Feature Story

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- A Mississippi State University professor is the new executive director of the Beef Improvement Federation.

GOODMAN, Miss. -- Farmers and producers can learn about the relationship between risk management and insurance during a July 17 field day at the Alliance for Sustainable Agricultural Production Farm near Goodman.

Participants also will receive training in legal and contractual issues. The National Center for Appropriate Technology Gulf States Office and the University of Mississippi Transactional Law Clinic will team up to deliver these sessions.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The color red is a Fourth of July trademark, but sometimes it represents danger.

There are more fires reported on Independence Day than any other day of the year. Fireworks account for two out of every five of these fires. Injury rates are highest among 15- to 24-year-olds and second highest among 10-year-olds, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

In Mississippi, children as young as 12 can buy fireworks. State law prohibits cherry bombs, tubular salutes, repeating bombs, aerial bombs and torpedoes.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Summers are no laughing matter here in Mississippi, especially for those wearing fur coats.

Dr. Brittany Thames, assistant clinical professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences with the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine, said dogs and cats are vulnerable to heat, but dogs are more prone to overheating, heat exhaustion and heatstroke.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Andrew J. Kouba, director of conservation and research at the Memphis Zoo, is the new head of the Mississippi State University Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture.

Kouba will begin serving Aug. 16 as head of the academic, research and extension unit of the university’s College of Forest Resources.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Several Mississippi State University scientists and their colleagues recently won top honors in a national competition for providing research-based information on fish and wildlife management to the public.

The Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals awarded the 2015 Gold Award in the Outstanding Educational Materials Category for long publications to contributors of a new fisheries and wildlife management handbook, “Fish and Wildlife Management: A Handbook for Mississippi Landowners.”

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- A Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine student has won an award for his communication skills.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Fifteen communication professionals at Mississippi State University won national awards June 8-11 at the annual conference of the Association for Communication Excellence.

Bob Ratliff, marketing and communications coordinator for the MSU Extension Service Center for Government and Community Development, won an Award of Excellence for writing. Ratliff began his writing career in 1975 and has worked for the MSU Extension Service and the Progressive Farmer Radio Network.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Pitting farmers against beekeepers does little to solve the problems facing pollinators.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- A lifelong beekeeper and Mississippi State University Extension Service apiculture specialist offers an unusual list of reasons for bee colony death.

“My top three reasons for bee colony death are Varroa mites, Varroa mites and Varroa mites,” said bee expert Jeff Harris. “This is my sarcastic response to the heavy emphasis in the press on the effects of insecticides and other pesticides on honey bees.

LORMAN, Miss. -- Producers can learn about low-cost, efficient water management practices for their farms during a seminar at Alcorn State University’s model farm in Lorman.

Bill Evans, an associate research professor at the Mississippi State University Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station in Crystal Springs, will be one of the featured speakers at the June 30 sustainable water management workshop.

Veterinarians at the Mississippi State University Veterinary Specialty Center (VSC) are using 3-D printer technology to make models of spinal and skull injuries that help them develop better treatments for their animal patients.

The VSC purchased a Lutzbot Taz 4 3-D printer last year, and it is now one of the center’s most valuable pieces of equipment. Three-dimensional models from the printer allow specialists and practicing veterinarians to view internal trauma without the use of invasive procedures.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Six planters at the entrance of a Mississippi State University building are among Sylvia Byrd’s efforts to take students who have never grown anything before and turn them into savvy consumers who have a better appreciation of where their food comes from.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- “Just mentioning bees and pesticides in the same sentence is sure to get a buzz,” said Angus Catchot, an entomologist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

Media skirmishes about bee health, agriculture practices and the role of pollinators in food production are a mixture of fact, propaganda and general misunderstanding, Catchot said.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A Mississippi State University researcher is directing two international studies that could help scientists better understand the role of the body’s natural immune system in preventing heart disease and the rise in drug-resistant bacteria.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Three row crop field days scheduled for July will highlight new and developing weed and insect control technologies.

Mississippi State University row crop specialists will discuss these and other agricultural issues, beginning at the first filed day on July 7 at Douglas and Chris Hood Farms in Dundee.

The second field day is scheduled for July 15 at the MSU Black Belt Branch Experiment Station in Brooksville. The station is located 2 miles northeast of Brooksville and 20 miles south of Columbus on Highway 45.

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Miss. -- Delta Farmers Advocating Resource Management will host the Monsanto Water Conservation Field Day July 7 from 10 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.

Attendees will meet at Simmons Planting Company on state Highway 438, 3.7 miles east of the U.S. 61 intersection near Arcola. They will then go to Murrell Farms to see the latest rice irrigation practices and surface water irrigation systems.

JACKSON, Miss. -- The Early Years Network is hosting a grand opening for the new Hinds County Resource and Referral Center on June 25.

The event will begin at 350 West Woodrow Wilson Ave. in Jackson Medical Mall Suite 480 at 2 p.m. with a brief ceremony to introduce staff and Early Years Network personnel. At that time, the network will accept a donation from United Health Care that will help extend network support to Mississippi’s children. The center will be open to the public to meet the staff and review available resources.

Small, rural towns often face the challenge of providing a quality-of-life standard needed to attract new residents, while some communities on the fringe of large cities may struggle to meet the infrastructure demands that come with population spillover.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Keeping kids healthy during the summer can be a chore, but it does not have to be a bore.

Cool summer snacks for kids can be made easily and provide children with healthy benefits. It can be hard to get children to eat certain types of food, but if the snacks look delicious the task becomes easier.