Extension Matters: Volume 4 Number 1

Pat Ard has tended his grandfather’s legacy since 1971, when he took the helm of the family farm from his father.
What started as a 211-acre Lincoln County cotton farm in 1894 is now a 1,200-acre dairy farm with more than 240 Holstein cows.

When longtime deputy clerk Dannie J. Abercrombie threatened to quit after 33 years in the Covington County Tax Assessor/Collector’s office, she was frustrated that Mississippi was changing the vehicle registration and titling system in place since 1980.

The 39th annual Fall Flower & Garden Fest was held in late October 2017 at the Truck Crops Experiment Station in Crystal Springs. Approximately 5,000 visitors came to the largest home gardening and horticulture show in the Southeast.

From a young age, Willie Clay understood that farm work was hard work. He got up early to milk the cows at his dad’s Monroe County farm. He lugged square hay bales, approximately 50 pounds per bale, through the fields to feed the cattle. He helped in the soybean, corn, and cotton fields.

McLeod is one of about 25 members of the group that formed 4 years ago. They meet at the Columbia center that is managed by the New Zion United Methodist Church.

Mississippi 4-H youth horse instructor Tom McBeath takes great pride in having taught two generations of students, and he is now recognized as one of the best in the country at what he does.

South Mississippi was blanketed with snow in early December 2017. Local agents with the Mississippi State University Extension Service worked with state residents to protect people, plants, and livestock in the cold temperatures. Extension experts are available in every Mississippi county to share advice on how to keep people, homes, animals, and plants safe, efficient, and productive, no matter what the weather brings.

Paige Nicholson-Bergeron shares how the 4-H youth development program helped her prepare for both her title of Miss Rodeo America 2014 and her career.*

Just because something happens by chance doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea.

After more than a decade of farming with traditional methods, Donald Gant started no-till farming in 1981 on some rented ground.

They met in 2010 because of a tragic rough-terrain forklift fatality. Tredrick Johnson was the safety manager at the Cleveland branch of Quality Steel Corporation, and Billy Chandler was the local safety-compliance officer for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, better known as OSHA.

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When civic leaders in Saltillo made the move in 2016 to pursue Mississippi Main Street Association membership for their town, they wanted to see their business community become more connected to its residents.

A tale as old as time: A boy’s older relative advises him to join 4-H. He refuses.

Mississippi’s 2017 Outstanding Logger of the Year is quick to credit his employees for his business’s success, but he prefers to call them part of his team.

Contributing to awards that benefit the organization that gave them their livelihoods was an easy choice for Jean Reeves and Betty Tucker. They are sponsoring two employee awards, with significant monetary prizes, for the Mississippi State University Extension Service.