Research, Education and Outreach in the Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Ve t e r i n a ry Medicine

Mississippi State University

Research, Education and Outreach in the Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Ve t e r i n a ry Medicine

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Mississippi State University

Volume 1, Number 4 FALL 2005

2005

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Table of Co n t e n t s

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2 62 6

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88

44

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On the Cover

Most of Mississippi’s freshwater prawns are grown in the Delta, but ChickasawCounty producers Dale Obarr and Hal Craig harvested several hundred poundsf rom this pond in 2005. (Photograph by Bob Ratliff )

Back Cover

MSU has a long tradition of producing high-quality Edam and other types ofcheese. (Photograph by Marco Nicovich)

4 Hurricane Response

MSU is lending expertise, manpower and other resources to efforts to recoverfrom this year’s powerful storms.

8 Delta Delicacy

Freshwater prawns are proving they have potential as a new aquaculture crop.

10 Pace Rice

A new rice variety from the Delta Research and Extension Center has qualitiesDelta producers say they need.

12 New Diesel

Soybeans are changing the fuel that powers the nation’s trucks and tractors.

14 Tough Grass

An MSU-developed grass variety is performing well in demanding locations.

15 Tree Genes

Genetic research is helping unlock the secrets of tree reproduction.

16 Focus

Teaching, research and outreach in the Division of Agriculture, Forestry andVeterinary Medicine.

24 Say “Cheese”

The MSU sales store has a new look and location but the same great pro d u c t s .

25 Top Students

Students from the College of Forest Resources continued their winning waysin 2005.

26 Magnetic Research

CVM scientists are studying the use of electromagnetic fields in cancer tre a t m e n t .

28 Award Winners

DAFVM personnel have been recognized for accomplishments.

29 Editorial

MSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine is responding to the challenges andchanges faced by veterinarians.

30 Breaking New Ground

Development partners help support a variety of activities.

3

2005

Research, Education and Outreach in the Division of Agriculture, Forestry, and Veterinary Medicine

Homes, businesses and lives were lost asHurricane Katrina pounded theMississippi Gulf Coast and other areas inthe southern half of the state. What wasnot lost to the most devastating storm inthe nation’s history was the determina-tion of Mississippians to support oneanother in its aftermath.

While there was acro s s - t h e - b o a rddevastation, the food and fiber sector wasespecially hard hit by Katrina. Fro msunken and damaged shrimp boats in

Biloxi to livestock fences crushed by fallen timber throughout the centrala reas of the state, virtually every aspect of the businesses that pro v i d efood and other products from the land and sea suff e red loss of bothp roducts and infrastru c t u re. A spike in already high fuel costs followingthe storm also impacted agriculture .

R e p resentatives from almost every part of the agricultural sec-tor were on hand during a Sept. 30 visit to the Laurel area by U.S.S e c retary of A g r i c u l t u re Mike Johanns. They had the opportunity toreport their post-Katrina problems and to outline for the secretary thegovernment actions that would best support the recovery of theirtypes of enterprises.

The common thread throughout the producers’ reports was thatthey and most of their counterparts do plan to rebuild their businesses. Dan Batson, owner of Gre e n F o rest Nursery in Perkinston, summed uphis and his colleagues hopes for the future: “We in the horticultureindustry want to be there for the economic recovery of the Coast.”

The education, outreach, re s e a rch and other Mississippi StateUniversity programs also will be there as the rebuilding efforts contin-ue. In fact, the individuals involved with those programs refocused theire fforts as soon as the storm passed.

MSU Extension Service personnel throughout the state workedwith recovery and support efforts in their communities. Scientists andsupport staff at Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry ExperimentStation facilities in the path of the hurricane immediately took steps top revent additional damage to re s e a rch projects and equipment.Volunteers from the College of Veterinary Medicine assisted the stateveterinarian for several weeks as part of animal needs assessments andrescue efforts. Crews from the College of Forest Resources and MAFESmoved almost immediately to the Coast to assist with cleanup.

In many cases, the individuals involved with these and othere fforts were also dealing with personal losses, including in some casesthe loss of homes.

Support for the individuals affected by Katrina will be a long-term effort, and MSU will be part of that effort. The Winter 2006 issue ofLandmarks will feature coverage of ongoing work by personnel in theSchool of Human Sciences and the Early Childhood Institute with fam-ilies with children displaced by the storm.

One of Mississippi’s great historians, the late John K.Bettersworth, coined the term “the people’s university” to refer to whatwas then Mississippi State College. In that tradition, MSU will continueto respond to the needs of the people it was established to serve.

MISSISSIPPI

Vice President’s Le t t e r

Vance H. Watson

Landmarks is published quarterly by the Division of Agriculture,Forestry and Veterinary Medicine at Mississippi State University

J. Charles Lee President

Vance Watson Vice President

Dean, College of Agriculture and

Life Sciences

Director, Mississippi Agricultural

and Forestry Experiment Station

Interim Director, University Extension

and Outreach

George Hopper Dean, College of Forest

Resources

Director, Forest and Wildlife

Research Center

Gregg Boring Interim Dean, College of Veterinary

Medicine

Landmarks is produced by the Office of AgriculturalCommunications.

Bob Ratliff Editor

Robyn Hearn Assistant Editor

Annette Woods Graphic Designer

Linda BreazealeBonnie Coblentz Writers

Keryn Page

Jim LytleMarco Nicovich Photo Editors

Tom Thompson

For a subscription to Landmarks, address change or letter tothe editor, write to

LANDMARKS

Office of Agricultural CommunicationsP.O. Box 9625

Mississippi State, MS 39762-9625

Mississippi State University does not discriminate on the basis of

race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation or group

affiliation, age, disability, or veteran status.

Available on the World Wide Web

www.dafvm.msstate.edu/landmarks

2005

4

Katrina’s Aftermath

MSU Mission Adapts to Storm Response

Katrina’s Aftermath

MSU Mission Adapts to Storm ResponseBy Bob Ratliff

Bob Ratliff

5

2005

As a land-grant university, MississippiState has Extension Service and other facil-ities in all of Mississippi’s 82 counties,including those hard-hit by HurricaneKatrina on Aug. 29.

“ T h e re are more than 160 MSUemployees in the areas of the state thatb o re the full force of the storm. All areaccounted for and safe, although about 30lost their homes or have homes that weretoo heavily damaged to return to,” saidMSU President Charles Lee. “Despite theirpersonal losses, MSU employees in thestorm-ravaged areas joined in relief eff o r t sas soon as the storm passed.”

County Extension personnel wereespecially valuable in the aftermath of thestorm because of their knowledge of thesmall towns and rural areas in their coun-ties. County agents and Extension live-stock specialists joined with personnelf rom the College of Veterinary Medicineand the Mississippi A g r i c u l t u re andF o restry Experiment Station to pro v i d efeed, medical supplies and other supportto livestock and poultry producers untilnormal supply services re s u m e d .

“Jones County was one of the hard-est hit inland counties,” said countyExtension Director Charles Grantham inL a u rel. “Our poultry, beef and dairy pro-ducers took a hard hit, and it will take avery long time for some to get their farms

back in suitable working condition.” T h e re was an immediate need fol-

lowing the hurricane to clear downedt rees and to make temporary repairs atMSU facilities in the affected are a s .MAFES and College of Forest Resourc e sc rews from the Starkville campus met thatneed.

“MAFES and CFR crews arrived onthe Coast within 48 hours after the stormwith everything needed to make therepairs needed to get facilities back up andrunning once power was re s t o red,” saidMAFES Associate Director Reuben Moore .“They brought equipment from chain-saws to bulldozers, as well as food, fueland generators.”

The Coastal Research andExtension Center in Biloxi is the head-quarters for MSU’s re s e a rch andExtension activities in the state’s southerntier of counties. The center’s building,which was completed in the summer of2004, received some roof damage butreopened for business as soon as powerwas re s t o red.

“Power to the building wasre s t o red Sept. 7, and we were able toresume regular office hours,” said PatriciaKnight, head of the Coastal Center. “TheMAFES and FWRC crews, along withemployees of the Coastal R and E Center,did a great job of getting our re s e a rch facil-

ities at Poplarville, McNeill and WhiteSand back in business. Also, the Bulldogsin Response volunteers from campus did alot of good out in the community. ”

The university’s technology expert-ise also played a role in the days followingthe storm. Personnel from theG e o R e s o u rces Institute and the Forest andWildlife Research Center assisted theMississippi Emergency ManagementAgency with mapping and with the use ofGlobal Positioning equipment durings e a rch and recovery operations.

