News

BILOXI, Miss. -- Mississippi State University’s Coastal Research and Extension Center launched a new web site Oct. 5.

The updated site is mobile friendly and gives clients of the MSU Extension Service and Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station access to the region’s research-based educational resources with a modern look.

“All of the same information is available to our customers; it just looks fresher and is easier to navigate than the former site,” said Andy Collins, web developer with the center.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi 4-H members and volunteer leaders are active every month, but the State Fair in October usually signals the pinnacle of their year.

“The State Fair provides many opportunities for our 4-H members to show off their livestock projects, as well as other projects and activities they have been working on during the last year,” said Paula Threadgill, associate director of the Mississippi State University Extension Service. “The 4-H Village at the fair also highlights the opportunities available through the youth development program in Mississippi.”

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- A great deal of my time with the Mississippi State University Extension Service has been spent raising public awareness about wild pig problems, and I have encountered quite a few myths and half-truths about these often destructive pests.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Erratic yields in Mississippi’s early-planted soybean crop reflect the extremes of temperature and rainfall farmers faced during the spring and summer of 2015.

“This season was one of extremes,” said Trent Irby, soybean specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. “We went from cool, wet conditions in early spring to hot and dry during a critical point of the season, and that has taken a toll on yield for some of our acres.”

CRYSTAL SPRINGS, Miss. -- The Alliance for Sustainable Agricultural Production will hold its second statewide field day in conjunction with Mississippi State University’s Fall Flower & Garden Fest in Crystal Springs on Oct. 16.

The Fall Flower & Garden Fest is set for Oct. 16 and 17 at the MSU Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station in Crystal Springs. This collaboration is part of the agricultural alliance’s efforts, with its partners, to hold field days across the state at local demonstration farms.

STARKVILLE, Miss. --The executive vice president and provost of the University of Western States in Portland, Oregon, has been named head of the Mississippi State University Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion.

Marion Willard “Will” Evans begins his position December 1. A master certified health education specialist and certified wellness practitioner, Evans brings experience and leadership in health promotion and wellness.

POPLARVILLE, Miss. -- Early childhood education proponents pulled together to establish Mississippi’s 17th resource and referral center on the Pearl River Community College campus.

The Early Years Network, a program of the Mississippi State University Extension Service, partnered with Excel By 5 and the community college to open the new center.

CHOCTAW, Miss. -- The 2015 Choctaw Challenge Mud Run and Health Fair will be held Oct. 31 at Lake Pushmataha in Choctaw.

The Mississippi State University Extension Service, along with other state and federal agencies, is partnering with the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians to organize the event.

The mud run is open to anyone age 10 and up. Registration begins at 7 a.m., and the race begins at 8 a.m. Cost is $15 per person.

The health fair is free. It opens at 8 a.m. and closes at noon. Informational booths will be located at the starting line of the race.

NEWTON, Miss. -- Mississippi cattle producers can learn about the latest research on forage management during a Nov. 6 meeting.

The 2015 Mississippi Forage and Grassland Council Annual Conference will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the Mississippi State University Coastal Plain Branch Experiment Station in Newton.

When I was visiting Natchez looking for locations to film the TV version of Southern Gardening this past week, I had a great time enjoying the historic homes and gardens, but the sights that had me doing double takes were all the “naked ladies” parading around town.

Now, you may be thinking that I’ve been listening to too much Ray Stevens, but this is not a reference to “The Streak.” The naked or nekkid (I think this version is more fun to say) ladies I’m referring to are fabulous landscape plants that belong to the genus Lycoris.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The Mississippi Chapter of the American Society of Agronomy has planned a day full of educational seminars for its annual meeting Nov. 4 at the Grenada County Extension office.

Experts from the Mississippi State University Extension Service and the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station will join other scientists in sharing the latest information about a wide range of crop-related subjects.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- After causing significant challenges in 2014, sugarcane aphids did not catch Mississippi’s grain sorghum growers by surprise this year.

“We are not sure if sugarcane aphids were not as bad as last year or if we just did a better job using insecticidal seed treatments,” said Angus Catchot, an entomologist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. “One big difference was that we were more educated in our control efforts. No one was caught by surprise, and everyone had budgeted for control.”

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The Mississippi State University Deer Lab, MSU Extension Service and Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks are taking deer management into the 21st century.

We are very excited about three mobile technologies that are available for hunters and deer managers this fall. These phone apps were designed to help you with some of the most important deer management activities: aging deer, planning food plots and keeping records of deer data.

By Sarah Buckleitner
MSU Forest and Wildlife Research Center

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Hunters can go into the woods armed with the knowledge of Mississippi State University deer experts, thanks to a newly updated MSU phone app called “Deer Hunt.”

Developed by the MSU Deer Lab and MSU Extension Service, Deer Hunt enables hunters and wildlife managers to use mobile technology to easily collect critical deer observation information.

PEARL, Miss. -- Representatives from the Mississippi poultry industry and state agencies realize that information is key in bird flu preparation, response and recovery if the foreign virus lands in the state this winter.

Dr. Brigid Elchos, deputy state veterinarian for the Mississippi Board of Animal Health, invited communication officers who may be involved in a bird flu outbreak to meet at the Pearl office of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency on Sept. 11.

Last week, I had the opportunity to speak to the Hattiesburg Area Daylily Society and had a great time doing some garden-sharing. Afterward, I was thinking about the daylilies in my landscape and how gorgeous they’ll be next year.

Daylilies are easy landscape plants guaranteed to please.

HAZLEHURST, Miss. -- South Mississippi homeowners in small communities and rural areas can learn how to better manage, operate and protect their private wells during an Oct. 13 program in Copiah County.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Low feed costs and steady demand are keeping the playing field level for Mississippi swine producers, but the bottom line at year’s end will be down from 2014 totals.

Mississippi’s value of production for hogs was $153 million last year. No estimates are available for 2015, but hog prices have been much lower than they were in 2014, while hog numbers were higher at the first of the year.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- When brooding chicks are warm, they grow well in poultry houses, but when heaters are not operating efficiently, it drives up the already high cost of broiler production.

This is the problem John Linhoss, an animal environment specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, took on for his doctoral research. The study was done in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agriculture Research Service’s Poultry Research Unit in Starkville.