USB Visits Louisiana in Mid-August

by Don Molino

LSU AgCenter soybean specialist Dr. Ronnie Levy reports members of the United Soybean Board will be meeting in Louisiana later this month "to discuss some of the research they're funding."

Levy reports it's going to be a busy two day trip for the USB members. "We're going to have a small field tour, looking at some of the irrigation studies trying to better serve farmers with more information on when to start irrigation, when to cease irrigation, how much irrigation is needed, the use of sensors and just a lot of information about irrigation that we really don't have a big data base built up."

The soybean farmers from across the US will also be looking at local research into long term rotation studies. "This is important," says Levy, "not only in Louisiana, but throughout the mid-south. We have a lot of crops that rotate because of weed resistance issues, disease resistance issues, looking at good rotation that will help producers increase their yields and increase the productivity of the land."

"We're looking at cercopsora blight," Levy points out, "which is a serious problem throughout the southern US. This is something all the states are working together to try and come up with some solutions or resistance varieties, things that will help producers."

(This report is a service of the Louisiana Soybean and Grain Research and Promotion Board)