Extension Matters: Volume 6 Number 1

Patrick Lemoine has been guiding young people for nearly two decades. As a volunteer with the Mississippi State University Extension Service 4-H youth development program, he’s coached numerous 4-H forestry, poultry, and livestock teams to victories. But his 2019 Rankin County 4-H forestry team’s second-place win at the National 4-H Forestry Invitational in August was one of his proudest accomplishments.

Tredell and Anthony Meeks have been riding horses since they were small children. But 6 years ago, they decided they wanted to join 4-H in Holmes County and participate in competitions. “We saw other 4-H members who were doing horse competitions, and we thought it looked like fun,” says 18-year-old Anthony. “We wanted to try it.”

Rice is one of Mississippi’s only commodities to be grown, milled, packaged, sold, and eaten right here in the state. And, for decades, the annual Rice Tasting Luncheon in Cleveland, Mississippi, has allowed local residents to show off their best rice-based dishes at Delta State University in Bolivar County, which produces more than 1.5 million hundredweight of rice annually.

Neal Smith grew up in Picayune in Pearl River County and has lived in Ohio for 27 years. As the chief executive officer and executive secretary for the American Jersey Cattle Association, Smith has been able to stay connected to the reason he joined 4-H as a child—his love of dairy cattle. He first joined 4-H because he wanted to show his Jersey calf at the Pearl River County Fair.

Back in 1991 when she retired, Prentiss County resident Sue K. Honeycutt had figured out that connecting with people in the community leads to great outcomes, both for the giver and the receiver.

Before Ann Tackett helped establish a farmers market and renovate the old railroad depot building in her town, she just wanted to start a cannery.

In a normal year, Clay Adcock grows 4,000 acres of corn, cotton, and soybeans. But 2019 was anything but normal.

Cousins Tredell and Anthony Meeks brought home top honors at the Southern Regional 4-H Horse Championship in Georgia in 2019. The pair has participated in the family pastime since they were small children but decided to join 4-H 6 years ago to meet new people, learn new things, and compete among their peers.

4-H S.A.F.E.T.Y. is Mississippi 4-H’s biggest program. Competitors in the Safe Archery and Firearms Education and Training for Youth program are immersed in essential firearm-safety training to learn maturity, self-discipline, responsibility, and sportsmanship.

Mississippi became the 25th state with a confirmed case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in February 2018. Since then, state agencies have been working together to protect the state’s deer population.

Turning on a water faucet typically produces a clear and safe product. If that doesn’t happen, there’s trouble.

It was the summer of 2018. Grenada Elementary School teacher Dianne Brewer—a classroom veteran of more than 25 years—was working at the local Yalobusha County library, and she saw a group of 5-year-olds enthusiastically participating in a 4-H LEGO Engineering lesson.

See what is new in Extension... Extension partners to promote beef quality assurance program, Extension recognized in Gulf Guardian Award Project, First Ag leadership class graduates, and Extension supports residents participating in U.S. Census 2020.

Drew Sullivan admits his first timber tract would not have fetched an appraiser’s attention, but he usually drove back home from a lumber yard in Kemper County each week with around $150 in his pocket— not bad for a 15-year-old Mississippi boy growing up in the mid-90s.

Working together is a core value for the Mississippi State University Extension Service’s 4-H Youth Development Program. That makes a partnership with Electric Cooperatives of Mississippi a natural fit.