ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — Mississippi peanut producers should have a wonderful feeling about the 2012 crop as almost everything is going their way, including buyers from Oklahoma. Mike Howell, state peanut specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said many of the factors favoring Mississippi’s crop this year, started last year. “The 2011 drought in [...] [...]
by MBJ Staff Published: May 15,2012
Tags: agriculture, commodities, cotton, cotton farmers, crops, farmers, farms, planting, row crops, Weather
ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — Warm spring weather sent cotton farmers to the fields as early as the first week of April, and cotton stands are ahead of normal and looking good. As of May 6, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Statistics Service estimated the state’s cotton was 68 percent planted and 45 percent emerged. The [...] [...]
by Associated Press Published: May 2,2012
Tags: agriculture, commodities, construction, cotton, cotton gin, crops, farmers, farms, gin, row crops
NOXUBEE COUNTY — Construction is scheduled to begin tomorrow on a $6.5 million cotton gin in Noxubee County. Bogue Chitto Gin Inc. was created by a group of 25 cotton farmers from Aliceville, Ala., and from Lowndes, Clay and Noxubee counties in Mississippi. Rodney Mast, a member of the investment group, tells The Commercial Dispatch [...] [...]
by MBJ Staff Published: May 1,2012
Tags: agriculture, colleges, commodities, crops, education, farmers, farms, higher education, planting, row crops, soybeans, universities, Weather
ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — Soybeans are usually an early-planted crop, but an unseasonably warm March gave some growers a chance to get in the fields a little ahead of the typical April 1 start date.Trent Irby, Mississippi State University Extension Service state soybean specialist, said the crop was on track at the end of April. “Many [...] [...]
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 [...] [...]