Feature Photo

Staff from the Mississippi State University Extension Service’s Early Childhood Programs attended the 2024 Early Childhood Capitol Day on Feb. 6.

U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, a native and resident of Brookhaven, observes the Lincoln County 4-H display that is part of the Smithsonian Institution’s “Crossroads: Change in Rural America” exhibition at the Lincoln County Library. 

Controller’s Generation II and Controller’s Generation III 4-H club members in Oktibbeha County pick produce from a community garden in Maben, Mississippi, on August 6, 2019.

When I was beginning my horticulture journey after making a career transition, I thought I had some idea about color and planting combinations. I would alternate colors and sizes because all my neighbors were planting that way. But this approach changed for good one afternoon.

A group of horticulture club students was helping our advisor, Dr. David Bradshaw, add color annuals to the entrance beds of the horticulture building.

Members of the Hinds County 4-H Leadership team for 2017-2018 were recently selected. The team consists of 4-H’ers in both the Mississippi State University Extension Service 4-H program and the Alcorn State University Extension 4-H program. Team members are selected based on performance in and commitment to the 4-H program and participation in leadership roles in their 4-H clubs, schools and communities. Selected team members will learn about and practice leadership, citizenship and communication skills through various projects.

New manager of operations Keri Jones recently joined the Mississippi State University Extension Service Soil Testing Laboratory, and she's ready to enhance the unit's efficiency."

"My primary goal is to provide accurate soil analysis in a timely manner," said Jones, an Extension associate who has worked in the MSU Department of Plant and Soil Sciences since 2016. "I hope to improve the overall efficiency of the lab as well as update soil nutrient application recommendations."

Loan officers and other agricultural business professionals from across the state came together for the fourth annual Agricultural Financial Professionals Workshop. Mississippi State University Extension Service hosted the workshop Nov. 10-11 at the MSU Bost Extension Center. Among the attendees were Chelsi Smith, left, Mississippi Land Bank capital markets representative, Senatobia office; Bryon Parmon, assistant Extension professor and workshop organizer; Jay Slater, Mississippi Land Bank loan officer, Starkville office; and Josh Fair, First South Farm Credit.

By Vanessa Beeson
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Teams that want to win big in 4-H and FFA livestock judging competitions should attend the Mississippi State University Livestock Judging Camp.

The three-day camp in the MSU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is open to teams and individuals who are 14 to 18 years of age. Past attendees have included top winners in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee livestock judging competitions.

ABERDEEN, Miss. -- Mississippi’s tree farmer of the year is now a regional finalist for the national version of the same award.

Bobby Watkins manages Coontail Farm, a 240-acre loblolly pine plot in Aberdeen used for timber production. The area also has a wildlife-friendly habitat for hunting and fishing.

From left, kindergarteners Garrison Baker, Knox Smith and Piper Graves learn about painted lady butterflies with Lois Connington, keeper of the Insect Zoo at Mississippi State University’s Clay Lyle Entomology Building on Thursday, April 14, 2016 in Starkville, Miss. (Photo by MSU Extension Service/Kat Lawrence)

LEXINGTON, Miss. -- A May 4 workshop in Lexington, Mississippi, will help landowners, farmers and timber producers branch out and earn extra income from natural resources on their property.

Korie Stallings, 8, gets her hair pinned by Mississippi State University senior Claudia Robinson of Jackson, Mississippi. Robinson and other School of Human Sciences students made dresses for girls in the Starkville Boys and Girls Club as part of an apparel design class service-learning project. Participants modeled new dresses in a fashion show on Dec. 5, 2015. (Photo by MSU Extension Service/Kat Lawrence)

Mark Peterman, on right, an aquaculture associate with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, shows a catfish to Weir Elementary students Taylor Hunt and Derrick Floyd at FARMtastic in Starkville on Nov. 20, 2015. FARMtastic is an experience-based Extension program that teaches kids where food, fiber and fuel come from. (Photo by MSU Extension Service/Kat Lawrence)