News From 2018

If you own one of the 160,000 ponds in Mississippi, chances are you have invested tremendous amounts of cash and time in this resource. Building a pond can cost tens of thousands of dollars, and fish stocking, liming, fertilization and weed control are not cheap either.

Most of Mississippi’s corn and rice crops had been harvested when prolonged, late-September rains soaked much of the state, but the wet weather could not have come at a worse time for soybeans and cotton.

Five landscape specialists will offer new ideas on permaculture at an Oct. 17 symposium at Mississippi State University.

This summer has seemed endless: hot, humid and just miserable. As a gardener, I know, or maybe hope, relief will soon be on the way.

As farmers head out to their fields, locating underground utility lines may not be at the top of their safety checklists.

But this knowledge should be a top priority, said Leslie Woolington, a risk management specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service and the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.

Grain sorghum has never been a major agricultural commodity in Mississippi, but it has seen better days: For two years in a row, acreage of the crop has been less than one-tenth of its annual average.

Salt marshes are coastal wetlands common throughout the globe and visible just about any time you drive over a bridge along the coast.

Although we’re finally into the fall season, it’s still 90 degrees outside across Mississippi. Nevertheless, we all need to start thinking about what we’re going to plant and grow for the eventual cool weather.

Safety is a key aspect of having a successful and enjoyable hunt this season and for many more to come.

Mississippi State University experts see a positive outlook for the state’s beef cattle industry, with prices at profitable levels and herd numbers up.

The North Mississippi Beef Expo in Batesville will provide cattle producers with an opportunity to learn from multiple industry professionals on Oct. 26.

Those who struggle with injury or disability know it is never too early to make changes that allow a house to be more accommodating to people with impaired mobility.

When summer starts to roll around to autumn, some gardens and landscapes nearly start all over, as worn-out summer annuals are composted and new seasonal selections take their place.

Everyone wants to get more than they paid for, and no one is ever excited about paying taxes. With that in mind, hunters and other outdoor enthusiasts can make a small investment with many happy returns.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Coaches win championships, teach high school classes and are expected to maintain perfect playing surfaces on their athletic fields, so sometimes they get help from the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

Michael Richard, an Extension associate in turf grass management, has begun offering clinics to help high school coaches, park and recreation directors, and others maintain the playing surfaces they oversee.

What is sometimes called the green industry includes landscape services and greenhouse and nursery production, a wide-ranging, growing agricultural sector worth more than $1 billion to the state.

Mississippi State is launching a comprehensive initiative to help Mississippians battle obesity with a $5.5 million grant awarded to MSU Extension by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Insects and their habitats take center stage during Bugfest at the Mississippi State University Crosby Arboretum in Picayune on Sept. 21 and 22.

I came to a shocking realization this past weekend: Even though it still feels like summer, the signs are all around us that fall is about to begin.

First, we see the tropics heating up with storm activity. T.S. Gordon made landfall in Pascagoula Sept. 5 and spread rain all the way up to north Mississippi. Behind it are several more tropical storms that we will have to keep an eye on.

Planting food plots for deer and other wildlife is common practice in Mississippi, and for good reason: Food plots provide much-needed nutrition for deer and viewing opportunities for hunters.