WASHINGTON — Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) says he is disappointed with the 2012 Farm Bill approved by the Senate Agriculture Committee and is withholding his support for the measure due to inadequate coverage for important crops produced in Mississippi. Cochran, who serves on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee and is a former chairman [...] [...]
ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — Dry conditions have allowed Mississippi rice producers to plant earlier this year than in previous years. Nathan Buehring, rice specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said an absence of heavy spring rains put the state’s producers well ahead of schedule. About 80 to 85 percent of the state’s rice was [...] [...]
by MBJ Staff Published: April 12,2012
Tags: agriculture, computers, crops, environment, farmers, farms, Internet, online, pesticide sales, pesticides, registration, row crops, state agency, state government
JACKSON — The Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce (MDAC) introduced the Pesticide Products Registration Online System in 2011 to overwhelming support from businesses nationwide, according to MDAC. In its first year of operation as a pilot system, over 80 percent of businesses took advantage of the online application as a way to register pesticides [...] [...]
by MBJ Staff Published: April 11,2012
Tags: agriculture, chickens, duties, farmers, farms, federal government, free trade agreement, international trade, legislative, poultry, tariffs, trade
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) are encouraging U.S. trade representative Ron Kirk to challenge new duties proposed by Mexico on imported U.S. poultry. Cochran and Wicker are among 16 Senators who last week sent a letter to Kirk that states the lawmakers’ concern with antidumping charges levied by Mexico [...] [...]
ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — An early strawberry season delights consumers, but growers must keep an eye on this spring’s fickle weather to protect their delicate and valuable crop. “The strawberry crop has come into production two weeks earlier than normal,” said Wayne Porter, a Mississippi State University Extension Service agent in Lauderdale County who specializes in [...] [...]
by MBJ Staff Published: April 9,2012
Tags: agriculture, cholestrol, colleges, education, farmers, farms, higher education, pigs, pork, purslane, research, swine, univerisites
CHURCH HILL — Research scientists at Alcorn State University Swine Development Center in Church Hill recently reported that adding purslane leaves to swine diets lowers bad cholesterol while increasing the good cholesterol in growing pigs. “The data generated showed that back fat measurements taken from pigs given a purslane diet plus added cholesterol had 50 [...] [...]
by MBJ Staff Published: April 9,2012
Tags: agriculture, beef, beef processing, cattle, colleges, cows, education, food, food safety, ground beef, higher education, journalism, journalists, livestock, media, pink slime, research, universities
STARKVILLE — Mississippi State University meat scientist is describing recent media reports as irresponsible journalism that casts a shadow over established practices that he contends make certain ground beef products healthier and safer. >> Finely textured beef the fault of the media? MSU researcher cannot be serious … Byron Williams, assistant Extension and research professor [...] [...]
by Associated Press Published: April 9,2012
Tags: agriculture, beef, beef plant, beef processing, beef processor, cattle, courts, fraud, judges, judicial judiciary, livestock, settlement, state government
OAKLAND — Mississippi could soon settle its 2007 lawsuit against the firms that built the financially disastrous beef plant in the Yalobusha County town of Oakland. Jan Schaefer, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Jim Hood, said the state and Georgia’s Facility Group, which was hired to oversee construction of the plant, have reached agreement although [...] [...]
High feed prices and a decline in demand led to 2011 being one of the most challenging years Joe F. Sanderson Jr., 65, has seen in the 42 years he has worked at Sanderson Farms. So you might think that Sanderson would have thoughts of retirement on his mind. Instead, Sanderson is buoyed by news [...] [...]
ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — Farmers in Mississippi, where an Oklahoma peanut processor proposes to set up two buying and drying warehouses in time for this year’s crop, plan to triple their peanut acreage, the National Agricultural Statistics Service says. It’s the largest planned percentage increase of any state, but still, well, peanuts compared to the 570,000 [...] [...]
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