“The first task assigned to the MSUg e o re s o u rces personnel was working withthe Coast Guard in search and re s c u e , ”said GeoResources Institute Dire c t o rDavid Shaw. “Using geocoding tech-niques in Geographical InformationSystems our staff members were able tod i rect helicopter pilots to specific latitudeand longitude locations to rescue strandedsurvivors. This was done at a time whenlife and death was measured in minutes.”

The university’s geore s o u rces per-sonnel also produced hundreds of maps inthe days following the hurricane as part ofthe recovery effort.

MSU employees in the areas of thestate affected by Katrina are continuing toassist with recovery projects, as well asconducting their regular re s e a rch and out-reach activities.

Jim LytleBob Ratliff Crystal Allgood

2005

6

By Phil Hearn

Mississippi State scientists used their aerial imagery andmapping skills to help rescue hundreds of stranded sur-vivors of Hurricane Katrina and are continuing to pro v i d evaluable assistance in the ongoing disaster recovery eff o r t .

Thirteen faculty, re s e a rchers and graduate studentsf rom the university’s GeoResources Institute (GRI) appliedtheir expertise in geographic information and global posi-tioning systems to help U.S. Coast Guard helicopter pilotsfind and pluck nearly 300 storm victims from danger at scat-t e red locations along the devastated Mississippi Gulf Coast.

“ T h e re was an immediate need for geocoding—taking street addresses and turning them into map coord i-nates,” said GRI Director David Shaw. “Basically, there wereno streets left, so the Coast Guard used GPS units to guide

their choppers to people trapped in the floodwaters.”Even before Katrina, the campus-based institute was a “world leader in

spatial technologies and re s o u rce management,” observed MSU Research Vi c eP resident Colin Scanes.

Rich Minnis, a GRI team leader and spatial technologies expert at MSU’sF o rest and Wildlife Research Center, said at least “289 folks up and down theMississippi Coast” were rescued as a direct result of the geocoding effort. Inthe days after the hurricane hit Aug. 29, the MSU volunteers worked 12-hourshifts around the clock at the Emergency Operations Center in Jackson, hea d d e d .

Minnis said GIS experts from the Park Ridge, Ill.-based Urban andRegional Information Systems Association’s GISCorps, Mississippi A u t o m a t e dR e s o u rce Information System, and sister institutions University of Mississippiand Delta State University also participated in the MSU-led mapping eff o r t .

“This was all done in real time where life and death were measured inminutes,” said another member of the MSU team, GRI re s e a rch associate LouisWasson. “One call came in that a man was hemorrhaging at a specific stre e ta d d ress. The address was geocoded, the man was picked up and taken to a hos-pital, and his life was saved.

“Another call came in from a 74-year-old woman who had walked to apower station on the coast,” added Wasson. “The power station had beenmapped and the chopper pilot, using that map, navigated to the station to pickup the woman.”

The MSU team’s Jackson operations continue to be housed in a mobileeducation unit owned by the State Institutions of Higher Learning and locatedat the EOC’s headquarters on Riverside Drive. The bus-like unit’s 10-15 com-puter workstations gather remote sensing imagery from sophisticated aerialand satellite systems and turn that into advanced maps.

“Maps are worth more than gold on the coast,” said Wasson. “You needa picture of what’s going on, and maps provide that visual perspective at amoment in time. The military needs detailed street maps for their missions, themedia need maps, and maps have been stapled to poles to inform people whereto go for aid and re l i e f . ”

“WE HAVE SHOWN DAMAGE

ASSESSMENT TEAMS THAT BY

USING THE IMAGERY AND PARCEL DATA,

THEY CAN DETERMINE WHICH HOUSES

ARE CONCRETE SLABS. THAT CAN SAVE A

LOT OF MAN-HOURS IN THE FIELD.”

W A D E G I V E N S

Te ch n o l o gy Helped Sav e

Lives onH u r r i c a n e -

Battered Coast

7

2005

The GRI team produced 186 maps on their first day ofoperation immediately after the Aug. 29 storm came ashore .That number was upped to a total to 300 by the following day.

As soon as travel to the coast was possible, team membersmoved to EOC field sites in Jackson, Harrison and Hancockcounties, as well as the neighboring counties immediately to thenorth, to provide front-line help.

Working on self-contained laptop computers hooked tol a rge-format printers, Minnis said the field teams now “easilya re turning out 1,000 maps a day. ”

“ We are helping with disaster response and disaster re l i e fplanning by providing detailed road maps, locating power linesthat have been downed by limbs, assessing damage to houses,etc.,” added a sleepy Minnis during a rest from a 22-hour shift.

The assistant re s e a rch professor of wildlife and fisheriessaid maps are being utilized by a wide variety of disasterresponse entities that include the Coast Guard and fire and re s-cue departments from as far away as New York and California,as well as the U.S. Marines, Navy Seabees and Army NationalG u a rd .

“ We will be compiling map books for the three coastalcounties for use in assessing housing damage,” said Wa d eGivens, another team leader and GRI re s e a rch associate. “Whereavailable, these books will include imagery of streets, building

footprints and parcels of land labeled with owner names“ We have shown damage assessment teams that by using

the imagery and parcel data, they can determine which housesa re concrete slabs,” Givens added. “That can save a lot of man-hours in the field.”

Other members of the MSU team include GRI re s e a rc hassociates Rita Jackson, Joby Prince, Ryan Wersal and JoshCheshier; geosciences department graduate students JohnG i l reath, Chitra Prabhu and Ravi Sadasivuni; wildlife and fish-eries professor Wes Burger; wildlife and fisheries postdoctoralassociate Mark Smith; and Charlie Hill, an undergraduate stu-dent in the department of electrical and computer engineering.

The GRI brings together faculty from 22 departmentswithin six colleges/units at MSU. An affiliate of the university’sERC (formerly known as the Engineering Research Center), theinstitute collaborates with many community colleges and focus-es on agriculture, water re s o u rces, state and local government,and economic development.

“This was a fantastic cooperative effort from across theu n i v e r s i t y,” said Shaw. “Faculty, staff and students fro mwildlife and fisheries, plant and soil sciences, geosciences, andthe U.S. Department of A g r i c u l t u re and the A g r i c u l t u reR e s e a rch Service all provided support.”

Pace Seed Laboratory was one of about 12 buildings damaged whena tornado touched down on the Mississippi State University campusSept. 25.

The building, which lost about half of its roof, houses the LifeSciences and Biotechnology Institute and the university’s mini-gin.The section of the roof above the gin was completely blown away bythe tornado.

The gin is one of only three of its type in the nation and is usedto process cotton from university re s e a rch plots and to teach studentsin the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering’s ginmanagement pro g r a m .

“No damage was done to the gin machinery,” said EugeneColumbus, MSU agricultural engineer and coordinator for alternativec rops and biomass re s e a rch. “We were in the process of making somemodifications to the gin, including installation of a second lint clean-e r. We will resume ginning once these modifications are complete andthe roof is re p a i re d . ”

The roof repairs, he added, may not be complete in time top rocess cotton from 2005 re s e a rc h .

“If this is the case, we will make other arrangements to pro c e s sthe cotton,” Columbus said. “The gin also will continue to be used toteach gin management students.”

MSU Gin Undamaged, Despite Loss of Roof

2005

8

After extensive scientific re s e a rch, at least one food scientist hasreached a definite conclusion about freshwater prawns.

“They are just good,” said Patti Coggins, director of theGarrison Sensory Evaluation Laboratory at Mississippi StateU n i v e r s i t y.

Coggins is one of a group of MSU scientists studying thefeasibility of growing prawns in Mississippi, and she has dataf rom formal sensory evaluation studies, including taste tests, toback up her personal opinion.

“The prawns do not have the iodine content of marineshrimp and are low in fat,” she said. “Their taste is sweet, com-parable to lobster, and has consistently scored high in sensorye v a l u a t i o n s . ”

The university re s e a rch confirms what Dolores Fratesi hasknown for more than 10 years.

