News From 2013

VERONA – Mississippi State University’s North Mississippi Research and Extension Center will host its annual Producer Advisory Council meeting Feb. 21 at the Magnolia Conference Center in Verona.

This yearly meeting allows growers, producers, ranchers and other agricultural clients to meet with scientists and specialists from MSU’s Extension Service and the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station to share concerns, ask questions and provide feedback about research and Extension programs.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Part of a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant is funding research at Mississippi State University that will help develop a process to create a clean, renewable energy source.

Researchers at MSU and Ohio State University received $6.5 million to work together on the project. They plan to develop a process to convert methane gases produced from leftover plant materials, or biomass, into cost competitive liquid fuels that more closely resemble diesel and gasoline.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Ronnie Crawford’s 300-acre pasture and forage operation in Prentiss County is the kind of conservation success a Mississippi State University initiative is trying to encourage across the state.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – A Mississippi State University genetic researcher recently won a national award for his collaboration with a team of scientists to map a cotton genome.

Daniel Peterson, director of MSU’s Institute for Genomics, Biocomputing and Biotechnology and scientist with the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, received the 2012 Cotton Biotechnology Award from the National Cotton Council of America and Cotton Incorporated.

VERONA – The growing interest in fruit and vegetable farming in north Mississippi is reflected in the expanded agenda for an upcoming growers’ meeting at the Lee County Agri-Center.

Two full days of seminars and activities are planned for the third annual North Mississippi Fruit and Vegetable Growers Conference and Trade Show Feb. 14 and 15 in the Magnolia Building at the agri-center in Verona.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Upcoming Mississippi State University workshops can help landowners or managers interested in attracting gamebirds learn how to encourage quail and turkey populations on their land.

The Gamebird Workshop: Managing Quail and Turkey in Mississippi is offered through the MSU Extension Service, MSU College of Forest Resources and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. It will be held twice at different locations.

PICAYUNE -- Patricia Drackett has a life-long love of playing in the dirt with worms, nature’s original gardeners, and she has the picture to prove it.

The photo of a little girl covered in dirt and holding a long earthworm is old and faded, but it remains one of Drackett’s most treasured possessions, especially after it survived Hurricane Katrina. She said her love for plants started with pulling weeds in her grandmother’s garden.

“People in plant-related fields often look back to their childhood for the origins of their career path,” she said.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – The best way to avoid an infamous wedding disaster is to have a supervisor who is able to anticipate factors and think fast when the unexpected occurs.

Karen Benson, an area family and child development agent with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, has been on both sides of wedding challenges. After directing several weddings for other couples, she gained planning experience last fall as the mother of the bride.

Technology has integrated itself so far into our daily lives that it is even making its way down the aisles at weddings. The concept may be a little difficult to embrace, but there are some aspects that may appeal even to traditionalists like me.

If family members insist on inviting the black sheep or other unwanted guests, couples can invite them to Skype into the wedding ceremony. Skype also can solve transportation challenges. I’ve heard of a bridesmaid who couldn’t make it to the wedding so Skype enabled a groomsman to carry her down the aisle on an iPad.

Much of the state got a dose of winter weather last week. Seeing pictures of gardens and landscapes farther north covered in a blanket of snow made me thankful for living on the coast. Having lived in colder climates, I had enough of snow before coming to Mississippi.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – While every bride wants a special wedding, having an event that breaks the bank is the wrong way to start married life.

According to http://www.costofwedding.com, the average cost of a wedding in Mississippi is under $24,000. In Washington County, weddings costs range from $16,724 to $27,874; in Madison County, couples typically spend between $19,367 and $32,279; and in Jackson County, that cost is between $17,025 and $28,675.

JACKSON -- Wedding cakes have long been the centerpiece of the reception, but large multi-layered cakes are being replaced by new trends.

Couples are choosing smaller cakes or no cakes at all and instead offering several different desserts or individual dessert servings.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Personal touches in a wedding can take the ceremony from textbook to storybook, and they may even save the new couple some money.

“Sometimes the sentimental things are less expensive than the newest and most fashionable things, and they certainly make the wedding memorable and personal,” said Bobbie Shaffett, family resource management specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Bridal fashions are breaking free of the decade-long fascination with strapless gowns and offering a new take on classic, romantic dresses.

By Kaitlyn Byrne
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE — Technology offers ways to improve wedding experiences for guests and connect friends and family who could not attend.

Some couples choose to broadcast weddings via Skype or other live streaming services to loved ones who are not able to be at the wedding because of distance or illness.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi high school juniors considering medical careers have the opportunity to take part in an intense and revealing summer program at Mississippi State University.

The five-week Rural Medical Scholars summer program at MSU aims to identify the state’s future primary-care doctors and help them become members of the medical school class of 2022.

RAYMOND – Producers and consultants can register now to hear agricultural specialists address the management of a wide variety of pests during a daylong workshop on Feb. 12.

The annual pest management workshop will take place at Mississippi State University’s Central Mississippi Research and Extension Center auditorium in Raymond. Registration is $10 and begins at 8:30 a.m. The program begins at 9 a.m., and sessions will conclude by 4:30 p.m.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – A one-day Mississippi Market Ready Training at Mississippi State University can help business owners capitalize on the “buy local” movement.

On Feb. 13, MSU Extension Service experts will discuss current food policy legislation, building relationships with restaurant managers and chefs, proper packaging and labeling, marketing strategies, pricing structures and regulatory concerns.

This workshop will be at the Bost Conference Center from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Doors will open at 8:30 a.m. for coffee and socializing with speakers and colleagues.

When funny, mold-looking things start growing on landscape trees and shrubs, phones start ringing in Mississippi State University Extension Service offices across the state.

Winter is a wonderful time of the year when many of our deciduous trees drop their leaves, signaling the end of one year with the promise of new growth in the spring. But it’s also the time when home gardeners start to notice other things growing in their gardens. The fact that they are green to gray in color adds a sense of dismay.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Even though she did not grow up on a farm, Dr. Cyprianna “Chipper” Swiderski grew up in the Baltimore area with a love for horses.

That love carried her through two graduate degrees, an internship, a residency and nearly 25 years as an equine practitioner. Now, she is a faculty member in the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine.