News From 2013

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Cool-season forages will get special attention at an April 30 tour at Mississippi State University’s forage unit.

The Cool-Season Forage Tour begins with registration at 5 p.m. and runs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Henry H. Leveck Animal Research Farm, commonly called South Farm, in Starkville.

Topics and demonstrations included on the tour are small grains evaluation, annual and perennial clovers, alfalfa variety testing and management systems, tall fescue varieties and nutrient management.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – A team of Mississippi State University students knows their insects and has the second place win to prove it.

Four students from MSU’s Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology and Plant Pathology recently participated in the Linnaean Games, an insect trivia competition, at the Southeastern Branch of the Entomological Society of America’s annual meeting in Baton Rouge, La.

CRAWFORD -- Mississippi State University is lending a hand and resources to help child care facilities earn and maintain high-quality standards through a statewide resource and referral network.

The MSU Extension Service oversees the Mississippi Child Care Resource and Referral Network, which receives funding from the Mississippi Department of Human Services’ Division of Early Childhood Care and Development. The network supports parents, children, community members, and early care and education professionals seeking information about quality child care.

The story you are about to read is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

It was a spring morning several years ago just like this morning when I received the call. I thought it was going to be like many others I receive. I was wrong.

The person on the other end of the phone had a neighbor’s cousin to visit the coast some years ago but wasn’t sure about the season. While at a local golf course, they had spotted a blue azalea, and now the caller wanted one.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – A Mississippi State University student organization not only earned official Sweet 16 honors this spring, but also unofficial Final Four as the nation’s No. 2 collegiate chapter of Ducks Unlimited.

Stephen Leininger, chairman of the Bulldog Chapter of Ducks Unlimited, recently received documentation announcing the chapter’s 2012 success. Each spring, the international organization releases a list of their top 16 university chapters.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi State University’s waterfowl and wetlands science program was recently honored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The North American Waterfowl Management Plan, a program of the service’s Division of Bird Habitat Conservation, gave the Blue-winged Teal Award to MSU’s program because of its significant contributions to waterfowl, other wetland-associated migratory bird populations, and wetlands habitats.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Corn is the anticipated biggest winner and cotton the biggest loser as Mississippi producers shuffle commodity acres to take advantage of market conditions.

FLORA – Taking top honors at the state 4-H land judging contest might seem like an impossible goal for an urban-based team of 4-H’ers with only YouTube videos and an aquarium of soil as training tools.

But thanks to the direction of an experienced, passionate 4-H volunteer leader, the team placed first and second in the state competition March 21 in Flora.

With spring just around the corner, many of us are contemplating when it will be warm enough to go fishing. But be aware that a dangerous form of bait lurks on the Internet waiting to hook you. This type of fishing is known as phishing, and the Internal Revenue Service reports that fraudulent phishing attacks are at an all-time high this year.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – With the arrival of spring, hatching chicks is a popular topic of conversation in many Mississippi classrooms.

Mississippi State University Extension experts are accepting requests for their hatch-out program, which takes the stress out of the egg-hatching process and allows educators to focus on the learning process.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – The Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine invites visitors of all ages to attend its 28th annual Open House on April 5 and 6.

The college will open its doors from 8:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. both days for the event at the Wise Center, located on the south side of campus off Spring Street. The April 5th program is for preregistered school groups only. To register a school group, please call Brandi Van Ormer at (662) 325-0465.

Everyone in the community is welcome to attend on April 6.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Are the South’s extension service and experiment station systems still relevant, nearly a century after they were founded? Yes, says a new report released by an Ohio-based charitable trust.

Battelle Technology Partnership Practice and BioDimensions, an independent research and development organization, released results of a study of the economic impact Extension Service and Experiment Station systems have had on a 13-state Southern region.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi State University’s Natural Resources Enterprise Program can help the state’s landowners diversify their income by capitalizing on the popularity of wildlife watching and nature photography.

“Mississippi landowners with scenic views, butterfly gardens, wildlife viewing areas, or important or rare bird species can market these wildlife-viewing opportunities in order to charge a fee for access to their land,” said Daryl Jones, associate Extension professor in wildlife, fisheries and aquaculture at MSU’s Forest and Wildlife Research Center.

Mississippi has many flowering native trees, and one that gets its fair share of attention this time of year is the redbud. These trees flower early in the spring before most other trees have started to leaf out after their winter naps.

Although most flowering trees native to Mississippi tend to be understory trees that can be hidden by bigger trees and their foliage, it’s common around the state to see a redbud framed or silhouetted by leafless hardwoods.

By Meg Henderson
Forest and Wildlife Research Center

STARKVILLE -- Studies at Mississippi State University are finding that when it comes to providing forage for livestock, native grasses may be best.

Sam Riffell, an associate professor of wildlife ecology and management in the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture, is examining the benefits of replacing exotic grasses, commonly used in Mississippi grazing pastures, with native, warm-season grasses.

JACKSON -- The arrival of spring means outdoor chores are at the top of the to-do list for homeowners. But outdoor burning, coupled with the season’s weather conditions, raises the risk of wildfire for Mississippians.

Don Bales, senior Extension associate with the Mississippi State University Extension Service and the MSU Forest and Wildlife Research Center, said debris burning is one of the leading causes of wildfires in Mississippi.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Cool temperatures through March kept some Mississippians comfortable, but they slowed the development of wheat, the state’s only row crop grown through winter.

Erick Larson, corn and wheat state specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said wheat acreage is high this year, with 420,000 acres planted in the fall. State growers planted 500,000 acres in 2007, but this year marks the second highest planting since 1990.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Many Mississippi business owners are investing in their online business presence as a way to increase their profits, and Mississippi State University Extension Service experts are helping.

Specialists from Extension’s Center for Technology Outreach and the Extension Broadband Education and Adoption Team, or e-BEAT, recently taught more than 125 business owners ways to improve their online presence in an online seminar, popularly called a webinar.

PURVIS – There was no shortage of sweethearts at a recent biannual rodeo in Lamar County.

“The sweethearts of this rodeo are the individuals in the community with special needs, but the 4-H members and volunteers are pretty special, too,” said Kimberly Wilborn, Lamar County 4-H agent with the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Anne-Marie (Gillon) Wells, a Mississippi State University undergraduate student, received the Outstanding Didactic Program in Nutrition and Dietetics Student award from the Mississippi Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Wells, a senior Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion major in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, received the award March 21 at the annual meeting in Oxford. A resident of Philipp in Tallahatchie County, she was selected based on her grade point average, professional association involvement and service activities.