Feature Story

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- One of the best things about Mississippi summers is the delicious food provided by fresh garden vegetables, a goodness people can enjoy year-round with preserved vegetables.

Brent Fountain, human nutrition specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said fresh may be best, but it isn't the only option. Freezing or canning fruits and vegetables will extend the time in which garden produce can be eaten.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi's youth have seen their share of tornado and hurricane damage, and they know how much donations from others can help.

Mississippi 4-H members celebrated their organization's 100th anniversary by collecting money during the state 4-H Congress the last week of May to contribute to teachers in Enterprise, Ala., the site of a deadly March tornado that killed eight high school students.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi soybeans had one of the most uneven starts they have had in years, but one constant is the need for rain.

Dan Poston, northwest district soybean specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said Delta soybeans looked pretty good in late May, but time was running out for fields to get a rain.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Area beekeepers can expand their knowledge of the bee business at a beekeeping short course scheduled for June 12 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the Mississippi State University campus.

Workshop topics include fall and winter management, parasitic mites, diseases and pests of honey bees, area honey plants and honey flows, and swarm management. Bee enthusiasts also will learn about starting and developing productive colonies, re-queening colonies, dividing colonies, and sampling for mites and diseases.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Chris Bell of Newton County is the latest Mississippian with a disability to benefit from a program designed to maintain agricultural lifestyles despite a life-altering event.

Bell, 57, of Lawrence, is a cattle farmer who uses a wheelchair, the result of a 2005 medical procedure that went wrong. He lives alone and with help from his son and friends, runs a 100-head cow/calf operation, raises hay, produces honey, and raises and trains border collies.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi's cotton fields are benefiting from timely rains and are off to one of their best starts in recent years, but the crop has significantly fewer acres in 2007.

By the middle of May, more than 70 percent of the state's cotton was planted and 35 percent was emerged, according to a report by the National Agricultural Statistics Service in Mississippi.

By Andrea Cooper
MSU College of Forest Resources

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Feral hogs have perhaps the worst reputation of any wild game animal in the nation, and Mississippi State University researchers hope to gain the upper hand by studying their habitat and populations.

While hunters enjoy pursuing these elusive and dangerous animals, most landowners view wild hogs as nuisances because of their extremely destructive foraging habits. 

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi's peanut growers have been planting ahead of the five-year average, but fields need rain to keep them on track.

By the May 6 crop report issued by the National Agricultural Statistics Service in Mississippi, farmers had planted 12 percent of the state's peanut crop. The five-year average for that date is 5 percent. Agronomists with Mississippi State University's Extension Service said the ideal planting time typically concludes around June 1, but peanuts can be planted later if necessary.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A Mississippi State University Extension forestry specialist is the Forest Landowners Association’s Extension Forester of the Year.

The organization, which is comprised of forest landowners in 17 southern states, selected MSU Extension professor Timothy Traugott for the 2007 honor. 

During 22 years as an MSU Extension forestry specialist, Traugott has conducted almost 300 workshops and short courses for more than 8,000 Mississippi landowners.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Many Mississippi teenagers become mothers long before they are ready to celebrate Mother's Day, leaving many of them with a lifetime of struggle.

Mississippi has the highest teen birthrate of any state in the nation, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy Web site, http://www.teenpregnancy.org. In 2003, the last year for which data is available, 65 girls per 1,000 age 15-19 had children, for a total of 6,625 babies born to teenagers.

By Courtney Coufal
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Efforts to take university-level training to every corner of the state have earned the Mississippi State University Extension Service two national awards.

The American Distance Education Consortium and the U.S. Distance Learning Association both recognized the Extension Service for its outstanding and comprehensive distance education program. The program provides Mississippians with educational instruction when physical distance separates students and instructors.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Each morning Carl Blair, like many people, checks the weather, but his interest in the weather is part of a tradition that goes back 125 years.

Blair is an equipment operator for the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station at Mississippi State University and his duties include recording data collected by National Weather Service equipment located on campus.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi's 2006 timber harvest value declined almost 17 percent from the previous year, and industry watchers do not expect much improvement in 2007.

Glenn Hughes, a forestry professor with Mississippi State University's Extension Service, said a significant amount of Hurricane Katrina-damaged timber remains in storage -- wet-decked -- in lumber yards awaiting use.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Camping often brings people closer to nature, but Mississippi State University is also offering the opportunity to learn about wildlife, fisheries and the great outdoors to parents, teachers and children as young as 10.

Two camps will be offered this summer: June 3-7 and July 8-12. The cost for each camp is $225 per person and includes on-campus lodging, meals, field trip transportation and a camp T-shirt. During the week, participants will eat a wildlife meal after receiving tips on cooking game.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A new reality show will help Mississippi's 3- and 4-year-old children prepare for their first day of school.

Mississippi State University's Extension Service is tapping into the latest media trend by providing a unique glimpse into an accredited classroom and training child-care providers to prepare preschoolers for kindergarten. They are demonstrating that some reality shows are not only entertaining, they also can be educational.

By Robert H. Wells
Delta Research and Extension Center

STONEVILLE -- A Delta researcher is using new biological control technology to combat reniform nematodes, underground worms that cause Mississippi cotton producers losses of $30 million annually.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- High fuel prices give many people a reason to complain, but they also may drive the resurgence of an industry that was big business in Mississippi 100 years ago.

David Nagel, vegetable specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said fuel prices have made it more difficult for vegetable growers on the West Coast to ship produce across the country and still make a profit.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Poultry companies are facing significantly higher production costs in 2007 as corn prices remain at historic levels without much relief in sight.

John Anderson, agricultural economist with Mississippi State University's Extension Service, said corn prices are about $1.25 per bushel higher than a year ago.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A job that seems secure one day can be gone the next, leaving those without an income struggling unless preparations were made before the job loss.

In West Point, the Bryan Foods plant closed at the end of March, putting more than 1,600 people out of work. In nearly every community across Mississippi, some people lose their jobs almost every week.

Bobbie Shaffett, family resource management specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said a savings is the best defense against financial ruin.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Many Mississippi fruit and nut growers are waiting to see what impact Easter weekend's freezing temperatures had on their crops.

Blueberries and pecans were at a vulnerable stage when temperatures dropped the first weekend in April. Strawberries were already being harvested and were mostly unharmed, and the new growth on muscadine grapes appears unhindered by the cold.