Feature Story

STARKVILLE, Miss. – A resource developed by the Mississippi State University Extension Service shows shifts in county populations based on exemptions reported in 2014-2015 federal tax returns.

Developed by MSU Extension specialist Roberto Gallardo, the online map of Mississippi shows counties in green and red. Red represents counties where more people moved out than moved in, or a negative net migration. Counties in green had a positive net migration. Only 25 Mississippi counties had a positive net migration.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The choice to breastfeed babies does not remove fathers from nurturing duties that create strong bonds with their children.

Hannah Lambey, a dietetic intern with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said a father can significantly impact the mother and baby just by doing a few simple things.

"Breastfeeding centers around the relationship between the mom and baby, sometimes leaving dad feeling left out," Lambey said. "Dads have many other bonding opportunities that are just as important for both the mother and child."

PICAYUNE, Miss. -- Craftsmen will showcase the skills and traditions of the Piney Woods region on Nov. 18 and 19 during the Piney Woods Heritage Festival.

Visitors to the Mississippi State University Crosby Arboretum in Picayune will enjoy educational exhibits and skills demonstrations, including blacksmithing, quilting, spinning and basket making. Local musicians will perform traditional music throughout the day on Nov. 19.

By Jessica Smith
MSU Extension Service

LOUIN, Miss. -- For one Jasper County 4-H member, a junior livestock show career has come full circle.

Lacie Winn, 18, has competed in 4-H livestock shows across the state since 2006. The youth development program is managed by the Mississippi State University Extension Service and open to youngsters from 5-18 years of age.

By Ms. Bonnie A. Coblentz and Ms. Madeline Golden
MSU Extension Service

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Fifty-nine years ago, a man who appreciates the design potential of concrete chickens started a landscape symposium at Mississippi State University. Today, he still has a concrete chicken gracing his living room, and MSU's annual Landscape Design Symposium bears Edward C. Martin Jr.'s name.

BILOXI, Miss. -- About 2,400 volunteers helped remove trash from beaches and other waterways during the Mississippi Coastal Cleanup on Oct. 22.

Organizers estimate that volunteers collected more than 10 tons of debris at the 28th annual Gulf Coast event. The Mississippi State University Extension Service organizes and implements the Coastal Cleanup in partnership with the Mississippi Marine Debris Task Force. Members of the community and local organizations combed more than 50 sites located on beaches, barrier islands and coastal waterways.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi State University hosted state legislators serving on agricultural committees to provide a glimpse into the institution's efforts to support veterinary medicine, forestry and agriculture.

Bill Herndon, associate vice president for the MSU Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine, helped plan the Oct. 18 and 19 tours. About 25 members of the Mississippi House and Senate agricultural committees visited the university's north farm, dairy processing plant, Wood Magic Science Fair and College of Veterinary Medicine.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Fewer Mississippi producers are looking at grain sorghum as a crop rotation option since an introduced pest became a major problem, a trend Mississippi State University researchers are working to reverse.

The sugarcane aphid is a nonnative pest introduced to the United States in Florida in 1977. By the late 1990s, it had been found in Louisiana. In both states, the pest initially fed on sugarcane. At some point, the aphid began feeding on Johnsongrass, a significant weed found in sugarcane and other crops in the Midsouth.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Proper nutrition, physical activity and food safety precautions can help pregnant women deliver healthy babies.

Niti Puri, a dietetic intern in the Mississippi State University Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion, said expectant mothers should consume higher levels of some key vitamins and minerals and take extra precautions against food-borne illnesses.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Adequate forage for livestock is becoming a concern for Mississippi producers as drought conditions persist, but alternative hay sources and feeding options can compensate for shortages.

The Mississippi Hay Directory helps livestock producers locate hay supplies. The directory is updated each time a new entry is submitted, and listings expire after 60 days.

The Geosystems Research Institute (GRI) at Mississippi State University has released a new web application, "GeoDawg," that gives Mississippians the ability to easily use the capabilities of a powerful geographic information system (GIS).

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STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State University agricultural economists are hosting an Oct. 27-28 sustainable agriculture conference that integrates environmental health, economic profitability and consumer demand for efficient, long-term use of resources.

The Mississippi Agricultural Economics Association is holding its 42nd annual meeting at MSU to discuss sustainability in agriculture.

TUPELO, Miss. -- For more than a quarter century, Mississippians with a love for horticulture have been helping to educate and serve their communities through a nationwide Extension Service program.

HOLLANDALE, Miss. -- Marjan de Regt and her husband, Jan, planned to spend three years farming in the Mississippi Delta before returning to their native Netherlands.

That was 29 years ago, and the family still calls Hollandale home.

The de Regts farmed 2,600 acres of soybeans, 500 acres of rice and 200 acres of corn in 2016. This year was only the third time they tried corn.

By Jessica Smith
MSU Extension Service

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Kids spend a lot of time indoors, and while that inactivity contributes to a lack of exercise, it also can cause other kinds of health problems.

David Buys, health specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, suggested five important tips for keeping the home environment healthy.

TUPELO, Miss. -- Some eighth-grade students may have career dreams but no clue how to make them real. Others may not even have dreams yet.

Bill Burdine, a regional specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, helped assemble professionals to staff exhibits in the agriculture and natural resources section of a recent career expo in Tupelo. The 2016 Imagine the Possibilities Northeast Mississippi Career Expo targeted 7,000 eighth-graders from 72 school districts in 17 counties.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- There's no reason for cotton farmers to sing the blues this year.

Darrin Dodds, cotton specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said cotton harvest was nearly halfway done by the first week of October. Early yields suggest the state will average more than 1,000 pounds of cotton per acre.

Good prices provided the icing on the cake.

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Local 4-H’ers weren't waiting until 4-H National Youth Science Day on Wednesday to open their 4-H Drone Discovery Challenge kits. Instead, the Clover Dawgs robotics engineering club began work Friday.

Each Oktibbeha County kid looked skeptically at the first set of components for the much-anticipated activity: a green, plastic tube that resembled a thick-walled straw, along with a short, white, lightweight propeller. Their mission was to build plastic helicopters.

Mississippi State University agribusiness student A.J. Bland is among 21 U.S. students to receive a National Black Farmers Association scholarship.

Bland, a Tunica native, is the recipient of a $5,000 scholarship that will help him pursue his degree in agribusiness.

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STARKVILLE, Miss. -- A recipe for cinnamon rolls that she found in college turned into a profitable hobby business and now a cottage industry for Christa Lee and her husband, Tyson.

Their business, LoveLee Rolls, sells pans of baked cinnamon rolls at the Starkville farmers market all summer and by word of mouth the rest of the year.

“We started in July 2014. I was staying home with the baby, and we didn’t really need more money -- just thought it would be a fun hobby,” Christa Lee said. “On the way home from the beach one day, we said, let’s just do it.”