News

MISSISSIPPI STATE – One of local government’s oldest and most essential jobs is being recognized for its services during an upcoming week of local, national and international activities.

The 44th annual Municipal Clerks Week will be observed May 5 – 11. During this week, municipal clerks in many of Mississippi’s cities, towns and villages will take part in activities to increase the public’s awareness of municipal clerks and the vital services they provide for local government and the community.

With spring in the air and our landscapes waking up from their long winter’s nap, Mississippi gardeners jump into the many chores needed to get gardens off to the right start.

One of the first decisions to be made is what to plant. We flock to garden centers looking for inspiration and new plants to enjoy in the coming year. Sometimes we forget to look in our own gardens for the options we already have.

PICAYUNE -- Louisiana botanist Charles Allen acquired a taste for native plants as a child in his grandmother’s kitchen.

The mountain mint she used in her pork sausage sparked Allen’s interest and led him on a 35-year journey of learning about and preserving native plants that sustain the ecosystem of the Gulf South. Many of those plants are edible and useful around the house.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi’s strawberry producers may be few in number, but they deliver one of the state’s sweetest and most popular crops.

Growing strawberries in the South is especially challenging because of its variable weather, like that seen this spring.

Wayne Porter, Mississippi State University Extension horticulture specialist in Lauderdale County, said the strawberries struggled because of excessive rain.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Even if their farms were not in the path of the April 11 tornado, hundreds of farmers will feel the loss of the massive communications tower in Noxubee County.

The 300-foot-tall microwave tower located in the middle of a soybean field just northeast of Macon provided about 200 farmers and others with broadband Internet and with GPS signals that guide tractors during fieldwork.

Dennis Reginelli, area agronomics crops agent with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said alternative sources remain available, but they are less accurate.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Sano Chemical, the company launched to develop an antifungal drug discovered at Mississippi State University, received the university’s Faculty Start-up Company of the Year award April 5.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – A May 23 workshop in Natchez will teach landowners and property managers ways to deal with Mississippi’s wild hog invasion.

The Wild Pig Management Workshop will be held at the Adams County Extension office. The program is provided by the Mississippi State University Extension Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.

Alternative arrangements are needed before a death or other circumstances interfere with access to online accounts.

Typically, one person in the household takes responsibility for paying the bills online or managing the online banking account. However, if something happens to that person, the whole family’s finances can be in jeopardy.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Well-established and thriving gardens tend to have a mix of plant and animal life, adding interest for gardeners but not as much natural pest control as many people think.

Blake Layton, entomologist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said many people enjoy garden fauna such as toads, frogs and lizards, and some even enjoy bats and snakes.

By Rebekah Ray
MSU Delta Research and Extension Center

STONEVILLE – Mississippi State University experts have a new program to help Delta producers irrigate row crops more efficiently and economically.

MSU Extension Service irrigation specialist Jason Krutz is leading a multi-faceted approach to water conservation, dubbed Row-crop Irrigation Science and Extension Research, or RISER. The researchers are working with producers to help reduce irrigation water use while maintaining or improving crop yields and profitability.

By Karen Templeton
MSU College of Veterinary Medicine

FLOWOOD – The Animal Emergency Referral Center staff in Flowood is always ready to handle animal emergencies and has seen just about everything, but recently, a unique patient came in for surgery.

A fishing cat, an endangered medium-sized exotic cat native to South Asia, was brought to the center with a fractured humerus. The exotic cat is part of a breeding program at the Jackson Zoo and needed quick treatment.

HATTIESBURG – When Petal High School students volunteered to eat chocolate-covered insects for a disaster relief fundraiser last year, they had no idea they would be helping their own community.

PURVIS -- Conventional gardening can be a challenge for individuals who rely on wheelchairs for mobility. But a project by the Pine Belt Master Gardeners proves raised beds can make growing vegetables a little easier for everyone.

Liz Sadler, county coordinator with Mississippi State University’s Extension Service in Lamar County, said there is a growing interest in gardening in the county. This prompted the Master Gardener group to build demonstration beds as an educational project.

PICAYUNE – An award-winning Mississippi landmark is scheduled to undergo restoration to preserve its beauty and architectural integrity for future generations.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – From fluffy chick to egg-laying hen to money-making livestock, the 4-H Poultry Chain Project engages young people in the process of raising chickens and is now accepting applications for new participants.

By Sarah Shields
MSU School of Human Sciences

MISSISSIPPI STATE – To raise awareness that childhood is more than just a time for play, the Mississippi Child Care Resource and Referral Network encourages local communities to celebrate the Week of the Young Child.

“What seems like just playing to most adults is children working and learning,” said Ellen Goodman, project manager of the Mississippi Child Care Resource and Referral Network, a program Mississippi State University Extension Service. “Play is children’s work.”

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Guide dogs, handicapped assistance animals, detection dogs, therapy animals, and search and rescue dogs selflessly serve the public. To honor these animals and their work, the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine will provide eye screening services to animals that dedicate their lives to serving the public.

One of the flowering plants I remember from my youth is the cleome. I loved these tall plants with flowers I thought looked a little spidery.

Many years later, when I rediscovered cleome growing in my neighbor’s yard, I reached out for a closer look at the flowers and was suddenly reminded of the one aspect I did not like about these plants. I had forgotten about the thorns and had impaled my thumb.

By Kaitlyn Byrne
MSU Office of Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi State University graduate student Stedmond Ware has lived out the 4-H motto, “To make the best better,” from high school all the way to graduate school.

Ware said he joined 4-H during his freshman year of high school and won a variety of awards in photography contests and art exhibitions, but his most meaningful experiences involved his service with 4-H P.R.I.D.E., a group geared toward teaching youth about interpersonal relationships, diversity and teamwork.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – A significant decline in price potential has last year’s peanut growers looking to other crops in 2013.

According to the recent U.S. Department of Agriculture Prospective Plantings report, acreage is declining in every peanut-producing state except Oklahoma. Mississippi is expected to post the greatest percentage decline, down 58 percent from the previous year. The state’s peanut acreage is predicted to drop from 52,000 last year to 22,000 acres this season.