Agriculture
For 100 years, the Mississippi State University Extension Service has provided practical, research-based education to farmers and agri-business owners.
MSU Extension’s Agriculture and Natural Resources program supports the largest sector of Mississippi’s economy. Agriculture and forestry account for up to one-third of the state’s gross economic product, with a farm-gate value of more than $7 billion.
Our experts are scientists and educators who take university research and turn it into real-world education you can trust. Extension programs help the state’s food and fiber producers provide quality farm and forest commodities, safer food supplies, and new value-added products. In turn, Mississippians benefit from Extension education offered in all 82 counties.
Publications
News
Planting season is underway and with it comes the transportation of heavy equipment along Mississippi’s roadways.
Drivers can help support local agricultural producers and their $7.4 billion contribution to the state’s economy by staying alert while sharing the road with planters, tillers and tractor-mounted sprayer
Backyard chicken flocks continue to grow in popularity as Mississippians embrace the ability to produce some of their own food and enjoy the quirky personalities of the birds.Tom Tabler, poultry specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said those considering starting a backyard flock need to make clear-headed plans before bringing home darling little chicks.
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi row crop growers are planning to plant more soybeans and corn in 2021 than they did last year but not as much cotton, rice or hay.
The National Agricultural Statistics Service, a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, publishes its planting intentions report each year at the end of March. This report provides a state-by-state estimation of how many acres of corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton farmers will plant in the upcoming growing season.
Mississippi’s recent bout of bad weather came at a critical time for producers of blueberries, the state’s largest commercial fruit crop. Blueberries can be easily damaged by cold weather, but the timing of mid-February’s icy weather limited the potential damage.
PINEY WOODS, Miss. -- Farmers preparing for the growing season will benefit from a wide variety of topics at the Alliance of Sustainable Farms field day March 29.
Subjects include spring preparations for grazing, growing quality hay, cover crops, and native plants and pollinators. Participants will also learn how to calibrate a no-till drill.
Success Stories
Variety trials exemplify Extension’s service to growers through pandemic
For 10 years, a small portion of Moody Farms in Tishomingo County has been sectioned off for cotton variety trial plots. That streak continued in 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vardaman producer named Farmer of the Year
When Joe Edmondson surveys his farming operation at Topashaw Farms, he thinks about his more than 40 full-time employees and the hundreds of seasonal workers who work the acres.
New endowment honors longtime Extension swine specialist
In his 34 years as swine specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, Dr. Mark Crenshaw was one of the state’s most prominent advocates for the pork industry. Now, an Extension endowment fund bears his name.
See what is new in Extension... Extension partners to promote beef quality assurance program, Extension recognized in Gulf Guardian Award Project, First Ag leadership class graduates, and Extension supports residents participating in U.S. Census 2020.
Neal Smith grew up in Picayune in Pearl River County and has lived in Ohio for 27 years. As the chief executive officer and executive secretary for the American Jersey Cattle Association, Smith has been able to stay connected to the reason he joined 4-H as a child—his love of dairy cattle. He first joined 4-H because he wanted to show his Jersey calf at the Pearl River County Fair.
