News From 2020

Interest in gardening has nearly kept pace with social distancing and self-isolation rates across the country as the COVID-19 pandemic has circled the globe.

Unless they are carefully cleaned, phones and handheld devices now carry a greater risk than enabling users to waste time: virus transmission.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Weather always plays a role in the spring planting decisions of Mississippi row-crop producers, but the market impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is another variable they will have to consider in 2020.

Thanks to technology, meetings still can be held face-to-face while practicing social distancing, and some tips from the pros can help make the transition easier.

The Mississippi State University Extension Service Center for Technology Outreach has provided technological support for remote learning for more than 20 years. Advances in technology make it faster, easier and possible from home.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- As workplaces implement social distancing measures to help slow the spread of COVID-19, some Mississippians face the frightening reality of lost or reduced income.

Many families will need to stretch their budgets a little more, and cooking at home can help.

As we continue to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing numbers of people are working and sheltering at home. Although no one even heard of it a year ago, social distancing is a crucial step in reducing the transmission of this very contagious and dangerous virus.

Gardening is the perfect social distancing activity.

Cabin fever can set in with everyone trying to stay home, and some people may think this cure may be worse than the disease. It is definitely not, and gardening can help make it enjoyable.

The strict biosecurity measures already practiced in Mississippi’s $2.7 billion poultry industry allow this “essential critical infrastructure workforce” to continue business as usual during the COVID-19 pandemic.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Necessary restrictions on travel and gatherings are affecting how the Mississippi State University Extension Service operates, but its ability to respond to the needs of its clients, the public and state agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic continues uninterrupted.

Extension’s roles during crises are many: emergency management, local level assistance, support for the state’s agricultural industry, and dissemination of public information and education.

Mississippi State University Extension experts join the chorus of voices urging all people to practice social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying this is crucial for older adults.

RAYMOND, Miss. – As people reduce trips to the grocery store to help slow the spread of the new coronavirus, older adults should pay special attention to what they put in their pantries. 

“As we age, we don’t need as many calories, but we still need the same amount of nutrients or more of certain nutrients,” said Qula Madkin, an Extension instructor of nutrition in the MSU Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion. “Maintaining a nutritious diet helps our body systems work properly, including our immune system.”

With much of our workforce telecommuting from home and with school suspended or cancelled for the kids, cabin fever has already become an issue for many households.

The Mississippi State University Extension Service will host a free webinar to discuss the impact of the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, on cattle markets March 26 at 7 p.m. Central Standard Time.

Agricultural economists Josh Maples of MSU and Derrell Peel of Oklahoma State University Extension will discuss the current situation and answer questions submitted by participants.

COVID-19 turned millions of families into homeschoolers who suddenly must decide how to structure learning for their students.

The Class of 2020, born in the shadow of 9/11 and graduating with traditional senior activities marred by COVID-19, will know without a doubt that life events can be unexpected.

As cases of COVID-19 grow around the country, many families are practicing social distancing to protect themselves and others.

This likely means people will be making fewer trips to the grocery store, cooking at home and using their freezers.

BILOXI, Miss.-- At Mississippi State University’s Coastal Research and Extension Center, we recently aged one of the largest tripletail fish ever caught.

Fertilizer recommendations are constantly examined and rarely modified, but change came this year after Mississippi State University research demonstrated higher potassium recommendations increase soybean yields.

We are certainly experiencing troubling and scary times right now. “Quarantine,” “pandemic” and “social distancing” have become frequently used words, at least until we get a handle on COVID-19.

As a result, garden and landscape shows are being cancelled all across the South out of an abundance of caution. But that doesn’t mean that gardening has been cancelled.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The Mississippi State University Extension Service has postponed all of its in-person events, trainings and meetings across the state through May 10 amid public health concerns surrounding COVID-19.

All Extension offices and units will remain open, and basic operations will continue as normal until further notice. This includes the Bost Extension Center on the main campus in Starkville, the four regional Research and Extension Centers and each of Extension’s 82 county offices. Online educational programming will also proceed as scheduled.

Sometimes it seems I need a larger garden landscape because, sadly, I don’t have room for every great plant I write about. But one group of plants I make sure to save space for is perennial salvia.