Feature Story

By Andrea Cooper
MSU College of Forest Resources

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Drying lumber in kilns produces numerous air pollutants, but equipment for real-time measurement of the emissions is not currently available.

A team of researchers at Mississippi State University, however, is developing a new state-of-the-art sensor that monitors air pollution emitted while wood is drying. The MSU scientists are improving a detector produced by Seacoast Science Inc. that will continuously monitor pollutants in real time during materials processing. 

By Patti Drapala
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi State University's College of Veterinary Medicine has an enviable track record of seeking and obtaining financial support for programs that promote the humane care and treatment of animals. It was no surprise that the College “doggedly” pursued the offer of a $100,000 grant by the American Kennel Club to assist with emergency response in times of civil or natural disaster.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Employees of the Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine at Mississippi State University were recently recognized for their service to the university and the state.

The recipient of the 2007 Rosalind and Rodney Foil Teamwork Award was Rick Snyder, Extension and research professor at the Truck Crops Experiment Station in Crystal Springs. Snyder was honored for his work with the annual Fall Flower and Garden Fest at the station.

The Foil awards are presented each year in honor of the former MSU vice president and his wife.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Strong prices encouraged Mississippi farmers to make corn the state's No. 1 row crop this year, but drought conditions are cutting yields.

On June 29, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated Mississippi producers have planted 980,000 acres of corn, up from 340,000 in 2006. Erick Larson, Mississippi State University Extension Service small grains specialist, said persistent drought conditions are reducing the yield potential of corn across much of the state.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Asian soybean rust has not been found in Mississippi as of June 28, a fact confirmed by the team canvassing the state’s soybean crops, sentinel plots and Kudzu each week.

A group of Mississippi State University Extension Service plant pathologists, members of the Soybean Management by Application Research and Technology program, and other Extension personnel, researchers and trained consultants search daily for the disease. Billy Moore, an Extension plant pathologist emeritus, said there is no reason for concern at this point.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Students at Mississippi State University are using genetic engineering to build “machines” once only dreamed about in science fiction.

Last year, nine graduate and undergraduate students genetically engineered E.-coli bacteria to glow green in the presence of hydrogen, providing a safe way to measure the hydrogen available in hard to probe places like fuel cells. They entered this new design in the International Genetically Engineered Machine, or iGEM, competition held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

By Patti Drapala
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- As people become accustomed to their physicians employing sophisticated medical equipment, diagnostic equipment, and therapies for treatment of diseases and physical problems, they expect veterinarians to offer their family pets similar innovations in health care.

By Robert H. Wells
Delta Research and Extension Center

STONEVILLE -- Catfish production is off to a good start in Mississippi in 2007 after a successful spawning season and warm weather that is promoting regular feeding.

“For the year overall, we are up on feed sales and feed to our fish,” said Jimmy Avery, Mississippi State University Extension aquaculture specialist based at the Delta Research and Extension Center National Warmwater Aquaculture Center in Stoneville.

By Courtney Coufal
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- When Covington County cattleman Johnny Pope placed the top bid for a Hereford bull at a recent sale, he was almost 200 miles from the auction.

Pope is one of many animal buyers in the state taking advantage of the interactive video component added to the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station's Annual Livestock Production Sale by the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

By Andrea Cooper
MSU College of Forest Resources

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi streams do not offer the fly-fishing opportunities found in the West, but the state's wadeable streams provide good sport fishing of spotted and largemouth bass, longear sunfish and bluegill sunfish.

These streams are not the sport fishermen magnets that streams are in the highland region of the United States, so many wadeable streams in Mississippi and the Southeast are often ignored and unmanaged.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- This year's watermelons relied on Mother Nature for the sunny skies to make them sweet, but most needed farmers to supply the essential irrigation to make them juicy.

Wayne Porter, area horticulture agent for Mississippi State University's Extension Service, said watermelon harvesting has begun in southern counties. Porter is based in Lauderdale County and also serves Smith County, Mississippi's top watermelon-producing county.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Midsouth homeowners may soon find it easier to locate St. Augustine grass for their lawns.

A new St. Augustine grass cultivar bred for cold tolerance is being licensed by Mississippi State University to sod producers in north Mississippi and other Midsouth locations.

By Courtney Coufal
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- In celebration of the Mississippi 4-H centennial, the organization's members, agents and volunteers re-enacted a decades-old activity using modern technology.

By Robert H. Wells
Delta Research and Extension Center

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Two weeks of harvests in the southern part of Mississippi indicate a very good year for blueberries, despite an Easter weekend freeze that decimated those in the northern part of the state.

John Braswell, Mississippi State University horticulture specialist at the Coastal Research and Extension Center in Biloxi, said the crop is in pretty good shape.

“Most of the acreage south of Interstate 20 has a good crop,” Braswell said. “There's a lot of fruit coming off right now.”

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana pecan growers can learn more about production and marketing issues at a June 21-22 convention and trade show in Shreveport, La.

Pecan grower associations from each of the three states are sponsoring the event at the Clarion Hotel. Registration begins at noon on June 21 and costs $35.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Laramy Cummings was recently named the first recipient of a new scholarship named in honor of a long-time supporter of equine activities in Oktibbeha County.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Many gardeners across the state are shocked by sprawling, bright orange masses that appear quickly in gardens, but this scary looking fungus is quite harmless.

Clarissa Balbalian, plant diagnostic lab manager with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said the fungus is a slime mold that feeds on decaying woody material.

“It doesn't hurt plants or people,” Balbalian said. “Slime molds live on fungi, bacteria and other microscopic creatures that decay organic material.”

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi may not be far behind the Georgia and Florida wildfires if people are not careful during hot, dry conditions.

Charles Burkhardt manages Mississippi State University's timberlands located throughout the state.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi dairy farmers have a reason to celebrate dairy month, but don't expect a big party.

Bill Herndon, dairy economics specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said farm-level milk prices have reached what he described as a “magical $20-per-hundredweight level.” Unfortunately, feed, fuel, energy and fertilizer costs all have increased at about the same rate as milk prices.