Feature Story from 2016

POPLARVILLE, Miss. -- South Mississippi homeowners with private wells will have two opportunities next month to learn how to protect the quality of their drinking water sources.

Private well owners can get their water tested for bacteria and attend a workshop in Pearl River County to learn how to better manage, operate and protect their wells.

The Mississippi Well Owner Network, a program of the Mississippi State University Extension Service, will be held 6-9 p.m. Sept. 29 at the MSU Extension office at 417 Highway 11 North in Poplarville.

PICAYUNE, Miss. -- Families and school groups can have fun while learning about insects and their habitats at the annual Crosby Arboretum Bugfest Sept. 16 and 17 in Picayune.

The hands-on event, held at the Mississippi State University Crosby Arboretum, encourages children, teachers and parents to get curious about the world of entomology.

Attendees can participate in insect-themed games, educational presentations, arts and crafts, and collection and identification opportunities. A staffed mounting station will be available throughout the event.

STARKVILLE, Miss – A new partnership between Mississippi State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s APHIS Wildlife Services program has made the university home to a national training academy.

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STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The same principle that cools down kids running through a lawn sprinkler on a hot summer day is being tested on chickens in Mississippi State University’s commercial poultry houses.

Tom Tabler, Extension poultry specialist with the MSU Extension Service, said keeping chickens cool in the summer is a life-or-death matter. Mississippi summer temperatures often exceed 90 degrees with humidity above 80 percent.

STARKVILLE, Miss.—A national and international expert on agricultural risk management and crop insurance has been named head of Mississippi State’s Department of Agricultural Economics.

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STARKVILLE, Miss. -- After nearly 3 feet of rain in two days caused historic flooding and widespread damage in Louisiana and southwest Mississippi earlier this month, volunteers from Mississippi State University are assisting in relief efforts.

CADARETTA, Miss. -- A 325-acre farm in northwest Webster County has never been owned by anyone but a Pittman.

Fran Pittman has designs on keeping it that way.

She and her husband, Alfred Pittman, have operated Pittman Farms -- part of which includes the land they refer to as “The Old Home Place” -- since they married in 1974.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Thor was an aging but happy English mastiff living in Louisville with Vanessa Beeson, her husband Ray and son Avett, 4. When this once 200-pound dog’s health declined, he dropped to 135 pounds.

“Around May 2014, we noticed that Thor started to be a little less competent on his back legs,” Beeson said. “He started a slow decline with hip dysplasia, a torn ACL and other problems, and he began to lose his mobility and function.”

CLEVELAND, Miss. -- Business-minded Mississippians who realize that tourism is a lucrative enterprise that reaches far beyond the state’s beaches will have an opportunity for training and funding in October.

Leveraging Cultural Tourism for Community Development is a two-day workshop planned for Oct. 13-14 in Cleveland, Mississippi. It will teach anyone interested and involved in tourism how to design tours, create weekend getaways and capitalize on current tourism trends and resources available in the Mississippi Delta.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi dairy farmers have a new specialist to advise them on best management practices and solutions to problems.

Amanda Stone began work on Aug. 16 with the Mississippi State University Extension Service as assistant Extension professor in the Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Members of Mississippi’s U.S. congressional staff met with agricultural producers, industry leaders and Mississippi State University experts during a recent two-day tour.

Six congressional staffers from each district toured key aspects of the state’s No. 1 industry Aug. 29 and 30.

MOUNT OLIVE, Miss. -- Farmers can learn about growing hydroponic produce and selling their crops to institutions during the upcoming Alliance for Sustainable Agricultural Production field day Sept. 16.

The on-farm field day will be at Triple Eaton Farm, located at 953 Mt. Olive Road in Mt. Olive.

Farm owner Leon Eaton will share his experience of growing hydroponic tomatoes, cucumbers and other vegetables, as well as marketing produce to specialty food stores and restaurants. Attendees will get a tour of Eaton’s hydroponic growing system.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- The new Mississippi State University provost and executive vice president, Judy Bonner, toured the university’s off-campus Extension Service and Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station [MAFES] facilities on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1.

BILOXI, Miss. -- Volunteers can help tidy their beaches and coastal waterways during this year’s Mississippi Coastal Cleanup event Oct. 22.

The 28th annual event begins at 8 a.m. and ends at 11 a.m. at more than 40 cleanup sites in Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties. Under the direction of Coastal Cleanup zone captains, participants will clear designated areas of debris, such as plastic bottles, cigarette butts, plastic bags and food wrappers.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Dry September weather has Mississippi soybean producers on opposite ends of the irrigation spectrum: Some are done, while others want to water one more time.

Jason Krutz, irrigation specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, has a question for them: What do the soil moisture sensors say?

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- A food safety specialist with industry and public service experience recently joined the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

Courtney Crist began work as an assistant Extension professor Aug. 16 in the MSU Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion.

CRYSTAL SPRINGS, Miss. -- Gardening enthusiasts and horticulture professionals can learn about the latest plants and gardening techniques during the Fall Flower & Garden Fest Oct. 14 and 15 in Crystal Springs.

NEW ALBANY, Miss. -- School-age programs can take a backseat to activities for younger children at many child care centers, prompting Minerva Graham to change that situation at Rainbow Learning Center.

More than a decade ago, Graham was working as a schoolteacher in Tupelo, Mississippi, and her friend Shelia Sanders was providing in-home child care.

In 2002, the two women decided to go into business together and open Rainbow Learning Center in New Albany. The co-directors and co-owners have been working to provide quality child care at the center ever since.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Mississippi food producers, buyers, economic developers and marketing professionals can attend an upcoming session of the Local Foods Resource Mapping Project to help strengthen the state’s local food network.

Mississippi is one of six states hosting the pilot project aimed at connecting people interested in the growing farm-to-table movement. Other participating states are Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Kentucky and North Carolina.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Experts with the Mississippi State University Extension Service and the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station will host a winemaking tutorial next month.

The Growing, Making and Improving Wines Workshop will be held Oct. 21 at the A.B. McKay Food Research and Enology Laboratory in the Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park across from the MSU campus in Starkville.