News

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Alan Blaine was named the interim head of the North Mississippi Research and Extension Center in Verona after its current head took another position within Mississippi State University.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Late yesterday evening, I was surveying the landscape and looking at the results of being gone for almost a week. The conclusion is it is time to begin some late-season planting. If you are like me and ready for a colorful pick-me-up, then late summer- to early fall-planted marigolds could certainly be what is needed.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Weather conditions may prevent Mississippi's rice farmers from posting a third consecutive year of record yields, but their biggest battle may be economics.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Seeing, hearing and touching have their place in the learning process, and the best teachers know how to incorporate all of them in their lessons.

Some people like to handle something to learn about it, others want to hear information while still others prefer written instructions. Some people visualize abstract concepts well. The way a person likes to learn is often referred to as a learning style or a learning preference.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Middle and high school students are discovering that it is never too early to learn about finances with "reality checks" supplied by Mississippi State University's 4-H program.

Marianne Clark, Grenada County 4-H agent, is helping to bring a program called Reality Check to youth, and sometimes adults, needing help with life's financial lessons.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

To say that blue passionflower is a vigorous vine is a huge understatement, and the flower production is also very impressive. The blue passionflower is known botanically as Passiflora caerulea and is cold hardy over the entire state.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Wheat farmers weighing their options for fall plantings are finding the scales tipping less and less toward double-cropping methods.

In June, Mississippi wheat growers harvested a slightly below-average yield after battling stripe rust and water-logged soils much of the growing season. Fields averaged 48 bushels per acre, five fewer than last year. The state's growers planted 110,000 acres of wheat and harvested 95,000 acres for the fifth consecutive year of declining acreage.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- The right tools give catfish producers an edge in the battle against production problems, and research is providing those tools.

Ongoing research at Mississippi State University's Thad Cochran National Warmwater Aquaculture Center focuses on several aspects of catfish production. Two major problems facing producers are trematode infestation and off-flavor. Researchers have found that one chemical applied in the correct dosage can help producers win battles against both problems.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Ogon, the leading variety of Japanese sweet flag, is just beginning to attain all the wonderful landscape possibilities that it is capable of achieving. This year has given me a new appreciation for this member of the lily family.

Dwarf sweet flag, mostly called Japanese sweet flag, is known botanically as Acorus gramineus. Although still fairly new in our local markets, this grass is drawing increased attention.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Joe Street has been named the new head of the Delta Research and Extension Center, Mississippi State University's facility in Stoneville.

Street replaces Jimmy Smith, who served as head of the center for 11 years before requesting reassignment as research professor. Effective Aug. 15, Street will transfer from the North Mississippi Research and Extension Center in Verona to Stoneville.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A football game earlier this year raised enough money to give seven children with life-threatening illnesses an outdoor adventure of a lifetime.

The annual Kappa Sigma Charity Classic raised $20,000 from sponsors for one football game. The game pits these Mississippi State University students against members of Sigma Chi fraternity. The winner takes home bragging rights for the year, and the charity, the national Catch-a-Dream Foundation, is able to continue providing hunting or fishing trips for ill youth.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Cool, wet weather in the spring months gave Mississippi sod a slow start, but rains in June and heat in July helped the grass turn in an overall good performance.

“Things are going pretty well right now for the state's sod producers,” said Wayne Wells, turf specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. “I've talked with producers, and they seem to be moving quite a bit of grass right now.”

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Most homeowners go to a lot of trouble and expense to keep termites away, but a group of Mississippi State University scientists is inviting the ravenous Formosan subterranean termite to come and stay for dinner.

Researchers designed a field test at the McNeill Unit of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station in Pearl River County to study ways to help homes and other wooden construction resist the Formosan invasion. The test site includes four wooden structures and a small laboratory.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- The fact that Mississippi has two female bears living in the state is great news to black bear biologists hoping to see a comeback of this endangered animal.

The number of black bear sightings in recent years is up in Mississippi, with most occurring in the Adams and Wilkinson county areas and some in the Delta and coastal counties. An estimated 40 to 50 black bears live in the state, and biologists are trying to increase their numbers.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Shandon Gifford feels honored to receive the Soldier's Medal for his heroic actions in the Iraq War, but he said the support he received during and after his service is more valuable than any award.

Gifford, who served as a medic in Iraq with the Mississippi National Guard's 223rd Engineering Battalion in 2003, is a surgical nurse with Mississippi State University's College of Veterinary Medicine. He was honored with the U.S. Army's Soldier's Medal during a special ceremony held at Camp McCain near Grenada July 15.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- The Pontotoc Ridge-Flatwoods Branch Experiment Station will hold a research and demonstration tour on Aug. 4. Registration will begin at 7:30 a.m.

The station is located on Highway 15 about seven miles south of Pontotoc.

Research activities with corn, cotton, soybeans and sweet potatoes will be highlighted during the tour of the station’s research fields.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Beginning gardeners and old pros all will find something to like at the 2005 North Mississippi Garden Expo.

The Sept. 17 expo at the North Mississippi Research and Extension Center in Verona is free. Tours and other activities begin at 9 a.m. and continue until 1 p.m.

“Visitors can tour the Magnolia Botanical Gardens and other areas at the center devoted to fruits and vegetables, turf grass and ornamental plants,” said event coordinator Crofton Sloan.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Cooperative Demonstration Field Days will provide landowners, managers and others with opportunities to learn how to plant and manage dove food plots for legal fields to hunt over during upcoming seasons.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

No matter where you go in the South right now, the plant that seems to be in a constant state of standout performance is the alternanthera, or Joseph's Coat.

Of course, most of the Joseph's Coats we see are the lime green selections usually partnered with coleus or cannas. They are doing quite well at my house even though there is a baby cottontail trimming them for me nightly.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Despite the arrival of rust in the state, Mississippi's soybean crop needs only a couple of well-timed rains to finish off what could be one of the best crops.

On July 18, rust was confirmed in a sentinel plot of soybeans in George County. Mississippi State University Extension Service plant pathologist Billy Moore collected 15 leaves from this quarter-acre plot that were exhibiting vague symptoms of rust. The fungus was found on one leaf.