News From 2009

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

As we ease into 2010 firmly in the grip of winter, it is fun to look at new plants heading our way, and new petunia colors and patterns will stretch our comfort zones.

A new Supertunia by the name of Pretty Much Picasso tops the list of unusual petunias coming this spring. I wasn’t quite sure how to describe its unique color, so I went to the Proven Winners Web site and saw they list the color as “various.” I suppose that’s correct.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Lately I’ve been writing a lot about indoor plants and thought it was time to switch to the outdoors. Then I got a better idea and decided to tell you about the fatsia japonica, a great plant that performs in both places.

The fatsia, also known as Japanese aralia, is one of the most-loved shade garden plants in the South. Large palmate leaves similar to a philodendron make the fatsia at home in the tropical garden.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Dairy producers in Mississippi and Louisiana can take advantage of a management conference designed to help them be more profitable in the industry.

The Mississippi-Louisiana Dairy Management Conference will be Jan. 14 at the Southwest Events Center in Tylertown. The 9 a.m. through 1 p.m. event is open to all dairy producers, dairy managers and dairy farm employees.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A $400,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation is allowing the Mississippi State University Extension Service to expand the fitness and nutrition initiatives of an outreach program launched nearly three years ago.

The grant will be applied to activities within the Mississippi in Motion public campaign that promote nutrition and physical fitness. It also will provide a Web site link to Families, Food and Fitness eXtention, a healthy lifestyles program administered through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Hundreds of growers, crop consultants and scientists meet in Stoneville on Jan. 8 at the 53rd annual Tri-State Soybean Forum.

The event is sponsored by the Mississippi State University Extension Service, the Louisiana State University Ag Center, the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service and the United Soybean Board, among other supporters of the soybean industry.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi agriculture has changed a great deal in the last 25 years, and the challenges of 2009 reminded many farmers that there is still much to learn.

To address the growing needs of the state’s farmers, the Mississippi State University Extension Service redesigned its 25-year-old annual cotton short course and offered a two-and-a-half day meeting dedicated to all state row crops instead. The expansion to other crops and the recent historic losses helped triple attendance numbers over recent years.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Charitable gifts to Mississippi State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine offer comfort and hope to those who cherish all kinds of animals.

Susan Kuykendall, an administrative assistant in the CVM’s clinical sciences department, oversees the Fund for CARE, which stands for Companion Animals Require Excellence. The fund was created several years ago to help fill in the gaps between state appropriations and needs at the veterinary college.

By Patti Drapala
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE –Each year for the past decade, poultry has ruled the roost as Mississippi’s top crop, and 2009 is no exception.

Poultry ended the year with a total value of $2.3 billion, a 3 percent drop from the $2.37 billion posted in 2008. The total value is derived from estimates representing broiler, egg and chicken production. Broiler production, the largest segment of the industry, weighed in at $2.15 billion for 2009, while egg production was valued at $140.7 million and chickens at $5 million.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi’s cotton crop hasn’t caught a break in recent years, and reduced acreage and devastating weather at harvest pushed the 2009 crop’s estimated value to just $97.8 million.

In 2008, the crop was valued at $250 million, so the estimated 2009 value is less than half what it was a year ago. Cotton had a recent high of 1.2 million planted acres in 2006, but fewer than 300,000 were planted in 2009 and only 365,000 acres in 2008. In 1930, the state planted a record 4.2 million acres of cotton.

MISSISSIPPI STATE –The 2009 growing season was probably the most challenging for soybeans in more than 50 years, and one lesson that emerges is to diversify the crop, both in planting times and maturity groups.

Trey Koger, soybean specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said the state’s soybean crop is valued at an estimated $431.5 million, down 37 percent from the 2008 value of $686 million. However, the crop lost an estimated 38.5 percent of its value before it could be harvested.

By Patti Drapala
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE –The overall value of Mississippi’s 2009 timber harvest failed to reach $1 billion for the first time in 16 years, but unlike other crops, extreme weather was not the reason.

The estimated 2009 harvest value for timber is $817 million, down a steep 24 percent from 2008’s value of $1.08 billion. Blame one of the worst years ever for forestry and forest products on the dismal housing market.

MISSISSIPPI STATE –Agricultural economists are forecasting increases in government payments and in the value of only one of Mississippi’s 2009 crops -- hay.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Poinsettias are terrific and cyclamen are beautiful seasonal plants, but if you want sizzling holiday color and a plant you can enjoy for years, then get yourself a kalanchoe.

This succulent plant has colors so vivid and foliage so tough it can grow in almost desert-like conditions -- yet be one of the best buys for your holiday decorating dollar.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – People wanting to start a business or generate more profit in an existing one can participate in a seminar series the Mississippi State University Extension Service is providing through an entrepreneurial network.

Extension will present NxLevel for Entrepreneurs, a training module from NxLevel Education that empowers men and women to be better decision-makers and managers. The program is offered through Mississippi Women in Agriculture, a program of the Southern Rural Development Center.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Those of you who have never grown a cyclamen are missing one of the great pleasures in cool-season gardening. The cyclamen is one of the most popular Christmas plants in Europe, but it lost its place on the pedestal to the poinsettia here in the United States. That’s OK because we have room for all Christmas plants.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Selecting quality child care can be a tough decision for parents trying to go back to work or school, but a network offered through Mississippi State University is helping ease the process.

Factors in the child-care decision include cost, location, type of care, programs available and openings. This emotional choice is made even harder when negative news stories discuss the latest health and safety violations or child endangerment cases being investigated at child-care facilities.

By Patti Drapala
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Consumers of a decade ago had few disposal options for real Christmas trees, but today they can be recycled into other natural products.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – A beetle that made its presence known in Mississippi this summer is threatening the extinction of redbay trees in the state and could harm the future of traditional Cajun cuisine.

The beetle is the redbay ambrosia beetle, a dark brown insect about half the size of an uncooked grain of rice. It spreads the pathogen that causes Laurel wilt disease in many tree species, including Mississippi’s redbay and sassafras trees. Redbay leaves and file’, which is made from sassafras leaves, are used commonly as spices in Cajun dishes such as gumbo.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi State University will resume its efforts this summer to encourage talented high school juniors to consider medical professions in Mississippi.

From 1998 through 2007, special funding allowed MSU to offer the intense, five-week Rural Medical Scholars summer program. New funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the University of Mississippi Medical Center will help MSU identify the state’s future primary-care doctors and help them become members of the medical school class of 2019.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A Mississippi State University animal scientist who explores physiological factors affecting the ability of horses to reproduce and an MSU agricultural economist who makes sense of the interaction of market forces have each been honored with a prestigious award. 

Peter Ryan, a faculty member of the MSU Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences, received the 2009 Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Excellence in Research Award. The award is sponsored by Southern Ag Credit, a part of the Farm Credit System.