Business Blog

Keeping the Christmas tree green 

One of the reasons people choose artificial Christmas trees over live ones is upkeep. Dry, dead trees are messy and present a fire hazard, artificial tree proponents say. However, there are ways to keep a live tree green and safe throughout the holiday season. Here are a few tips from the Mississippi State University Extension [...]

Continue reading...

Christmas tree growers feel ‘Grinch-ed’ by tax stories 

Mississippi’s Christmas tree growers are optimistic about this year’s sales season despite national reports of a new “tree tax” to fund promotional efforts. Growers now hope consumers visit their operations and see prices are generally the same as last year. “Here we are trying to self-promote our industry, and we get this,” said Michael May, [...]

Continue reading...

Public land in Delta impacted by river flood 

Every year, hunters flock to the Delta to take advantage of some of the best public hunting land in the state offered by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks’ wildlife management areas (WMAs) and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge Complex. This year, however, hunters are wondering if [...]

Continue reading...

Without a safety net: Results of timber insurance study surprising, troubling 

While landowners find timber insurance attractive, what they are willing to pay for it is significantly less than the going rate, and most choose to go uninsured and risk the losses even after Hurricane Katrina and last April’s destructive storms. That was the finding of a recent timber insurance study conducted by the Mississippi State [...]

Continue reading...

Beetlemania 

The hot, dry weather has the state’s reeling timber industry in a catch-22 situation. The drought has left Mississippi’s pine trees stressed and vulnerable to attack from pine bark beetles, including the highly destructive Southern pine beetle. The best defense against the pests is to thin tree stands. However, landowners are hesitant to thin their [...]

Continue reading...

Why businesses are not expanding 

By Amy McCullough The Great Recession is technically over, but many Mississippi businesses faced with complying with new regulations regarding banking, healthcare, the environment and labor aren’t feeling much relief. Regulatory uncertainty is the reason many businesses are afraid to expand. Even if access to credit wasn’t restricted due to new banking rules, many business [...]

Continue reading...

Are we losing the ‘Weed War?’ 

By Wally Northway The state has just lost an important weapon in its all-out war against cogongrass, which poses a threat to the economy, environment and even public safety. The loss of a federal assistance program could not have come at a worse time, and now some experts believe the non-native, invasive weed is winning [...]

Continue reading...