MSU Earns $3 Million NSF Award to Advance Smart Agriculture, Rural Energy Innovation

Apr 22, 2026

A team of Mississippi State faculty has been awarded a $3 million National Science Foundation Research Traineeship grant to build the workforce needed to support resilient rural energy infrastructure.

The grant establishes the cross-disciplinary initiative Smart Agriculture Energy Innovation Network, or SAGEIN.

“This investment has the potential to make a meaningful difference in rural communities by supporting systems that improve energy reliability, reduce operational costs and create new revenue opportunities for farmers and landowners, and, through hands-on research experience, it will prepare our students to be more than just job ready,” said principal investigator Tonya Stone, an associate professor in MSU’s Michael W. Hall School of Mechanical Engineering.

Joining Stone are co-principal investigators Carley Morrison, School of Human Sciences; Jay McCurdy, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences; and Gang Li and Jian Zhao, Hall School of Mechanical Engineering. Other core participants on the project include Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station scientists Leyla Rios de Alvarez, assistant professor, animal and dairy sciences; Jesse Morrison, associate research professor, plant and soil sciences; Xiaofei Li, associate professor, agricultural economics; IDEELab Director Dalton “Ross” Smith, assistant professor of practice, mechanical engineering; and John Davis, program manager, Industrial Training and Assessment Center.

Source : msstate.edu

Video: Dicamba Returns for Georgia Farmers: What the New EPA Ruling Means for Cotton Growers

After being unavailable in 2024 due to registration issues, dicamba products are returning for Georgia farmers this growing season — but under strict new conditions.

In this report from Tifton, Extension Weed Specialist Stanley Culpepper explains the updated EPA ruling, including new application limits, mandatory training requirements, and the need for a restricted use pesticide license. Among the key changes: a cap of two ½-pound applications per year and the required use of an approved volatility reduction agent with every application.

For Georgia cotton producers, the ruling is significant. According to Taylor Sills with the Georgia Cotton Commission, the vast majority of cotton planted in the state carries the dicamba-tolerant trait — meaning farmers had been paying for technology they couldn’t use.

While environmental groups have expressed concerns over spray drift, Georgia growers have reduced off-target pesticide movement by more than 91% over the past decade. Still, this two-year registration period will come with increased scrutiny, making stewardship and compliance more important than ever.