“Prawns are a delicious and very healthy product,” shesaid. “We feel we have a premium pro d u c t . ”

D o l o res and her husband Steve began growing prawns in1995 as a way to diversify catfish production on their Laure nFarms operation near the Delta town of Leland. She quickly

became the head cheerleader for the tasty crustaceans, and herenthusiasm has not waned. In fact, she is the current president ofthe United States Freshwater Prawn and Shrimp Gro w e r sA s s o c i a t i o n .

“ Ten years from now, I’m sure consumers will walk intotheir grocery store with freshwater prawns on their shoppinglists,” she said.

D o l o res travels the South and beyond promoting herD e l t a - g rown delicacy through media interviews, seminars and atevents such as arts and crafts fairs. She also is featured pre p a r i n ga prawn recipe once a month on a cooking program on WA B G -TV in Gre e n v i l l e .

The Fratesis have about nine acres in production of GiantMalaysian Prawns and harvest an average of 800 to 900 poundsper acre. The prawns are classed either jumbo or large, and ittakes only 14 to 22 jumbo prawn tails to produce a pound of meat.

The Fratesis also operate a hatchery, selling stock to otherp roducers, which now total about two dozen in Mississippi. Theyhave cooperated with Mississippi State’s freshwater shrimpre s e a rch since entering the business.

Fre shwa ter Pra wns: Fre shwa ter Pra wn s :

By Bob Ratliff

M i s s i s s i p p i ’ s N e w A q u a c u l t u r e C r o p

“ P r awn productioncan be a good way

for catfish producersto diversify their

o p e r a t i o n s.”

T E R R Y H A N S O N

Photos by Bob Ratliff

9

2005

Dolores Fratesi, top, and her husband Steve are growing, packaging andmarketing freshwater prawns at their farm near Leland.

One of the first MSU re s e a rchers they worked with was Department ofWildlife and Fisheries professor Louis D’Abramo, a pioneer in Mississippi fre s h-water prawn production throughout the last two decades.

“ We began looking at freshwater prawn production in 1985, but it tookalmost five years to develop a successful production system for Mississippi,”D’Abramo said. “The Fratesis put a lot of time and effort into studying the pro d u c-tion system and following the recommendations that came out of our re s e a rch. A sa result, they were among the first successful freshwater prawn producers in thes t a t e . ”

Success, however, came slowly, with low production the first two seasons.Once production began climbing, the Fratesis faced another pro b l e m — m a r k e t i n g .

“ We began with pond-bank sales to the public, but weather can certainly bea factor on sale days, so we began looking for other options,” Dolores said.

Their next approach was to go directly to grocery store s .

“ We’ve established a relationship with several stores in Mississippi,”D o l o res said. “Locally produced items do well in independent stores, and intere s tis incre a s i n g . ”

A U S D A Rural Development Value-Added matching grant is helping MSUdevelop marketing information and support for prawn producers. The re s e a rc hand product development at the sensory evaluation laboratory is part of that work.Another part of the re s e a rch is work with packaging and freezing techniques byfood scientist Juan Silva. He has developed methods of quick-freezing prawnsimmediately after harvest to insure fre s h n e s s .

The USDA grant and support from the Mississippi Agricultural and Fore s t r yExperiment Station also has enabled MSU agricultural economists to conduct con-sumer acceptance and cost-of-production surveys.

“ We’ve surveyed prawn producers in several states about their pro d u c t i o ncosts,” said Terry Hanson, one of the economists doing prawn-marketing re s e a rc h .“The results are being published and will help producers see ways to cut their costsand give potential producers an indication of whether they can make money gro w-ing prawns.”

Hanson, along with fellow agricultural economist Darren Hudson and grad-uate student Karina Gallardo, also conducted a mail-out survey and in-store con-sumer surveys at supermarkets in Starkville and Germantown, Te n n .

The surveys showed that more than 80 percent of first-time freshwater prawnconsumers would try the product again.

“One of the things we found was that shoppers view prawns as an accept-able substitute for shrimp when the price is about the same and they are packagedfor sale with the heads off,” Hanson said. “There are individuals who want prawnswith the heads on for a gourmet presentation, but most consumers prefer not tohave to remove the heads.”

The agricultural economist added that prawn production and marketingstudies all point to the need for individuals like the Fratesis to act as middlemen.

“Prawn production can be a good way for catfish producers to diversify theiroperations,” he said. “But since most will not be producing large quantities, there ’ sa need for middlemen to buy from several sources and handle the marketing tosupermarket chains and restaurants. People with Dolores’ enthusiasm can fill thatrole and help introduce consumers to another top-quality farm-raised aquaculturep roduct.”

2005

British poet William Blake wrote of seeing the world in a grain ofsand, and one Mississippi State University re s e a rcher is seeingDelta towns in kernels of rice.

When Dwight Kanter, a rice breeder at MSU’s DeltaR e s e a rch and Extension Center, chose the name of his newest ricev a r i e t y, he looked no further than the small Delta town where thevariety impressed him the most.

“One of our test locations is near Pace, Miss.,” heexplained. “The variety has consistently performed well at thePace location despite the presence of sheath blight. It has stoodout under those conditions.”

K a n t e r, a rice breeder with the Mississippi A g r i c u l t u r a land Forestry Experiment Station, has named other rice varieties,including Priscilla and Litton, both after Delta towns.

“ A lot of small towns are fading away or disappearing,”Kanter said. “I think it would be good if we could some way keepalive the names of these small towns of the Delta. In times pastthey were very important.”

Kanter has developed Pace to be a rice variety thata d d resses the specific needs of Delta producers. It is unique inthat it possesses some field tolerance to sheath blight, a dre a d e ddisease that can be devastating to the current most popular ricevarieties, Cocodrie and Cheneire .

“Pace is a long-grain, high-yielding, semi-dwarf varietywith good straw strength and field tolerance to sheath blight andblast diseases,” he said. “In fields that tend to be problematic interms of sheath blight, I think it will have an advantage overCocodrie and Cheneire . ”

These are the characteristics one particular ricef a r m e r, Travis Satterfield of Benoit, said he and others wantin a rice variety.

“Most all farmers are looking for a high yield and some-thing that stands up well,” Satterfield said.

The rice farmer also cited a strong disease package andgood milling characteristics as being important.

Pace has a whole grain milling yield average of between 53and 60 percent, depending on conditions during the grain ripen-ing process as well as harvest timing factors. Its cooking and pro-cessing qualities are characteristic of U.S. Southern long-grainrice, and its whole grain kernel length averages 7.5 millimeters,the rice breeder said.

“Some segments of the European market have expressed ap re f e rence for milled rice with a minimum length of 7.2 millime-ters,” Kanter said. “Consequently, the Pace variety should be ap roduct of interest for that market also.”

Randy Vaughan, manager of MAFES Foundation SeedStocks, said seed dealers and farmers will be able to purc h a s ePace in the spring as foundation seed.

“The first field multiplication from breeder seed has justbeen completed,” Vaughan said. “The seed is currently in bulkstorage awaiting conditioning.”

The foundation seed was harvested from a 10-acre field inAttala County and after conditioning will be treated, bagged,tested, and sold to interested re g i s t e red seed pro d u c e r s ,Vaughan said.

A l re a d y, there is strong interest in the variety’s capabilities.

10

RIC E VAR IETYRIC E VAR IETYKeeps Delta History AliveBy Robert H. Wells

11

2005

“This past summer there were inquiries by phone andpersonal visit concerning the plant characteristics and overallp ro g ress of Pace,” Vaughan said.

The MAFES Foundation Seed Stocks program overseesthe multiplication of breeder seed, such as Pace, to commerc i a lquantities while maintaining high genetic integrity and physio-logical seed quality.

Foundation seed is the first generation of seed multipliedf rom breeder seed and is the first of three classes of commerc i a lseed produced as part of the Certified Seed Program, which alsoincludes re g i s t e red and then certified seed.

B e f o re arriving at Foundation Seed Stocks, Pace was vig-o rously tested in a series of pre l i m i n a r y, advanced stage andthen on-farm trials around the Delta to make sure it performedwell under the area’s rice production conditions.

The combined trials equaled at least five years of testingdata for the variety before Kanter finally began head-row seedp roduction.

During head-row production, the breeder isolated plantsf rom the variety and screened them for any unwanted charac-teristics. The seeds of the remaining plants were collected andre p resent the purest form of the variety. These seeds were thengiven to Vaughan to be planted as foundation seeds.

