The biggest misconception about the county extension office is that it only offers programs like 4-H or other rural-oriented activities.
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” said County Agent Brent Breland. “Not that 4-H, or livestock showing, is not crucial and important, especially in forming good character in our youth, but we provide a number of programs and services that, really, not many people are aware of us offering.”
That includes beef quality assurance training, home lawn management classes for homeowners, seasonal landscape consideration programs, private applicator pesticide training and financial literacy courses for high school students, “to name just a few,” Breland said.
Breland, whose official title is Pike County Ag and Natural Resources Extension I, runs the county’s operation out of the Magnolia office and said the general public only has a small inkling of what it can offer.
Breland came to Pike County’s office in 2022 after conducting horticultural research at the Mississippi State University Extension Service’s Crystal Springs experiment station.
“Don Smith is our county coordinator and I work under him,” he said. “Here in my office in Magnolia, Mississippi State has three on staff with me and Alcorn State has two. Our association with Alcorn State goes back to the very origins of our organization going back to 1862, which we still call a cooperative extension service, and that goes to the cooperation with MSU and other extension programs, such as in Alcorn, as well as cooperation with the federal and county government, the USDA and other entities.”
The Pike County office has been in existence, at least in our current building, since at least 1974, Breland said.
“I received a B.S. in biology from Mississippi College, minoring in biological research as well as a master’s degree in plant and soil science with an emphasis in horticulture from Mississippi State,” Breland said. “And I’m currently working to obtain my PhD in horticulture from MSU which I hope to complete in a couple of years.”
The motto of all of the extension services is “Extending Knowledge. Changing Lives.” Breland said that’s not hyperbole, either.
“I guarantee you that there is some resource for everybody living in Pike County and in the whole state at their local extension office,” Breland said. “We also want to teach community skills, such as our ‘Tummy Safe’ program, which is similar to our ‘Serve Safe’ program, both of which provides education and certification to anybody who works in a restaurant, food management program, or serves food in any capacity. We can certify them to serve food to the public.”
The Tummy Safe program is essentially the same as Serve Safe but it’s designed for child care facilities’ food handling and serving, Breland said.
Breland said the Pike County Extension Office has even entered into STEM and robotic activities and instruction.
“That’s mainly Don Smith’s bailiwick, but we do instruct kids about science, technology, engineering and math, which is STEM, as well as having a 4-H robotics club that teaches coding and programming skills,” Breland said. “We also offer basic car maintenance classes to our kids, so there’s a number of ways we instruct our youth that aren’t normally associated with what I think is the stereotypical image people have of an extension center.
“And, again, we’re also focused on promoting skills in our youth, like sportsmanship, leadership, teamwork, communication and character-building traits like those,” said Breland.
“I don’t think many people realize that we do this, that we actively work to instill positive qualities in our students in whatever field or event they get involved in,” said Breland.
The Master Gardeners Program just recently changed its name to the Scenic Rivers Master Gardeners, with the Pike, County and Amite County chapters merging. Breland is the coordinator of the newly formed group but said its longtime mission of teaching best gardening practices will remain the same.
“And that’s our most successful class, by far. In fact, this year we’ve seen our highest attendance in the Master Gardener classes. It’s also offered online, And we have several other exciting programs coming up locally before the end of the year,” Breland said. “In fact, coming up on Monday, I’ll be teaching a Container Gardening class at Southwest Mississippi Community College from 10 a.m. until noon. Plus, I have a great shiitake mushroom growing workshop coming up in October, which has drawn a lot of interest, and then several other courses before the end of the year. And most of all these are totally free. If any costs are involved, they’re minimal and for class materials only.”
Breland said he is always available to speak to any civic group or organization and welcomes the opportunity.
“I can tailor a talk to any organization’s needs or create new ones. All people have to do is call and ask,” he said. “I especially love to give talks about what extension is and what we do.
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For more information, call (601) 783-5321, visit the office at 1140 North Clark Ave. or online at extension.msstate.edu/msu-extension-pike-county.
