Feature Story

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Hot temperatures in April excited cotton growers with the prospect of an early crop, but the return of cool, wet conditions delayed growth and later plantings.

Peggy Thaxton, associate professor at the Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville, said her research plots were not planted until mid-May.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Many graduating seniors believe their hardest lessons are behind them, but life's future tests may prove to be their toughest exams yet.

Graduation milestones often give students the impression that their new diplomas are symbols of attained wisdom and their arrival into adulthood.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi producers may get some financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in their continuing recovery from the devastation caused by the 2005 hurricanes.

In early May, USDA announced four crop and livestock assistance programs backed by $250 million in funds for producers affected by the destruction. The four programs are livestock indemnity, feed indemnity, hurricane indemnity and tree indemnity.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi's blueberries have overcome weather obstacles and now are approaching harvest time with a good fruit load.

John Braswell, horticulture specialist with Mississippi State University's Coastal Research and Extension Center in Poplarville, said Hurricane Katrina removed about 10 percent of the state's plants from production, and a late frost caused additional 2006 yield reductions. However, the remaining bushes are sporting a good fruit load as they approach harvest time, which typically runs the last week of May through the second week of July.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A horse’s retirement last fall means Mississippi State University’s Extension Service needs one additional safe, gentle horse for hippotherapy and therapeutic riding sessions.

The MSU Extension Service’s 4-H TEAM (Therapeutic Equine Activity Member) Program is one of two accredited therapeutic programs in Mississippi. The selection criteria for their horses require they be in reasonably good health, have a current Coggins test, and be people friendly and extremely calm.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- An upcoming goat sale in Raymond will help youth become involved in the rapidly expanding 4-H and FFA junior livestock program.

The Mississippi Club Goat Association will be holding a sale on June 10 at Hinds Community College. About 60 meat goats born this spring will go on the auction block. All will be age-appropriate for the 2007 Dixie National Junior Livestock Show. Vaccinated and dewormed, they have been weaned and are on feed.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Dr. Kent Hoblet, a native of Ohio, has been named dean of Mississippi State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

Currently a faculty member and administrator at Ohio State University, Hoblet will assume his new duties at the Starkville campus June 16.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Months after Hurricane Katrina tore through Mississippi and Louisiana, the storm is still doing damage to landscapes.

Blake Layton, entomologist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said some effects of landscape trees damaged or destroyed by Katrina's winds are only beginning to be felt. Many azaleas and St. Augustine lawns that once thrived in the shade are now in bright sunlight.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Hurricane Katrina has flooded the timber market with trees as landowners try to salvage some of their investments. The storm of the century also provided insights into which species might hold up best in future hurricanes.

Bob Daniels, forestry professor with Mississippi State University Extension Service, said landowners with smaller tracts of timber have not been able to salvage as many trees as the owners of larger tracts.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Commercial plant growers, retail garden centers, landscapers and people planning to enter one of those professions can preview the plants of tomorrow during an upcoming conference in Raymond.

The Mid-South Greenhouse Growers, Retail Garden Center/Landscape Conference will be held June 5-7 at Eagle Ridge Conference Center in Raymond, just south of Jackson on Highway 18.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi landowners interested in earning additional revenue from their land can take part in a one-day workshop May 23 focusing on natural resource enterprises.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Everyone involved in Mississippi’s dairy industry is invited to the Statewide Dairy Field Day May 25 in Tylertown.

“Mississippi has lost a lot of dairy producers in recent years due to extreme fluctuation in the price they are paid for their milk coupled with increasing production costs,” said Lamar Adams, event organizer and Walthall County director with the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

By Robert Wells

STONEVILLE -- Mississippi State University is using genetically modified plants in its cotton breeding program to create better cotton varieties for producers.

“We hope something great will come out of this to help the farmers,” said Peggy Thaxton, a cotton breeder at MSU's Delta Research and Extension Center.

By Bonnie Coblentz

By Linda Breazeale

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Warm spring temperatures have pushed corn quickly through its most vulnerable stages and given fields the potential for a good year.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Many people work hard to keep weeds out of their yards, but other troubling pests, such as moles and voles, need aggressive treatment as well.

Moles are small, furry creatures with beak-like noses, tiny weak eyes, no visible ears, paddle-like front feet with large claws and stubby, hairless tails. Moles are not likely to be seen, but they leave behind unmistakable evidence.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Dogs, cats and sometimes people are targets of fleas and ticks as warm weather brings out these annoying parasites.

Dr. Stanley Robertson, Extension veterinarian at Mississippi State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, said fleas and ticks are a problem from spring to early fall in Mississippi.

“These are external parasites that use animals and humans for a blood meal,” Robertson said. “Ticks and fleas can transmit diseases and animals, especially dogs, can become allergic to a protein in the flea's saliva.”

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A colorful, interactive human body exhibit is part of an effort to change nutrition and health decisions Mississippi's children are making.

Body Walk is a fun-filled exhibit of the human body with nine interactive learning stations. Each station teaches children to make healthy choices for their mind and body. The free exhibit has been seen by thousands of school children across the state in its first semester of use.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Conditions have been favorable to produce a large crop of big shrimp, but with record-high fuel prices and uncharted debris in the shrimping grounds, it may be a struggle to land this crop.

The coast is about 14 inches behind normal rainfall for the year, and this drought means salt content is higher in the bayous and inland waterways where young shrimp mature. The young shrimp are growing well in these favorable conditions, and adult shrimp not caught last year because of the hurricane's disruption are even bigger this year.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A generous donation has helped advance the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine’s ability to diagnose cases and reduce hospital stays.

The veterinary college recently dedicated the Mimi and Russell Gaines Imaging and Diagnostic Unit. The room will house a CT scanner for the college's Animal Health Center. A gift from Russell Gaines outfitted the room in memory of his late wife Mimi, a Starkville radiologist and an MSU alumna.