Kanter said he tends to develop an attachment to varietiesafter years of working with them.

“ You work with the variety so long you develop a mentalimage of what the plant looks like,” said Kanter, who first beganwork with Pace in 1988.

The rice bre e d e r’s vision, however, will not cease uponthe arrival of Pace this spring.

“ We are working with hundreds of breeding lines in var-ious stages of development,” Kanter said. “We are always striv-ing to have the next variety following a year or two behind themost re c e n t . ”

Other re s e a rch into rice production is occurring at theDelta station alongside Kanter’ s .

A g ronomist Tim Walker has defined nitrogen re c o m m e n-dations for newly released varieties and hybrids across diff e re n tsoil types. He also is working on refining soil test methods fordetermining phosphorous needs in rice, evaluating pre c i s i o nagricultural tools for use in rice production, and investigatingseeding rates for rice.

Entomologist Jim Robbins is re s e a rching new chemistriesand timing for control of rice stinkbugs, the rice water weeviland the colaspis beetle, as well as investigating the interaction ofinsecticides with fertilization and seeding rates.

Plant pathologist Gabe Sciumbato is screening for re s i s t-ance and tolerance to blast and sheath blight. He also is testingnew fungicides for control of rice diseases.

Extension rice specialist Nathan Buehring is preparing forthe second year of the R.I.T.E. program, or rice impro v e m e n tt h rough technology and education, which helps rice farmersmake the best management and economic decisions for success-ful pro d u c t i o n .

M o re information on this re s e a rch is available at the We bsite www. m s s t a t e . e d u / d e p t / d re c / .

Photos by Bob Ratliff

2005

12

Signs of the times are appearing along Mississippi highways. Billboard sp roclaiming the availability of “soy biodiesel” have appeared in theJackson area and other locations in the state.

While biodiesel still is not a household word, it is more widelyrecognized than it was just a year ago, when the fuel was available at justa handful of Mississippi outlets to commercial customers.

Biodiesel is a blend of petroleum diesel and vegetable oil.Soybean oil is the vegetable oil most commonly used in biodiesel, andthe increased availability of soy biodiesel is good news for Mississippisoybean pro d u c e r s

“If every trucker switched to a B2 soy biodiesel blend, it wouldi n c rease use of soybean by 474 million bushels a year,” said JerrySlocum, a soybean producer and member of the Mississippi SoybeanP romotion Board. “Use of the same blend in all diesel-powered farmequipment would consume an additional 51 million bushels.”

Soy biodiesel blends are re f e r red to by the letter B followed by anumber that re p resents the percentage of soy biodiesel used. For exam-ple, a B2 blend contains 2 percent soy biodiesel.

N ew Fuel Available at Mississippi Pumps

“ T h e re have been a lot of questions

to answer for customers about

biodiesel, and it does take some

extra handling because it has to

be blended. I’m running it in my

t ruck, and I’ve noticed the engine

runs quieter with the biodiesel.”

K I R K D I C K E R S O N

By Bob Ratliff

Photos by Jim Ly t l e

13

2005

“ P roducer support for re s e a rch and development of soy biodiesel began in 1992,”said Slocum “That support will pay off for producers in increased demand for their pro d-uct and for the nation in decreased demand for foreign oil.”

Tax incentives for processors in the 2005 federal energy bill have helped makebiodiesel more competitive with pure petroleum diesel. Another reason for incre a s e di n t e rest in biodiesel is an Environmental Protection Agency mandate calling for theremoval of sulfur from petroleum diesel beginning in 2007.

“The removal of sulfur is going to be great for the environment in terms of elimi-nating pollutants, but it will cause problems for diesel engines because sulfur helps lubri-cate the fuel pump and the engine itself,” said Mississippi State University agriculturalengineer Herb Wilcutt. “Something will have to be added to diesel to re s t o re the lubrica-tion lost by removing the sulfur. ”

Soy biodiesel has the qualities needed to provide the necessary lubrication.“Adding just a 2 percent blend of soy biodiesel to the fuel will enhance lubrication

to above where it is with conventional petroleum diesel today,” Wilcutt said.When biodiesel first came on the scene about 10 years ago, there was reluctance to

accept it by the group who might benefit the most from its widespread use—farmers.Their concern was that using anything other than petroleum diesel might harm enginesor void manufacturers warranties.

“Several years ago, we approved the use of a B5, or up to a 5 percent concentrationlevel of a bio-component in our diesel fuel,” said John Deere Corp. spokesman BarryNelson. “You can do that in our John Deere Power Tec engines with no effect on warranty. ”

D e e re recently carried its endorsement of biodiesel a step further.“Now we also have approved a factory fuel-fill of B2 or 2 percent biodiesel fuel,”

Nelson said. “Every tractor, every combine that leaves the factory now has this biodieselfuel in it.”

For about two years, Mississippi farmers and other commercial customers havebeen able to buy soy biodiesel from a few suppliers in the state, but it was not available atretail pumps until January 2005, when Earth Biofuels Inc. opened a service station sellingB20 biodiesel in Byram, a Jackson suburb.

“The average person probably isn’t that familiar with biodiesel,” said BillC a r p e n t e r, chief financial officer for Earth Biofuels. “We opened this facility as a vehicle toi n t roduce the product to the general public.”

Biodiesel prices, Carpenter added, have been running a penny or two below petro-leum diesel prices re c e n t l y, and his company, which operates a manufacturing facility inMeridian, has not been able to keep up with demand.

“ We ’ re upgrading the facility in Meridian and plan to open a second one inOklahoma,” he said.

Other suppliers also began providing biodiesel to retail outlets during the past year,including Dickerson Petroleum in Kosciusko, which is supplying stations in Kosciusko,the Jackson area and Meridian.

“ T h e re have been a lot of questions to answer for customers about biodiesel, and itdoes take some extra handling because it has to be blended,” said owner Kirk Dickerson.“I’m running it in my truck, and I’ve noticed the engine runs quieter with the biodiesel.”

Biodiesel capacity has been on a steady increase. The United Soybean Board esti-mates the 2005 production of the nation’s 35 soy biodiesel plants at 50 million gallons ofp u re soy diesel, and the total is expected to double as more plants come online in 2006.

“ With production capacity on the increase, we hope to see it become more re a d i l yavailable to truckers and the general public,” said Morgan Beckham, chairman of theMississippi Soybean Promotion Board. “The ideal situation will be to have biodiesel at thepump in B2, B5 and B20 blends.”

Diesel customers are finding a new fuel option at locations in several Mississippi cities.

2005

14Mississippi golfers, especially those who play some of thestate’s smaller courses, may soon tee off on bermudagrassthat is the product of university re s e a rc h .

While not a new variety, MS-Express was just re c e n t l ylicensed to a local sod producer by Mississippi StateUniversity for commercial production and sales.

“ M S - E x p ress came out of the turfgrass re s e a rch pro-gram in MSU’s Department of Plant and Soil Sciences about10 years ago,” said Wayne Philley, an MSU re s e a rch associateand one of the developers of the grass variety. “It has char-acteristics that make it suitable for use on residential lawns,sports fields and golf courses.”

The variety has good pest and disease resistance anddoes well in high-traffic areas. It turns green and startsg rowth earlier in the spring than other bermudagrass culti-vars and does not slow down when temperatures reach 100d e g rees Fahrenheit. Demand for a bermudagrass with thoseattributes, especially by smaller golf courses, helped lead tothe commercialization of MS-Express by MSU.

“Its characteristics make MS-Express a good choicefor golf course tees and fairways,” Philleysaid. “It also can be used on the gre e n sof courses where the high mainte-nance cost of other varieties is aconcern.”

The variety does well whenkept mowed to a height of thre e -

sixteenths to one inch. Some courses use cultivars on theirg reens that will tolerate mowing to a height of just one-eighth inch, but Philley said that can be too costly for smallc o u r s e s .

“Maintaining grass at that height can be very expen-sive,” he said. “The ultra-dwarf varieties re q u i re additionalfungicide and cultivation treatments that some golf coursesjust can’t aff o rd . ”

M S - E x p ress is licensed to Diamond SFarms in Maben. Owner Wallace Sansing saidhe is optimistic the variety will be beneficialfor golf course managers and others looking forhigh quality and economical maintenance.

“ We ’ re excited about having a bermudagrass that isfine enough for use on golf greens and also hardy enough forh i g h - t r a ffic areas,” he said. “Supplies will be available inspring 2006.”

