Feature Story

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Registration is now open for three summer camps where kids can participate in arts and crafts, cake decorating and academics.

Dawg Daze of Summer, sponsored by the Mississippi State University Center for Continuing Education and the MSU Extension Service, offers two weeklong camps with emphases on creative and academic experiences for children ages 5-7 and 8-10. The camps will join together for certain events throughout the week. Activities include Artful Antics, Critter Crafts, Silly Sticky Slimy Science and Data Data Data.

OKOLONA – Okolona poultry grower Joe Ellis did not even want the Mississippi State University Extension Service professor to get out of his vehicle unless he had practical experience raising chickens.

Tom Tabler was new to Mississippi, but he was not new to the challenges poultry growers like Ellis face every day -- and sometimes night.

“I know what it feels like to wake up to alarms going off at 3 in the morning,” said Tabler, the MSU Extension poultry specialist.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – The New Albany Home and Garden Show will offer two packed days of exhibits and speakers as they celebrate “Wings into Spring” April 4 and 5.

The Union County Master Gardeners will host the sixth annual event at the Union County Fairgrounds. The show is free and open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday and 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets are already sold out for the Lunch and Learn Seminar on Friday.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Industry leaders will gather at Mississippi State University on April 23 to discuss existing and potential issues related to manufacturing and how to capitalize on the state’s current momentum.

Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves will be the keynote speaker at the 2014 Manufacturing Summit: The Road Ahead. The event will be held at the Franklin Furniture Center.

Topics to be discussed at the annual manufacturing summit include transportation and logistics, manufacturing competitiveness, workforce development, the regulatory environment and the Affordable Care Act.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Cattle producers can learn ways to improve their pastures at upcoming events taking place around the state this spring.

On April 10 in Starkville, the Oktibbeha County Extension office is hosting a cool-season forage tour at the Henry H. Leveck Research Farm on the south side of the Mississippi State University campus. The evening tour will be from 5 to 7 p.m.

Topics will include alfalfa, clovers, tall fescue, oats and ryegrass.

STARKVILLE – Mark Peterman joined the Mississippi State University Extension Service as the new aquaculture associate March 1.

Peterman returned to MSU after nine years at Auburn University’s School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, where he was a member of the farm management team.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in fisheries management from MSU and a master’s degree in aquaculture from Auburn University.

By Brittnie Burton
MSU Ag Communications

BELZONI -- After 47 years of farming through ups and downs, Wanda Hill still is able to appreciate the rewards of her career.

Hill farms in Humphreys County with her husband, Herbert, and brother-in-law, Charles. They grow soybeans followed by winter wheat and cotton. Until 2014, they were also catfish farmers.

NATCHEZ – Attorney General Jim Hood will be the closing speaker in Natchez March 28 at a workshop about managing Mississippi’s oil and gas.

Landowners, land managers, elected officials and community leaders interested in oil and gas development can learn about legal, financial and land management planning at the two-day event.

The Mississippi State University Extension Service Center for Government and Community Development and the Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development will host the workshop.

MCCOMB -- With 12 chicken houses and 10 years of experience in the poultry business, Delean Robertson of McComb knows the important role women play in agriculture.

When Robertson’s husband, Donald, suggested starting a chicken farm in 2004 so he could quit his off-shore job and be home more often, Robertson said everything seemed to fall into place as if it were meant to be. The loan for Straight Arrow Farm was approved quickly. An auditor assistant, she transferred from Citizens Bank in Columbia to a closer branch in Magnolia.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Volunteer leaders displayed their level of commitment to the state’s youth when they spent two days at Mississippi State University training in how to do their jobs even better.

The annual 4-H Volunteer Leaders Conference was held at the MSU Bost Extension Center in Starkville Feb. 28 to March 1. Mississippi 4-H is the youth development program of the MSU Extension Service. About 200 volunteer leaders attended the event.

GOODMAN – Fruit and vegetable producers can learn how to improve production during a March 21 field day at the Alliance for Sustainable Agricultural Production Demonstration Farm.

Experts with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Alcorn State University and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians will conduct field demonstrations on mulching, irrigation and high tunnel construction and production techniques. They also will cover fruit crop site selection and variety choices.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – People coming to the aid of large animals involved in accidents and disasters need to proceed with caution for themselves and the distressed animals.

Mississippi State University is hosting a two-day training program in late March to make emergency responders aware of issues involved in large animal rescues.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – In a series of workshops across the state, Mississippi State University Extension Service agricultural economists will share information about the recently signed 2014 Farm Bill.

“Introduction to the New Farm Bill” will address two topics: Title 1, Farm Programs and Title 11, Crop Insurance. The seminar is designed for crop producers, lenders, and those impacted by farm programs and crop insurance.

PICAYUNE – Homeowners, gardeners and nature lovers can learn how native plants help humans thrive during the Mississippi State University Crosby Arboretum Lecture Series on March 15.

Doug Tallamy, a professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, will discuss the results of his 32 years of research on the relationship between native plants and the health of local ecosystems.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Warm weather in early spring practically dares gardeners to plant something, but starting too early can lead to failure.

Mississippi State University Extension Service horticulturists Gary Bachman and Rick Snyder offered some tips on how to get a head start on summer vegetables without the risk of losing them to a late frost.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Garden centers and plant outlets are now stocking up on a variety of trees, and it pays to do a little research before selecting what to plant.

Consumers often ask for fast-growing trees, such as willow and river birch, but these quick growers tend to have weak wood and often suffer damage in wind or ice storms.

JACKSON – Families can find a few extra dollars for summer vacation or for the piggy bank by clipping coupons and planning shopping lists.

“By spending just a few hours a week clipping coupons, you can save up to 40 to 50 percent on your grocery bill,” said LaTrell Stokes, Oktibbeha County agent with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. “You don’t have to be an extreme couponer to save a significant amount.”

Stokes, who clips coupons herself, said shoppers do need a strategy, though.

VERONA -- More than 300 north Mississippi agricultural producers met with Mississippi State University representatives to hear research results and recommendations and to express what they need from the university in the coming year.

Steve Martin, head of MSU’s North Mississippi Research and Extension Center in Verona, said the annual meeting helps keep producers, researchers and Extension specialists on the same page.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Becky Smith, director of the Mississippi State University Extension Center for Economic Education and Financial Literacy, has been an advocate for education since childhood.

“My grandfather told me, ‘Nobody can take education away from you,’ so I was determined to go as far as I could with my education,” Smith said.

BILOXI – A group of about 120 coastal-area agriculture producers met Feb. 25 in Biloxi for the Coastal Research and Extension Center’s Producer Advisory Council to help Mississippi State University experts understand growers’ needs.

The annual meeting helps MSU Extension Service and Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station agents, specialists and researchers allocate time and funding to education and research efforts.