News

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Warm weather in January and early February is causing honey bees to be active before they have enough food to eat, and the state’s beekeepers need to monitor colonies for starvation, a Mississippi State University expert said.

By Kaitlyn Byrne
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE – With spring break around the corner, affordable vacation plans are on many people’s minds.

Bobbie Shaffett, family resource management specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said early planning is the key to budgeting for a vacation. She suggested that would-be vacationers calculate the expected cost of transportation, lodging, meals and entertainment, then compare that figure to the amount the budget will actually allow.

VERONA – Advocates for agriculture met at the North Mississippi Research and Extension Center in Verona on Feb. 16 to identify priorities for research and Extension Service education programs at Mississippi State University.

Scientists from the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, specialists with the MSU Extension Service and almost 250 members of the North Mississippi Producer Advisory Council spent the day discussing current research and educational needs, as well as the challenges growers face on their farms.

Like every gardener in Mississippi, I get spring fever this time of year. Seed catalogs are piling up higher every day. When visiting garden centers, I’m tempted by the racks of vegetable transplants available. I’ve even seen tomatoes on a warmer weekend. What’s a gardener to do?

To help hold us over until spring really arrives, African daisies and Senetti pericallis are perfect additions for landscape color. Both like the cooler early spring temperatures and can be used exactly like the mums we used last fall.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Broadband Internet usage in Mississippi is catching up to the national average more quickly than recent national studies report, according to a statewide survey conducted by the Southern Rural Development Center at Mississippi State University.

Information on this Internet and broadband use survey is available at http://srdc.msstate.edu/ebeat/reports.html.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Women involved in the operations of agricultural businesses and their business partners are invited to attend an upcoming statewide conference at Mississippi State University.

Mississippi Women for Agriculture will meet March 9 and 10 to receive updates on current issues facing agriculture and reinforce information shared at previous workshops. The workshop is open to all women with an interest in farming, including those who have taken part in previous seminars.

STONEVILLE -- A Mississippi State University associate research professor was recently named the 2012 Rice Researcher of the Year.

Tim Walker, an agronomist at the Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville, received the honor at the 15th Annual National Conservation Systems Cotton and Rice Conference in Tunica.

“We are fortunate to have Dr. Walker at the Delta Research and Extension Center,” said Steve Martin, professor and head of the center. “His work supports the many farms that grow rice in the Delta region.”

MISSISSIPPI STATE – About 200 4-H youth program volunteers with the Mississippi State University Extension Service will gather in Starkville for two days of leadership training in late February.

The annual 4-H Volunteer Leaders Conference will be held Feb. 24 and 25 at the Bost Extension Center at MSU. This volunteer development event, supported by Monsanto and National 4-H Council, will bring 4-H leaders together to network and learn about innovative programs that can bring fresh perspectives and activities to 4-H programs across Mississippi.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Dr. Kelli Jones of Mississippi State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine has won the World Veterinary Poultry Association Young Veterinarian of the Year award.

Jones, who is a Diplomate of the American College of Poultry Veterinarians and an assistant clinical professor in CVM’s Department of Pathobiology and Population Medicine, is an expert in avian medicine and poultry disease diagnostics. She serves Mississippi’s $2.21 billion poultry industry through her work at CVM’s Poultry Research and Diagnostic Laboratory in Pearl.

February is African-American history month. If celebrating your heritage has you digging for the roots of your family tree, consider using the Internet for help.

Genealogy research is one of the fastest-growing hobbies in America. More and more people want to know where they came from and how they ended up here. The Internet offers many useful tools to those of us who cannot travel to visit historical archives in other states or the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – New plant hardiness maps released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture increased Mississippi’s average low temperatures by 5 degrees.

Eric Stafne, Mississippi State University assistant Extension professor for fruit crops, said the maps provide good average information, but individuals still must make careful planting decisions.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – African-American couples with long and satisfying marriages credit God, love and communication as keys to their enduring relationships, researchers at Mississippi State University have found.

HAZELHURST – More than 200 Boy Scouts in the Andrew Jackson Council met at Hood Boy Scout Camp in Hazlehurst Feb. 11 for a workshop to help them earn their forestry merit badge.

Instructors from the Mississippi State University Extension Service, Mississippi Forestry Commission, Mississippi Forestry Association and Weyerhaeuser Company taught the scouts about forestry resources, stewardship and the forestry profession.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Dr. Locke Karriker was presented the College of Veterinary Medicine’s 2012 Alumnus of the Year Award at Mississippi State University.

Karriker, who currently serves as the director of the Swine Medicine Education Center at Iowa State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, grew up in North Carolina’s coastal area and cultivated an interest in agriculture at an early age.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – The 2012 Dixie National Sale of Junior Champions was the most successful sale to date, bringing in almost $300,000.

If you’re like me and constantly looking for true blue flowers, you will want to be sure to make a place in your garden for the blue butterfly plant.

I enjoy spring, when greenhouses and garden centers start offering all sorts of new and exciting plants for our Mississippi landscapes and gardens. I’m always on the lookout for blue flowers to include in the landscape.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Wheat stripe rust was spotted in Mississippi and Arkansas in January, an unusual occurrence this early in the year made possible by the warm and wet winter.

These occurrences are the first reports of the disease east of the Rockies this year.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – The Mississippi State University Extension Service will offer an online webinar series from Feb. 16 through March 22 for landowners and those interested in wildlife and fisheries enterprises.

Six sessions will be held on consecutive Thursdays at 11:30 CST for registered participants in five states: Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama and South Carolina.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Five entertaining and educational midday programs will prepare area gardeners for the fourth annual Everything Garden Expo March 24 and 25 at the Mississippi Horse Park in Starkville.

The Starkville Area Arts Council will team up with Mississippi State University and other sponsors to present midweek programs and the area’s premier garden show.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Time, experience and research findings show no-till farming can boost production, prevent soil erosion and transform hayfields and pastures into viable cropland.