M S - E x p ress is one of four turf bermudagrasses fro mMSU re s e a rch to be patented and licensed. The first, MS-Choice, is currently marketed under the name Bull’s-Eye and

used on university and professional sports fields nation-wide.

Additional information on MississippiState University licensed products is avail-

able by contacting Charles Rivenburg h ,d i rector of the Office of IntellectualP roperty and Te c h n o l o g y, at (662) 325-3521.

MSU Licenses Grass Variety for Commercial SalesBy Bob Ratliff

15

2005

Unlocking secrets of the flower-ing process in trees is the goalof re s e a rch under way in theCollege of A g r i c u l t u re and LifeSciences and the College ofF o rest Resources.

Funded by a 2005 National Science Foundation grant, thep roject includes faculty from the departments of forestry andbiochemistry and molecular biology. Also involved are re s e a rc hcolleagues at Pennsylvania State and Vi rginia Tech universities,universities of Alabama and Florida, and at Umea University inS w e d e n .

“The initiation and formation of lower buds are criticalevents in life cycles of trees,” said coinvestigator Cetin Yu c e e r,an assistant professor at the Forest and Wildlife Researc hC e n t e r. “Without flowering, there would be no seed formationfor the propagation of subsequent generations.”

The $1.75 million NSF grant is specifically for work withthe flowering process in poplar trees, but the results of there s e a rch will have applications to other species, including thosethat are important sources of food for wildlife.

Timely and adequate seed yields are essential for wildlifenutrition, Yuceer explained, adding that the poplar tree wasselected for the project because it is the only tree with a pre v i-ously sequenced genome.

“The goal of our re s e a rch is to discover the major genesand their associated factors that regulate flowering in tre e s , ”said project investigator Dawn Luthe. “The information wegain from poplars can be applied to other tree species, such asoaks and pines.”

The professor of biochemistry and molecular biology saidthe re s e a rch will help scientists better understand why oak tre e sdo not produce bumper crops every year. Additional benefitswould include the manipulation of seed/fruit production, accel-eration of breeding programs and increased production ofwoody biomass, she added.

The three-year project also will include the org a n i z a t i o nof biotechnology workshops for Mississippi high school teach-ers and for minority high school and college students.

The MSU scientists on the project team are excited aboutthe dual-level benefits of the project—unearthing tree genomes e c rets to advance basic tree biology while exposing future sci-entists to cutting-edge re s e a rc h .

“On one hand, teachers will learn about recent technolo-gy developments in gene re s e a rch, so they can transfer thisexperience to their students,” Yuceer said of the outreach eff o r t .“On the other, minority high school and college students willlearn how to conduct re s e a rch at early stages in their careers.”

Scientists Entice Trees to Yi e l d

F lowering Sec r e tsBy Karen Brasher

The genes that regulate flowering in poplar trees are the target of National Science Foundation-funded research at MSU.

Photos by Paul Wray, Iowa State University, www.forestryimage.org

2005

16

F O C U STeaching, Research and Outreach in

the Division of Agriculture, Forestry

and Veterinary Medicine

Turf Research Field Day

Each year, hundreds of Mississippians attend avariety of Mississippi State University field days.Many are producers and others involved withthe state’s agricultural enterprises. Others arehomeowners looking for ideas and tips oni m p roving their gardening skills or the appear-ance of their home lawns. Still others are familieswith children seeking outdoor activities andlearning experiences.

About 75 golf course managers, lawn care professionals, sportsfield managers and Extension master gardeners gathered onMSU’s North Farm in June for the Turf Research Field Day.

The attendees took a walking tour of re s e a rch trials.R e s e a rch scientists were on hand to discuss their work, answer

questions and receive input from participants about theirre s e a rch needs. Current work with turf includes pest manage-ment trials, turf establishment, fertility, and traffic and wearstudies, among others.

2 0 0 5FIELD DAYS

Photos by Bob Ratliff

17

2005

F O C U S

Dairy producers from across the state converged on a ScottCounty farm in May to learn about waste and energy issues, aswell as animal health and milk quality topics.

The 2005 Statewide Dairy Field Day was held at QuintonMills Dairy north of Forest. Mills’ farm is the first commerc i a ldairy farm in the state to use tunnel ventilation to cool cows.Another innovation on the farm is a methane digester to turndairy waste into electricity for on-farm use.

The almost 100 dairy producers and others attending thefield day toured the farm’s facilities for changing waste anddairy byproducts into energy and the tunnel ventilation barn.Other topics on the agenda for the day included calf vaccinationp rograms, the benefits of national identification programs, par-lor management and a milk culture demonstration.

Statewide Dairy Field Day

2005

18

F O C U S

The July 20 Cotton Field Day began with fieldtours and pre s e n t a t i o n s .

A g ronomist Wayne Ebelhar discussed cot-ton/corn rotation re s e a rch, and entomologistA u b rey Harris highlighted recent developmentsin cotton insect control, including the use ofremote sensing technology.

Recently hired cotton breeder PeggyThaxton updated producers on the cotton bre e d-ing program during the field tour. She also wasi n t roduced during the second half of the pro-gram, which was held at the Capps Center.

Thaxton was formerly at Texas A & MUniversity in College Station, where she playeda major role in the development of several suc-cessful cotton varieties. At the DREC, she isfocusing her attention on the problems faced byDelta producers and on the development of vari-eties to compete in the global market.

“ Yield is always number one,” she said.“But due to the foreign markets that have comeup for cotton, we have to improve our fiber qual-ity traits as well.”

Other Cotton Field Day presentations atthe Capps Center included an evaluation of var-ious residuals with glyphosate by plant physiol-ogist Charles Snipes, insecticide efficacy forthrips by entomologist Jim Robbins, cottona g ronomy by agronomist Steve Nichols, and cot-ton nematode re s e a rch by plant pathologistGabe Sciumbato.

Cotton Field Day

D E LTA FIELD DAYS A new format and new personnel werei n t roduced at the Delta Research andExtension Center’s 2005 field days.

The traditional tour wagons were onhand for tours of field plots, but many ofthe re s e a rch reports were presented in thec e n t e r’s new Charles Capps Center. TheCapps Center was dedicated in October2004 and is named for the Cleveland nativewho has served in the Mississippi House ofR e p resentatives since 1972. The 18,000-s q u a re-foot facility contains auditoriumseating for 400 and a state-of-the-art dis-tance-learning center.

Bob Ratliff

Bob Ratliff

Bob Ratliff

19

2005

F O C U SRice and Soybean Field Day

Field tours were provided during the first half of the July 21 Riceand Soybean Field Day. DREC and USDA/ARS personnel wereon hand at stops along the tour to discuss their work.

Soybean growth and development, rust detection strate-gies and fungicide use were the topics discussed by weed scien-tist and Extension soybean specialist Dan Poston and graduateassistant Ben Spinks, who serves as the SMART project coord i n a-tor for MSU.

USDA/ARS re s e a rch geneticist Bob Paris updated pro d u c-ers on soybean variety development. Biologist Trey Koger andre s e a rch entomologist Jeff Gore, both with USDA/ARS, discussedsoybean production and entomology.

The rice section of the field tour included presentations byExtension rice specialist Nathan Buehring on rice production andweed control, rice variety development by agronomist DwightKanter and fertility and agronomic practices in rice by agro n o m i s tTim Wa l k e r.

At the Capps Center, plant pathologist Gabe Sciumbato dis-cussed soybean diseases, and re s e a rch associate Vijay Nandulagave a presentation on control of glyphosate-tolerant weeds.

Insecticide efficacy for rice and soybean insects was dis-cussed by entomologist Jim Robbins, and DREC scientistsLingxiao Zhang and Steve Kyei-Boahen discussed prediction ofsoybean growth and maturity date.

P resentations by USDA/ARS scientists included the eff e c t sof irrigation on soybean seed composition by plant physiologistNacer Bellaloui, soybean molecular re s e a rch by geneticist Jeff Rayand phomopsis seed decay and charcoal rot by plant pathologistAlemu Mengistu.

Bob Ratliff

Bob Ratliff

2005

20

F O C U S

The annual Research and Demonstration Tour at thePontotoc Ridge-Flatwoods Branch Experiment Station is achance for area producers to see re s e a rch dealing with theirmajor cro p s .

