News From 2015

Through the column and television show “Southern Gardening,” I have the chance to share some of my favorite landscape plants with home gardeners all across Mississippi. And believe me, I have a lot of favorite plants depending on the season, flower color and more.

This week as I’m getting ready for summer, I’m thinking hard about purple coneflower, known botanically as Echinacea.

PARCHMAN, Miss. -- A chicken flock at the state’s largest correctional facility is uniting the Mississippi State University Extension Service, Mississippi Department of Health and Mississippi Department of Corrections.

Jeffrey Brown, state medical entomologist with the Mississippi Department of Health, visited the Mississippi State Penitentiary, also known as Parchman Farm, to address a growing fly and mosquito problem. He observed the flight patterns of the flies and determined they were originating from the facility’s egg-producing poultry houses.

By James E. “Jim” Miller
Professor Emeritus, Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture
MSU Extension Service

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- With spring gobbler season quickly approaching, here are some precautions hunters need to remember before they head to the forest.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Winter storms make pretty landscapes, but many homeowners wonder what impact the ice and snow will have on plants that already started preparing for spring.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Deep into the winter months, the sunny days of summer seem so far away, but growing a garden doesn’t have to be a warm-weather-only activity in Mississippi.

David Nagel, vegetable and home garden specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said the state’s climate allows some plants to be grown throughout the winter.

“Now is the time to start monitoring soil temperatures and watching weather forecasts,” he said.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Central Mississippi agriculture producers and industry professionals met with Mississippi State University experts Feb. 17 to provide guidance for 2015 educational programming and research.

More than 120 participants attended the annual Central Mississippi Producer Advisory Council meeting in Raymond to discuss priorities and ideas with the MSU Extension Service and Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station specialists, researchers and agents.

STONEVILLE, Miss. -- The benefits for conserving water for farmers are the reduction of costs and the retaining of a higher yield, and Mississippi State University is promoting tools to help them achieve that goal.

Jason Krutz, an irrigation expert at the MSU Delta Research and Extension Center, said certain irrigation decisions can benefit the agricultural economy.

Starkville, Miss. -- Beginning March 24, Mississippi State University experts will offer a course designed to help potential business owners plan for success.

The nine-week Kauffman FastTrac NewVenture program will be held Tuesday evenings from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at the university’s Franklin Furniture Institute.

The FastTrac NewVenture course, designed to support aspiring entrepreneurs in the early stages of business development, is open to anyone interested in any type of business.

VERONA, Miss. -- Agricultural producers from 27 counties and 16 commodity groups in north Mississippi met with Mississippi State University representatives Feb. 19 to discuss research and outreach needs.

This past weekend really had me thinking about gardening and landscaping. It was an unseasonal 79 according the thermometer at my house, and I started to putter around the yard, trying to decide what needed to be done to get ready for spring.

Of course, I made a trip to see what plants were on the benches at the local garden center. But by afternoon, I had come to my senses. According to the weather forecasted for this week in much of Mississippi, we haven’t seen the last of winter.

STONEVILLE, Miss. -- Corn, cotton and soybean producers have to strike a balance between risk prevention and wise spending to achieve good profits each year.

Insects that feed on recently planted crops can substantially reduce yields, but planting seeds pretreated with insecticides is one method of controlling these early-season pest problems.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- “Say your prayers, varmint!”

If you recognize this quote, you know its source: Looney Tunes cartoon character Yosemite Sam, who never got the upper hand in his dealings with Bugs Bunny. Sometimes it seems we -- like Yosemite Sam -- battle with “varmints” that live around us. This column will give you a little insight into why the battle rages and what you can do to get the upper hand.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- The heart is the most vital organ in the body, and keeping it healthy can mean a better and longer life.

BILOXI, Miss. -- A national organization dedicated to improving the beef industry will hold its annual meeting on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in June and bring together cattle producers from across the world.

The 2015 Beef Improvement Federation Convention, themed “Rebuilding a Cowherd,” will take place June 9-12 at the Beau Rivage Hotel and Conference Center in Biloxi. The annual conference allows participants to discuss issues involving genetic improvements, new technologies, and management practices to aid profitability in beef production.

With the cold winter weather upon us, are you thinking about planting annual color for the summer? It’s never too early to plan ahead, and thinking about the beautiful landscape you’ll have in the summer is one way to enjoy the dreary winter months.

One of the reliable summer-color plants I like the most is the petunia, and in my opinion, you can’t go wrong with Supertunias. Their selection of colors allows you to work with any color scheme.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- The Mississippi State University Extension Service recently launched a new video series to help Mississippi families make informed choices about food, nutrition and healthy lifestyles.

“The Food Factor” offers research-based information on topics such as home canning, food safety, emergency preparedness and nutritional science.

Host Natasha Haynes, an Extension food and nutrition educator for 15 years, also provides viewers with healthy recipe ideas and family friendly tips on food preparation.

JACKSON, Miss. -- Exhibitors in the annual Dixie National Sale of Junior Champions learn important lessons about livestock through their projects, but one family discovered just as much about people.

Tyler Owen, 13, and Jacob Owen, 10, of Jones County qualified to participate in the sale with their reserve champion light heavyweight goat, Splits. Their journey to this coveted sale of market animals began when each was about 5 years old and their parents, Jennifer and Matt Owen of Moselle, encouraged them to show livestock.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Wild pigs are a growing problem for property owners, land managers and farmers throughout Mississippi. Because of their high reproductive rate, they can be difficult to control.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Gary Bachman, host of the multimedia series Southern Gardening, began a one-year term as president of the Southern Region of the American Society for Horticultural Science on Feb. 1.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Two weed science graduate students from the Mississippi State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences earned top honors at the 2015 Beltwide Cotton Conference held Jan. 5-7 in San Antonio, Texas.

Beltwide, a forum coordinated by the National Cotton Council, is considered one of the best cotton technical conferences worldwide. It is a consortium of 11 concurrent cotton technical conferences.

MSU agronomy doctoral student Chase Samples and agronomy master’s student Andrew Denton placed highly in the conference’s visual display competition.