Harvest Season Safety

With harvest underway drivers need to pay extra attention to the roads. During the next couple of months our rural roads and highways will be covered with farm machinery and trailer trucks as the farmers move from field to field harvesting their crops. According to U.S. Department of Transportation a large portion of motor vehicle fatalities occur on rural roads in Mississippi. … Continue reading

Tassel Shot

As most of our early (March) planted corn acres begin to tassel, the question always comes up about the optimum timing for the “Tassel Shot” of nitrogen.  According to Mississippi State University crop specialists, if your corn crop is healthy with adequate nitrogen, then the timing of nitrogen application at tassel is not very critical.  However, … Continue reading

Lawn Burweed

Now that most of the kids are out of school and outside playing in the yard many of you have noticed a pesky problem.
For some it could be primarily a cosmetic problem but for the ones who have baseball games held in the front yard it could be a painful problem for bare feet. Lawn Burweed is a winter annual that often goes unnoticed until the plant is fully mature. … Continue reading

PESTS IN THE GARDEN

Gardeners face many of the same challenges as farmers — only on a smaller scale.They have to contend with whatever Mother Nature throws at them, from drought to flood, scathing heat or frigid cold, but to top it off, there are insects, diseases and animals to contend with. Now that the garden season is at its peak, … Continue reading

New Beginnings

For those who have lost the battle with weeds and winter kill over the past two years there is still a chance to turn it around. There was not as much turf was lost to winter kill last year as the previous winter but we did lose some due to improper timing and rates of herbicides. … Continue reading

There’s a Buzz in the Air

For most of us, spring and early summer bring about images of gobbling turkeys, crappie fishing, baseball games, colorful landscapes, barbecues, and emerging crops.  But, very few of us relate this time of year to honeybee swarm season.  I would even bet that most of us have never witnessed a honeybee swarm in flight or clumped up dangling from a branch.  … Continue reading

The Importance of pH and Liming

Soil pH influences many of the chemical and biological properties of soils that are important to the growth of plants.  Acid pH levels commonly decrease availability of nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous to the point where plant growth can be significantly reduced.  A common technique to alleviate problems associated with acidity is by adding liming materials. … Continue reading