Corn, soybean, cotton and sweetpotato re s e a rch wasf e a t u red on the Aug. 4 tour.

MSU Extension Service grain specialist Erick Larsondiscussed corn production practices and gave an update onthe 2005 cro p .

Extension soybean specialist Alan Blaine provided ac rop update and answered questions about the recent dis-covery of soybean rust in the state.

Extension area agronomist Bill Burdine and re s e a rc hscientist Mark Shankle led area producers through thebranch’s sweetpotato plots and answered questions aboutp roduction practices.

One of the highlights of the Pontotoc tour was a dis-cussion of variety characteristics by seed company re p re-sentatives.

Pontotoc Research and Demonstration Tour

Photos by Bob Ratliff

21

2005

F O C U SFall Flower and Garden Fest

The 27th annual Fall Flower and Garden Fest was held Oct. 14and 15 at the Truck Crops Experiment Station in Crystal Springs.

The event has become one of the South’s top horticultur-al activities and draws hundreds of visitors from thro u g h o u tMississippi and surrounding states.

Visitors to the 2005 edition saw some new award - w i n-ning plants, including Black Pearl, an ornamental pepper that isan All-American Selections winner for 2006.

A new flower added to the station’s thre e - a c re garden for2005 was the Knock Rose, which horticulturists say has becomethe standard with which all other hardy roses are compare d .

F O C U SFall Flower and Garden Fest

Photos by Jim Lytle

2005

22

F O C U SNorth Mississippi Garden Expo

T h e re was something for everyone from beginning gardeners to oldp ros at the 2005 North Mississippi Garden Expo at the NorthMississippi Research and Extension Center in Ve ro n a .

Visitors toured the Magnolia Botanical Gardens and othera reas at the center devoted to fruits, vegetables, turf grass and orna-mental plants.

MSU horticulturists, entomologists, landscape specialistsand others gave presentations throughout the day on topics rang-ing from butterfly gardening to low-maintenance landscapes.

Photos by Bob Ratliff

23

2005

F O C U SScarecrows Welcome Visitors to Verona

Darth Rebel and Bully-Wan-Kanobi greeted visitors to the NorthMississippi Research and Extension Center in Ve rona re c e n t l y.

The Star Wa r s - i n s p i red creations were among the 60 re s i-dents of the 2005 Scare c row Trail, which took visitors thro u g hg a rdens filled with flowers and landscape plants.

The trail opened to the public Sept. 17 and remained opent h rough Oct. 25.

The North Mississippi Extension Horticulture CenterMaster Gardeners and the Tupelo Visitors and ConventionB u reau sponsor the Scare c row Trail. It originated in 2003 and hasbecome one of the most popular parts of the North MississippiR e s e a rch and Extension Center’s Garden Expo.

“The trail is a way to introduce youth to the 4-H JuniorMaster Gardener program and to show them ways gard e n i n gcan be fun,” said Alice Nunnelley, project chair of the NorthMississippi Master Gardeners. “The scare c rows are the cre-ations of school groups, businesses, local organizations andi n d i v i d u a l s . ”

For more information on the 4-H Junior Master Gard e n e rp rogram, visit msucare s . c o m / y o u t h / j u n i o r.html or contact acounty Extension agent.

2005

24

MAFES SALES STORE HAS NEW LO C ATION AND LO O K

While the location and look of the MAFES Sales Store are new, it’sstocked with the same great products MSU’s alumni and friendshave enjoyed for years.

Shoppers can now find MSU’s famous Edam cheese and otherMississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station products atthe front of the Herzer Food Science Building on Stone Boulevarda c ross from Dorman Hall and the university gre e n h o u s e s .

Debbie Huffman, manager of the MAFES Sales Store, said thenew location is much more visible and convenient to customers thanthe previous one behind the building.

“The new location is easier for customers to find,” Huff m a nsaid. “When the architects began to study the blueprints to plan forthe new store, they discovered that the space originally had beendesigned for this purpose.”

MSU maroon is a definite part of the new location’s décor. Itsl a rge easy chairs and other furnishings provide a look reminiscent ofthe era when MSU’s dairy science department started making itspopular Edam cheese—the 1940s.

The store is open to the public weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.P roducts include 3-pound Edam Balls, 2-pound cheddar blocks, 2-pound Va l l a g ret wheels, crocks of cheddar and jalapeño spre a d ,milk, chocolate milk, butter and 15 flavors of ice cream. Also avail-able are various cuts of beef and pork, muscadine juice and jelly,blueberry preserves and honey.

“ We also have two new gift boxes available for the first timethis fall,” Huffman said. “The Maroon Box has a pound and a half ofEdam, a pound of cheddar, 6 ounces of cheddar spread and a poundof Va l l a g ret. The White Box is the same except that is does not havethe Va l l a g ret. Both come in an attractive box with a collage of pic-t u res from around campus.”

Shoppers can shop and purchase many items online withmajor credit cards, then pick the items up at the store or have themshipped. Cheeses are shipped only from November to January.

For more information on products, pricing or shipmentdetails, contact the MAFES Sales Store at (662) 325-2338 or visitonline at www.msucheese.com.

Photos by Jim Lytle

25

2005

Mississippi State’s student chapter of the Society of A m e r i c a nF o resters (SAF) continues to be among the top organizations ofits kind in the nation.

The 39-member university organization placed first inthe 2005 SAF Student Chapter Web site competition and nowis ranked second overall in the outstanding student chapterrankings.

The group has finished atop the overall chapter rankingsfor the past seven years, capturing first place in 1996-97, 2000-01and 2003-04; second place in 1998-99 and 2001-02; and thirdplace in 2002-03.

The 2005 win marked the third year that the MSU chapterhas won first place in the Web site competition. Designed andmaintained by student members, w w w. c f r. m s s t a t e . e d u / s t u d e n-t o rg s / s a f / i n d e x . h t m was judged on design and content, amongother criteria.

The 2005-06 officers include President Angela Delaughterand Vice President J. Tedrick Ratcliff, both of Bro o k h a v e n ;S e c retary Katie L. Nelson of Fayette, Ala.; and Tre a s u rer Stacy R.S t roud of Hollandale. Associate professor of forestry Donald L.G rebner is chapter adviser.

Founded in 1900, SAF is the world’s largest pro f e s s i o n a lo rganization for foresters. Its 18,000 active members are engagedin a variety of programs to improve the health, productivity anduse of the nation’s forestlands.

The 2005 awards presentation was made Oct. 21 as part ofthe organization’s national convention in Fort Worth, Te x a s .G rebner also was recognized during the ceremony for his con-tributions to the student organization.

MSU Student Forestry Group Again Tops Among Peers

MSU Student Forestry Group Again Tops Among Peers

Work on a Habitat for Humanity home was one of the 2005 activities of the MSU chapter of the Society of American Foresters.Don Grebner

2005

26

Electromagnetic fields may hold the key to reducingthe side effects of traditional cancer treatments.

“In addition to the life-threatening aspects,many people may fear cancer diagnoses because ofthe necessary levels of chemotherapy and radiationthat can make patients very sick and then drastical-ly reduce their quality of life,” said Cody Coyne, aresearcher at MSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

Coyne, an associate professor of pharmacolo-gy in CVM’s Department of Basic Sciences, uses aresonance generator to study the influence of low-intensity electromagnetic fields on breast cancer inhumans.

“The first goal is to find a method to reducetumor growth. Once we have success with that, weturn our efforts toward reducing levels ofchemotherapy and radiation therapy while main-taining an effective treatment,” Coyne said.“Success then would make it possible to reducemany of the typical side effects associated with con-ventional forms of cancer therapy.”

Most electromagnetic field studies by otherresearch groups have pursued the potential risks ofintense exposure as a cause of cancer, but not as aform of treatment. A specific request from a fundinggroup prompted MSU’s studies involving electro-magnetic fields and breast cancer.

“Initial tests revealed that certain frequencies,intensities and durations of exposure significantlyreduced the viability of breast cancer cells,” he said.“If this therapy damages cancer cells and not thenormal cells, this treatment would be less expensiveand easier for patients to tolerate with fewer sideeffects.”

Coyne said he has studied several diff e rent cancer cell typesover the years, but there is a rather aggressive national initiative toi n c rease the amount of re s e a rch addressing breast cancer.

