of the information presented generated about $17 million in cost savings directly to the acres represented at the conference.

We’re in the people business, and that means listening. Instead of just doing what we’ve always done, we’re adapting and changing however we need to in order to reach people where they are. Extension truly has something to offer every citizen of this state.

We invite you to plug in. Follow us on social media. Read Extension Matters magazine to see our biggest stories of success. Sign up for Extension programs and events. And once you start looking for those opportunities, you’ll realize we’re everywhere in Mississippi—both online and in person.

We’re here to form relationships and offer you the research-based education that can improve your bottom line and enhance your quality of life, socially and culturally. 

Hail State,

Angus Catchot,

Director, Mississippi State University Extension Service