Feature Story

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi State University’s Animal Health Center continued its tradition of exceeding its previous accreditation score when the American Animal Hospital Association conducted its review in 2007.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- The Mississippi State University Extension Service’s 4-H therapeutic riding program is taking applications for riders and volunteers.

The spring session will run each Tuesday from March 25 through April 29, and classes are conducted at the Mississippi Horse Park. Rider applications and volunteer information forms can be found at the MSUcares.com Web site. Volunteer training is March 18.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Four qualified 4-Hers will have a unique opportunity to see state government in action as they briefly work at the state capitol in March.

The Mississippi State University Extension Service 4-H program and the Center for Governmental Training and Technology are recruiting youth to serve in the Legislative Page Internship Program March 17-21. The youth will serve as pages in either the Mississippi Senate or House of Representatives for one week during the 2008 legislative session.

CLARKSDALE -- Covered only with a coat of rust and adorned with a string of lights from a Christmas past, the vintage machine sitting on the edge of Highway 49 near Clarksdale is a reminder of a revolution that took place in southern agriculture more than 60 years ago.

The M12H International Harvester cotton picker was produced in the late 1940s and was among the second generation of commercially successful cotton pickers to hit the market. It is located on the Hopson Plantation, the site of field tests for mechanical pickers from the 1920s through the 1940s.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Alan Blaine of Starkville has been named the winner of Farm Bureau’s Distinguished Service Award for 2007 at the organization’s annual meeting on Nov. 29.

Blaine serves as the head of the North Mississippi Research and Extension Center in Verona. He is recognized as one of the top soybean specialists in the United States.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- World demand for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium has driven the price of these fertilizers past record levels, and Mississippi producers are trying to make 2008 crop decisions in light of steadily rising costs.

Improved market prices promoted record corn acreage in 2007. Corn acreage in Mississippi went from 340,000 in 2006 to 960,000 in 2007. However, corn generally requires more fertilizer inputs than the other major row crops.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Consumers are concerned with meat quality at the point of purchase and until use, but those bringing the meat to market must manage numerous factors before it reaches the customer.

“My research is on improving meat quality through pre-harvest intervention,” said Ty Schmidt, a researcher with the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. “This includes animal management, nutrition, nutritional manipulation, health, animal welfare and stress physiology. Each of these factors impacts meat quality and food safety.”

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Peanuts growers will have the opportunity to learn more about their industry from a range of experts during a daylong event in January.

The Mississippi Peanut Growers’ Association meeting and peanut short course is Jan. 22 at the Mississippi State University Extension Service office in Hattiesburg. Registration is free, but preregistration is requested by Jan. 15. The Extension Service is hosting the event, and lunch will be provided.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Acreage changes, strong yields and high prices combined to push Mississippi agriculture's value of production to a record $5.9 billion in 2007.

By Patti Drapala
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- High production cost and better marketing opportunities for grain crops have ended cotton's perennial run in the top three of Mississippi's agricultural commodities.

Cotton's value in 2007 is almost $415 million, which places the commodity behind soybeans ($511 million) and corn ($438 million) in the row-crop category. It is fifth in the overall ranking of agricultural commodities, according to figures released by John Anderson, agricultural economist with Mississippi State University's Extension Service.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- The combined influences of a poor housing market and lingering effects of Hurricane Katrina kept the timber industry down in Mississippi, with the estimated value of forestry falling more than 8 percent to $1.1 billion in 2007.

In 2005, the year Katrina hit, the state posted a record-high forestry value of $1.4 billion. That value dropped to $1.2 billion in 2006 before falling further the next year. Despite the declines, timber retains its place as Mississippi's No. 2 agricultural commodity, behind poultry.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Soybeans have snatched the No. 3 spot among the state's top agricultural commodities from cotton, long-heralded among the row crops as king in Mississippi.

Poultry remained in first place among all agricultural commodities with a value of $2.3 billion, and forestry was second at $1.9 billion.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Corn, wheat and grain sorghum in Mississippi posted triple-digit increases in 2007, and corn yielded near a record high as it topped cotton to reach an estimated value of $438 million.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Poultry is expanding its lead as Mississippi's No. 1 agricultural commodity with an estimated value of $2.3 billion in 2007.

John Anderson, agricultural economist with Mississippi State University's Extension Service, is predicting a 20 percent increase in the state's poultry value over 2006. Forestry, the state's second-biggest agricultural commodity, decreased 8 percent to $1.1 billion.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A Jan. 11 conference will help farmers, landowners, accountants and other consultants learn about current policy issues that can impact revenue and wealth management for today’s farmers and future generations.

The Richard C. Adkerson School of Accountancy at Mississippi State University will present an Agriculture Wealth Management, Accounting and Taxation Conference in the Capps Center at the Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Two Mississippi State University professors and an MSU alumnus are included in Outdoor Life 25, a group of leaders, innovators, conservationists and unsung heroes who have made major contributions to hunting, fishing and other outdoor sports.

Richard M. Kaminski, Marty Brunson and James Earl Kennamer are among the 25 selected by readers of Outdoor Life magazine for their leadership, innovation and conservation efforts. This is the first year for the award.

By Patti Drapala
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi State University researchers are developing a biological map of how three tiny pathogens cause big losses for cattle producers each year.

By Courtney Coufal
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A group of Macedonians got an up close and personal tour of Mississippi State University and other parts of the state during a two-week-long visit to learn about animal feed processing.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Her future registered name may be different, but around the horse unit at Mississippi State University, everyone calls her Popsicle.

Born in September, Popsicle is the result of MSU's first successful frozen embryo transfer in horses. University veterinarians have performed embryo transfers in recent years, but the freezing process takes the complicated procedure one step further.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Bugs are just pests for most people, but a group of Mississippi State University scientists is working to make insects an important crop.