“Many Mississippians have been touched by this cancer,directly or indirectly,” he said. “They have been active in fund-raising projects to support breast cancer research for years, andit is anticipated that research laboratories at MSU will begin toattract funding for breast cancer research.”

The initial research occurred as a result of a direct requestfrom Jacobson Resonance Enterprises. Since that time, MSU haspursued funding from the Susan B. Komen Foundation and has

been approved for funding by the Goldman Foundation andothers. MSU’s Life Sciences and Biotechnology Institute pro-vides current funding from the Robert Herrin Foundation forthe breast cancer study. Linda Pote, interim head of basic sci-ences at the veterinary college, commends this type of innova-tive research. She said it has potential as a stepping stone tofuture studies.

“ T h e re have been numerous studies recently on theeffects of electromagnetic fields at the cellular level,” Pote said.“This research will further our understanding of the effects ofthese fields and their potential use in medical treatments.”

C V MC V MScientists Study New Form of Cancer Tr e a t m e n tBy Linda Breazeale

27

2005

Photos by Tom Thompson

Wasana Siyambalapityage, above and left, and Erica Bell, opposite page, assist researchers in CVM’sDepartment of Basic Sciences in a search to find electromagnetic fields that can reduce the sideeffects of traditional cancer treatments.

2005

28

Each year, the College of Veterinary Medicine presents awards to individuals who havedemonstrated outstanding achievements in teaching, research and/or service on behalf of theuniversity and the college.

The 2005 recipients of Dean’s Pegasus Awards for Teaching are Dr. Douglas Hostetlerand Dr. Todd Pharr. Dr. Ron McLaughlin received the Dean’s Pegasus Award for Research andDr. Shuping Zhang received the Dean’s Pegasus Award for Service.

Dr. Lanny Pace received the 2005 Dean’s Pegasus Award for Contributions to theCollege, the University and the State. The 2005 President’s Pegasus Award went to MalcolmMabry for his contribution to and efforts on behalf of the CVM Lulu Oncology Unit.

Four CVM staff members, Kathy Jellots, Jerry Wolf, Tonya Graham and BeverlyColeman, received Distinguished Service Awards for their outstanding support of the college.

CVM Aw a r d s

A member of the Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine is among the first scholarsselected for an institute to study the nation’s food systems.

Melissa Mixon, DAFVM associate vice president, is among 21 scholars participating in the firstFood Systems Leadership Institute (FSLI), a partnership between the National Association of StateUniversities and Land-Grant Colleges and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

“Our nation’s food systems are critical to the high standard of living we enjoy in this country,”said Ken Swartzel, FSLI director. “Shaping the food systems of the future to be productive, sustainableand equitable will require strong leaders able to implement the vision, strategies and partnerships tomeet these goals. We are welcoming an excellent group of experienced leaders into the FSLI programwho will fill these critical leadership roles.”

Mixon attended the institute’s organizational session at the University of North Carolina in 2005. During the next twoyears, intensive residential sessions will be held at Ohio State University and the University of Vermont. During these sessionsthe group will develop their knowledge of and leadership skills in food systems.

“The members of the institute are decision makers at land-grant universities,” Mixon said. “The sessions will help usfocus on developing creative, collaborative response to the challenges and opportunities facing the nation’s food supply and dis-tribution systems.”

Douglas Hostetler Todd Pharr Ron McLaughlin Shuping Zhang

Kathy Jellots Jerry Wolf Tonya Graham Beverly Coleman

Lanny Pace

Melissa Mixon

Malcolm Mabry, right, was presented the 2005President’s Pegasus Award by CVM InterimDean Gregg Boring.

Mixon Named to Food System Institute

29

2005

The U.S. Bureau ofLabor predicts a short-age of 28,000 veterinari-ans by 2011. This short-age far exceeds theexisting abilities of thenation’s 28 colleges ofveterinary medicine tofill that need. The pub-lic’s image of the veteri-

nary profession as the “Gentle Doctor” serving “All Cre a t u re sG reat and Small” and “The Other Family Doctor” has beena l t e red by recent events. September 11, 2001, signaled a dramat-ic challenge for the public practice aspects of veterinary medi-cine. The events of 9/11 caused congressional leaders to becomeacutely aware of the significance of veterinary medicine in pre-venting, detecting and diagnosing animal diseases; in otherw o rds, protecting our national security.

U rgent issues that confront our present and future veteri-nary workforce include agro t e r roism, bioterroism, enviro n m e n-tal safety, wildlife diseases, the security and safety of the nation-al food supply in a global market, new or re e m e rging diseasepathogens, and population increases that exceed the demandsfor veterinary services in companion animals and certain speciesof production animals. The failure to diagnose foreign animaldiseases and zoonotic agents accurately and rapidly, whetherinduced intentionally or occurring naturally, could lead to theloss of human and animal lives in the United States, as well asc a t a s t rophic economic losses.

Colleges of veterinary medicine are the academic wing ofthe American Veterinary Medical Association and supply thenation with highly trained veterinary scientists. The colleges arealso the state, regional and national support base for privatepracticing veterinarians that serve as first responders in the sur-veillance of domestic and foreign animal diseases. Diagnosticlaboratories at colleges of veterinary medicine provide accurateand rapid detection and diagnostic services to all phases of theanimal industry, thus insuring the safety of animal protein foods o u rces and efficient, economical pro d u c t i o n .

The Mississippi State University College of Ve t e r i n a r yMedicine has four state veterinary diagnostic laboratories fullya c c redited by the American Association of Ve t e r i n a r yLaboratory Diagnosticians. Only 38 accredited laboratories existin North America. The Mississippi Veterinary Research and

Diagnostic Laboratory System (MVRDLS) is the only system inthe U.S. to have an accredited fish laboratory and one of the fewlaboratories to have an accredited poultry laboratory. TheM V R D L system processes more than 90,000 diagnostic testsannually from veterinary clinicians and the animal industries inthe state. This system also provides monitoring and surveil-lance, through contracts with the Mississippi Department ofHealth, for domestic, foreign and various other animal diseasesthat can infect humans.

The Animal Health Center (AHC) of the college serves asthe primary referral center to our approximately 650 state vet-erinarians who care for companion animals and livestock. Arecent study in another southern state revealed an average year-ly contribution to the state economy of more than $380,000 perpracticing veterinarian. Veterinary specialists in our animalhealth center provide surgical support, special diagnostic pro c e-d u res, internal medicine and cancer management to a variety ofanimals. Services of the center are available on a 24-hour emer-gency basis, along with continuing education courses and re a l -time consultation with species and discipline specialists.

Our re s e a rchers are working to develop vaccines andother management tools and strategies to reduce disease-re l a t e dp roduction losses. Poultry and farm-raised catfish are the pri-mary species being targeted. MSU-CVM received more than $4million in re s e a rch grants and contracts from federal and indus-trial sources in the past year, which is double the amount gener-ated four years ago. The Biomedical Research Center and Centerfor Environmental Health Sciences have received millions ofdollars in re s e a rch grants and contracts over the past few years.Our scientists’ re s e a rch has prevented the shutdown of a localcommunity’s poultry processing plant and prevented the use ofunwarranted vaccines. Exciting new discoveries and applica-tions in the emerging fields of proteomics and genomics area g g ressively being pursued by our faculty. Discoveries in thesea reas will eventually lead to the manipulation of diseases at thecellular and molecular level.

In summary, the MSU-CVM is poised to respond to thef u t u re needs of the veterinary profession. Adaptability of ouracademic program allows us to meet the broad demands of pub-lic practice by offering more opportunities in nonpractice care e r swithout neglecting the essential and historic commitment toa g r i c u l t u re and animals. The future of MSU-CVM is bright, andwe enthusiastically embrace the challenges necessary to meetthe needs of clients, society and the nation.

E D I T O R I A LImpact of the Veterinary Scientist –“Challenges and Changes”

By Greg Boring

Interim Dean, CVM

2005

F i g u res show that when the worstoccurs, Americans are at their best. Thetragic events of Hurricane Katrinas t i r red the goodwill and charitableimpulses of millions of Americans. Infact, the pace of charitable donations inthe wake of Katrina has far outstrippedthose of both the Sept. 11 terro r i s t

attacks and the Asian tsunami last December. The Mississippi State University family is doing its part in

the hurricane-affected areas by extending its outreach and serv-ice efforts. A “Bulldogs in Response” task force, chaired by MSUFirst Lady Pat Lee, continues to provide assistance with theclean-up and rebuilding efforts on our coast. To date, the univer-sity has disbursed more than $340,000 of the $560,000 collectedfor the Student Relief Fund. The funds have gone to appro x i-mately 700 students and will continue to assist displaced stu-dents well into the next academic semester. University units alsoa re continuing to offer their expertise to long-term needs.

