Gov. John Bel Edwards will give the keynote address as he joins 20 researchers, five farmers and six certified crop advisors, all from Louisiana, who will speak at the upcoming Conservation Systems Conferences on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 at the Crowne Plaza hotel conference center in Baton Rouge.
Read MoreU-Nichols Manalo, director of the National Corn Program of the Philippine Department of Agriculture, recently gave a presentation detailing his research during his time at LSU working with LSU AgCenter economist Naveen Adusumilli.
Read MoreIn her role as the executive director of Big River Economic and Agricultural Development Alliance, Darlene Adams Rowland oversees four locations of the Red Stick Farmers Market in Baton Rouge. Her background includes experience in marketing, fundraising, market management, farmer development, technical assistance and oversight of BREADA’s nutrition outreach programs.
Read MoreThe cotton leafroll dwarf virus causes yellowing and distortion of leaves (Figure 1) and is believed to be vectored by the cotton aphid (Aphis gossypii) during feeding (Figure 2). A litany of other symptoms has been attributed to the virus including missing fruit and bolls, over-tall plants, reddening of veins, dwarfed plants and leaf cupping. In some situations in the southeast United States, significant yield losses have been attributed to the virus.
Read MoreFor many beef cattle producers, evaluating breeding soundness of their herd bulls is often an overlooked practice. Selection of bulls based on genetic potential is one of the most progressive ways to improve the beef herd. However, bulls that do not properly settle cows contribute to reproductive inefficiency and lost income — no matter how genetically superior they may be. Performing an annual bull breeding soundness exam (BBSE) on every bull in the herd is the only way producers can predict with relative certainty that their bulls can adequately service the cow herd during the breeding season.
Read MoreThe House recently approved and sent to President Biden's desk a $1.7 trillion year-end spending bill that includes $3.7 billion in farm disaster aid, resolving some key unfinished business for agriculture, including measures to help producers take advantage of carbon markets.
Read MoreFor cousins Adam and Jonathan Knight, the cattle business is a part of their heritage.
Their family once ran a dairy farm on hundreds of acres that straddled East Baton Rouge and East Feliciana parishes, and they grew up around beef cattle. Now the Knights both run small cattle operations on those pastures and on leased land adjacent to them.
Read MoreThe 2023 Projected Costs and Returns (crop enterprise budgets) have been posted to the LSU AgCenter website. To access the enterprise budgets, please click on the desired “Crops” tab followed by the “Budget” icon. T
Read MoreIn every parish of Louisiana, groups of feral pigs roam the countryside.
The packs of pigs, called sounders, are extraordinarily destructive. They devour crops, dig up trees and eat food that other animals depend upon for survival.
“They’re omnivores,” said Dr. Jim LaCour, state wildlife veterinarian with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. “They’ll eat anything with a calorie.”
Read MoreThe invasive Mexican rice borer (Eoreuma loftini) has become increasingly problematic in Louisiana in recent years and threatens both rice and sugarcane, the two most important crops in the southern part of the state. Adult moths lay eggs on grasses and larvae feed internally within stems hindering plant growth and damaging crop yields.
Read MoreThe apple snail, Pomacea maculata, is a global invasive rice pest. Within the past decade, the apple snail has established itself in Louisiana but has only recently begun infesting rice farms in the southwestern region. Adult snails have large brown-green or gold shells and lay large pink egg masses. Their fast-reproductive rate and voracious appetite allow the snails to reach high population densities in natural bodies of water as well as in rice and crawfish ponds.
Read MoreFFA members from across Louisiana gathered at the Central Louisiana Technical Community College in Alexandria for the annual State Leadership Development Events (LDEs), which focus on student leadership development.
Read MoreThe 2021 crop growing season presented many challenges for Louisiana producers, but none as remarkable as the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) infestations that occurred beginning in late June and extending through August. Although the fall armyworm has been a major pest of maize and other crops across North and South America for many years, problems with this pest were more severe and widespread in 2021 than almost any other year in memory.
Read MoreA severe freeze is forecasted beginning on December 23, 2022, and for a series of nights afterwards. At the time of the December 23rd freeze, the industry will be about 83% harvested. All sugarcane remaining in the industry will be damaged to some extent. Every freeze event is different and forecasting the extent that harvest can be completed is impossible. Deterioration following a freeze is temperature dependent – higher temperatures will increase deterioration and lower temperatures will reduce deterioration.
Read MoreThe LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden and the Louisiana Stormwater Coalition finished the second phase of an Environmental Protection Agency-funded litter remediation and prevention program Dec. 14.
The Osprey Initiative, the organization contracted to remove and study aquatic trash from a borrow pit and wetland at Burden Museum and Gardens, has now completed its tactical removal process that began in June 2022.
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