Feature Story from 2015

PETAL, Miss. -- The Early Years Network: Special Needs program is hosting a free Developmental Screening Day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 18 in Forrest County.

A team of early childhood specialists with the network’s special needs program will conduct screenings at the Petal School District Center for Families and Children, located at 201 West Central Avenue in Petal.

Children 6 months to 5 years will be checked for age-specific physical and educational milestones at no cost to parents.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The Early Years Network: Special Needs program is hosting a free Developmental Screening Day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Starkville Aug. 18.

A team of early childhood specialists with the network’s special needs program will conduct screenings at the Child Development and Family Studies Center, located at 501 Collegeview Street in Starkville.

Children 6 months to 5 years will be checked for age-specific physical and educational milestones at no cost to parents.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Long before Charlie Weatherly earned the state’s 2015 Master Gardener of the Year honor, his family roots were dug deep into the Mississippi soil.

Although he retired from Mississippi State University in 1997, Weatherly has not strayed far from the land-grant institution’s campus or mission. How could he? As a child, he frequently came to campus with his father, Ernest, who was a county agent for what is now the MSU Extension Service.

BILOXI, Miss. -- The first in a six-part floral design workshop series for the public will be Aug. 1 at the Coastal Research and Extension Center in Biloxi.

Long-time Mississippi State University floral professor Jim DelPrince, who joined the MSU Extension Service July 1, will kick off the series with a how-to class on flower crowns.

“All of these programs are hands-on, make-and-take classes,” DelPrince said. “I want the series to reveal who’s out there and what they are interested in learning about, so there are various topics on a variety of days and times.”

Many Mississippians are aware of the damage wild hogs do to the land in the region, but they may not know the Mississippi River and surrounding waters are facing a serious threat from another invasive species -- the Asian carp.

VERONA, Miss. -- The North Mississippi Research and Extension Center in Verona will hold a summer field day for fruit and vegetable producers on Aug. 26 at 7 a.m.

Registration will begin at 6:30 a.m. The event will begin with a covered wagon tour of the horticultural research projects in the field. Three short educational updates will follow in the auditorium. Growers will have the opportunity to network with colleagues and ask questions of Mississippi State University experts.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi’s officials seem sure the state is experiencing the calm before the storm as the poultry industry anticipates the arrival of bird flu later this year.

Tom Tabler, poultry specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said no new reports of highly pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza have occurred in the United States since June 17. Most 2015 outbreaks occurred in Minnesota, Iowa and surrounding states.

CARRIERE, Miss. -- Muscadine growers are invited to the Mississippi State University McNeill Research Unit in Pearl River County Aug. 29 to learn more about their crop.

The 2015 Muscadine Field Day at the MSU research unit will allow visitors to see fruit on the vine at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service cultivar trial vineyard. Speakers will address timely topics related to muscadine vines. Each year, more than 100 growers from Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida attend this educational event.

CHOCTAW, Miss. -- Farmers can learn about fall crop production during the Aug. 21 field day organized by the Alliance for Sustainable Agricultural Production.

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians will host the first of several rotating field days at their Farm I location, between Carthage and Kosciusko. Subsequent field days will be held at different farms throughout the state.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Parents know car seats are essential for children’s safety, but the task of choosing and installing one can be overwhelming for even the most savvy moms and dads.

“There are many different types of car seats, and parents should do a little research before going to the store,” said Lydia Bethay, associate director of the Mississippi State University Extension Service Early Learning Network. “The most important thing is to get the right seat for your child and to use it properly every time you get in the car, even on short trips.”

PONTOTOC, Miss. -- Sweet potato producers, researchers, industry representatives and crop consultants are invited to attend a field day on Aug. 27.

The event will be at the Pontotoc Ridge-Flatwoods Branch Experiment Station, located at 8320 Highway 15 South. Specialists and researchers with the Mississippi State University Extension Service and the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station will present the field day.

PICAYUNE, Miss. -- The Crosby Arboretum in Picayune recently received a Five Star grant to help create habitat for an endangered plant community and educate the public about Gulf Coast ecosystems.

The $21,938 grant will help create a 900 square-foot Quaking Bog Educational Exhibit on land formerly used for agricultural and forestry production. The Crosby Arboretum, a unit of the MSU Extension Service, is the Southeast’s premiere native plant conservatory.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Freezing vegetables can be a tiresome and difficult task, but the end result is always worth the effort.

Natasha Haynes, an agent in Rankin County for the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said one important step is often forgotten when freezing vegetables. Before freezing, vegetables need to be blanched, which means scalding them in boiling water before cooling them down quickly.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi’s two land-grant universities welcomed representatives from sister universities and a national council July 31-Aug. 2 in Starkville.

CLEVELAND, Miss. -- Organizers of Mississippi’s 2015 Rice Tasting Luncheon are adding cooking competitions to the Sept. 18 event.

Each year, this well-known Delta luncheon provides more than 300 dishes prepared by rice-growing families and Delta restaurants. Health screening and nutrition booths with many exhibits and door prizes are also part of the event.

CLARKSDALE, Miss. -- Delta growers and agricultural consultants can carve out a few hours from their busy schedules to learn some of the latest issues impacting corn, cotton, grain sorghum, peanuts, rice and soybeans.

Mississippi State University Extension Service specialists and county agents will host a “turnrow talk” on Aug. 25 in Coahoma County at Stovall Farms Shop, located at 4146 Stovall Road in Clarksdale. The free event will begin at 10 a.m. and conclude with lunch at noon.

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Chemical companies have added a new bee hazard icon on labels of certain insecticides to protect pollinators from chemicals hazardous to their health.

Blake Layton, an entomologist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said the icon and the accompanying pollinator protection box are required on labels of systemic insecticides that contain imidacloprid, dinotefuran or thiamethoxam or clothiandin.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Almost 200 4-H members are planning to compete in the poultry project during the 2015 Mississippi State Fair in October.

Jessica Wells, a poultry science instructor with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said organizers are limiting each exhibitor to visual presentations and just one bird for showmanship.

BILOXI, Miss. -- Evidence showing the effects of climate change on coastal wetlands has been hard to come by, so a new study method developed by a team of Southeastern researchers is making waves in the environmental science community.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi State University is offering online high school courses for credit, giving a helping hand to students trying to get ahead or catch up on graduation requirements.

Health, economics, geometry, Mississippi studies, U.S. government, U.S. history, advanced world geography and two English classes are available through the MSU Center for Continuing Education. Costs are $150 for a half credit and $300 for a full credit.