Although Mississippi is all too often recognized as one ofthe nation’s poorest states, our state annually ranks at or near thetop in charitable giving. This may be ironic, but not surprising tothose of us who live here. Most Mississippians believe true com-mitment to our fellow human beings begins at home with ourown faith, values and pocketbooks.

The generosity of our alumni and friends, many of whoma re Mississippians, has also been evident in the university’songoing State of the Future campaign. As of Oct. 1, 2005, morethan $250 million in gifts and pledges had been received tos e c u re the educational future of our sons and daughters.

While the rebuilding process from the recent natural disas-ters will re q u i re considerable time, effort and re s o u rces, I am con-fident that the future of Mississippi has never looked brighter.

Jud H. SkeltonD i rector of Development

College of A g r i c u l t u re and Life Sciences

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T h e re are many stories of people helping people, people helpinganimals, and animals helping people in the aftermath of hurri-cane Katrina. The extent to which the storm affected animals isenormous, with thousands separated from their families. To d a y,many of these animals have been rescued and reunited withtheir owners or put in foster care. The goal is to reunite as manyas possible.

Since the storm, the CVM staff, students and faculty havebeen busy calling veterinarians to see if they have been aff e c t e d ,and if so, what their needs are. Gathering this information is cru-cial for the veterinary community, the Mississippi Ve t e r i n a r yMedical Association and other agencies. Many faculty and staffmembers are also part of the state veterinarian’s Animal ResponseTeam working with the national Veterinary Medical A s s i s t a n c eTeam to assess needs in areas hardest hit by Katrina.

An important effort initiated by the CVM has been the deliv-ery of pharmaceuticals, supplies and food to veterinarians andveterinary hospitals in affected areas. A courier route has beenestablished to deliver supplies and to assist veterinarians on theCoast in transporting their laboratory samples to CVM facilities inJackson and Hattiesburg. Also, trips to coastal areas to assist vet-erinarians are continuing.

Immediately following the storm, the Mississippi Board ofAnimal Health established a hotline to handle all calls related toanimal disaster relief. Students, staff and faculty of the CVMmanned the number on a volunteer basis. Thousands of callscame in from across the state concerning missing animals, live-

stock concerns, equine issues, fencing needs, food and supplies,veterinary services and other needs and concerns. Individuals,corporations, foundations and educational institutions also calledwishing to contribute financial donations and gifts of food andsupplies. Through the hotline, volunteers were able to identifyneeds and match those needs with incoming support.

“Our assistance programs have also extended to ourAnimal Health Center, where we have accepted ill and injure danimals and animals of pet owners who are without the ability top a y,’ said Lee Ty n e r, director of the Animal Health Center.“Prince is a pet treated at our intensive care unit who hasreceived national attention.”

Prince’s owner, a resident of New Orleans, found herselfawakened during the flooding by her dog. She evacuated andc redited her loving companion with saving her life.U n f o r t u n a t e l y, while staying at a no-pet shelter in Greenville, thedog ran away and was hit by a car.

“Prince was successfully treated and reunited with hiso w n e r,” Tyner said. “Other animals from the storm-damageda reas are still receiving care . ”

Although recovery efforts have been under way for weeks,the job is far from over and displaced animals still need careuntil they are reunited with their owners. The most urgent needis financial support to help meet the rising costs of these eff o r t s .For information on how you can help, contact Keith Gaskin,d i rector of development for the College of Veterinary Medicineat (662) 325-3815 or (662) 325-5170.

BREAKINGNEW GROUND

College of Veterinary Medicine

CVM Continues to Assist Veterinarians and Injured Animals

While it is impossible to accurately predict the long-terme ffects of Katrina on Mississippi’s timber industry, we doknow that the damage is widespread and severe. The hurri-cane cut a swath of destruction through an estimated 1.3 mil-lion acres of forestland in Mississippi. It is estimated that thecombined value of timber and tree damage is about $2.4 bil-lion. Commercial timber losses are estimated to be appro x i-mately 14.6 million cords of pulpwood and 3.2 billion boardfeet of saw timber. The projected value of Mississippi’s dam-aged timber is $1.3 billion, which is about the same as the re v-enue produced from one annual cut.

The College of Forest Resources is providing re s e a rc hand outreach assistance to forest landowners and others in thetimber industry.

The college has created a Web site devoted to hurricanef o restry salvage operations. The site, www. w s s g . c f r. m s s t a t e . e d u ,enables landowners to find loggers and provides loggers theopportunity to announce their capabilities and other informa-tion. Also, forest products companies can list their needs, includ-ing the sizes and types of wood they desire .

F o restry scientists are working closely with theMississippi Institute for Forest Inventory and the Mississippi

F o restry Commission to estimate the extent of timber dam-aged by the storm. This information is needed for salvageoperations and to evaluate impact of lost timber re s o u rces onrural economies.

F o rest products faculty are working with wood manu-f a c t u rers in an effort to use water- s t o red or wet-decked logs.When logs are water- s t o red, their properties change and pro-cessing changes must be made to retain the value of finishedp roducts.

Wildlife and fisheries scientists are working with theGulf Coast Joint Ve n t u re of the North American Wa t e r f o w lManagement Plan to help re s t o re the coastal marsh devastat-ed by the hurricane. MSU personnel also will play importantroles in restoring and protecting wildlife and fisheries habitatsand populations.

All of these things, coupled with ongoing projects toassist the coastal counties, demonstrate our commitment tomake Mississippi bigger and better than before. If you arei n t e rested in assisting us in our efforts, please contact JeffLittle, director of development, at (662) 325-8151.

A new scholarship at Mississippi State University specificallybenefits MSU students from two Delta counties.

O ff e red in the College of A g r i c u l t u re and Life Sciences,the Frank T. and Vi rginia Brumfield and Harris S. andM a rg a ret M. Swayze Endowed Scholarship will be award e dto qualified students from Sunflower and Yazoo counties.

The scholarship was established anonymously in Juneto honor the late couples for whom it is named, both of whomheaded longtime farming and cattle operations in theirrespective counties.

“The College of A g r i c u l t u re and Life Sciences is pleasedthat the legacies of these two families, who have contributedso much to Mississippi agriculture, are being commemoratedt h rough this scholarship,” said Jud Skelton, developmentd i rector for the college. “Through the scholarship, studentswithout the means to earn a college education will have helpin achieving that goal.”

Frank and Vi rginia Brumfield moved to Inverness in1927, where Mr. Brumfield subsequently established a suc-cessful farming operation. He began his farming career afterattending then-Mississippi A&M for three years. He re m a i n e dactive in the MSU Alumni Association throughout his life.

Committed to public service, Mr. Brumfield became ad i rector and supporter of organizations that included theFederal Land Bank, Delta Electric Power Association, StaplcotnCooperative and Duncan Gin. Recognizing his accomplish-ments, Pro g ressive Farmer magazine named Mr. Brumfield its“Man of the Year” in Mississippi agriculture in 1976.

Married in 1938, Harris and Marg a ret Swayze estab-lished the Swayze Home Place on property in Yazoo Countythat has been in the family since 1832. In addition to his farm-ing enterprises, Mr. Swayze was recognized throughout theSouth for his commercial and pure b red cattle herds.

He was president and owner of Midway Gin Company,p resident of the Mississippi Cattleman’s Association and theDelta Council, and director of the Bank of Yazoo County andStaplcotn Cooperative. Mr. Swayze was named Pro g re s s i v eF a r m e r’s “Man of the Year” in 1959.

The Frank T. and Vi rginia Brumfield and Harris S. andM a rg a ret M. Swayze Endowed Scholarship is an open fund inthe MSU Foundation which may be increased through addi-tional contributions.

For more information, telephone Jud Skelton at (662) 325-0643.

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2005

College of Forest Resources

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

MSU Focuses Forest Resources on Storm Recovery

New Endowment Honors Agriculture Stalwarts

2005

Nonprofit OrganizationU.S. Postage PAIDPermit No. 245Champaign, IL