Amid a sweet potato season hit hard by volatile weather patterns, the LSU AgCenter added a new researcher to focus on the management of diseases in Louisiana’s most lucrative food crop.
Imana Power was appointed in September as an assistant professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and Crop Physiology. She is gearing her work toward developing disease resistance, producing “clean” plants and minimizing cultivar decline in sweet potatoes.
Read MorePeople interested in becoming a Louisiana Master Farmer can take the first step toward certification by attending one of five upcoming training sessions scheduled for locations across the state or completing a new online module.
These trainings comprise the first phase of the Louisiana Master Farmer Program, which aims to improve agricultural productivity and sustainability. The second phase requires participants to attend a field day or workshop, and the third phase requires them to develop and implement comprehensive conservation plans for their farms.
Read MoreThe LSU AgCenter recently filled two positions to support Louisiana’s forestry industry.
Read MoreThe LSU AgCenter is excited to announce its new Beginner Cattleman Program. This is designed for cattleman with 10 years or less of experience raising beef cattle and for people interested in starting to raise beef cattle.
Participants will need access to a computer as this is a hybrid course featuring videos and 5 in-person workshops.
The 2023 class will take place at the Red River Research Station in Bossier City and the DeSoto Parish Extension Office in Grand Cane.
Workshops will be held on the following dates:
March 17, 2023 - Introduction, Cattle Handling, Facilities, and Equipment - Red River Research Station in Bossier City
May 12, 2023 - Forages, Pasture Management, and Hay Production - Red River Research Station in Bossier City
July 14, 2023 - Nutrition and Reproduction - De Soto Parish Extension Office in Grand Cane
September 8, 2023 - Commercial Cow-Calf and Seedstock - De Soto Parish Extension Office in Grand Cane
December 15, 2023 - Financial Management and Marketing - De Soto Parish Extension Office in Grand Cane
The cost of registration is $250.
Registration form and fees are due to Dr. Ashley Edwards by Friday, February 17, 2023.
For more information:
Josh Salley at jsalley@agcenter.lsu.edu
Lee Faulk at afaulk@agcenter.lsu.edu
Ashley Edwards at akedwards@agcenter.lsu.edu
Read MoreNoble Guedon knows the equipment he uses on his Concordia Parish farm documents a lot of information — from which crop varieties he planted to how much they yielded at harvesttime to how fast the tractor was being driven.
So when his tractor generated a map speckled with red, indicating low yields, he was certain he could figure out the reason by consulting some of the other data that had been recorded. As it turned out, those red spots lined up almost exactly with low areas marked on map made from elevation data.
Read MoreForestry is big business in Louisiana, and some students from the Czech Republic are visiting the LSU AgCenter to learn more about research being conducted to support the state’s top agricultural commodity.
Seven students working on master’s degrees in tropical forestry at Mendel University are spending a week in Baton Rouge meeting with LSU students and AgCenter scientists in campus laboratories and at the Botanic Gardens at Burden.
Read MoreAfter several years of market fluctuations, the Louisiana timber industry is finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
That is the optimism shared by forestry professionals during the 2023 Forestry Forum held as a part of AgExpo recently in West Monroe.
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.
Read MoreWhen babies are born, a knit hat is one of the first pieces of clothing they will wear. But what if that hat could be used for more than a warm and cozy covering?
One LSU researcher is exploring ways to use “smart clothing” to track newborns’ temperatures.
Read MoreHarry L. Laws & Company, the majority owner of the Catherine Sugar Company, is creating a non-endowed fund to further research at the LSU AgCenter Sugar Research Station in St. Gabriel.
Read MoreThe attached January Crop Market Update for Corn, Soybeans, Rice, and Cotton contains a discussion on USDA-reported supply and demand dynamics, export sales, and farm price implications for the 2022/23 marketing year.
Read MoreHerbicide-tolerant soybeans expand weed control options to include dicamba, 2,4-D and more. Yet many soybean varieties are still sensitive to herbicides that other varieties have been bred to tolerate. That means herbicide residue left in spray tanks and booms from a previous application can damage crops much like herbicide drift.
A new potential cleaning solution may be available from an unlikely source.
“While researching medicinal plants, I discovered natural ingredients that can solubilize a wide range of substances, or force oil and water to mix,” says Zhijun Liu, professor in the School of Renewable Natural Resources at Louisiana State University.
Read MoreThe Louisiana Master Farmer Program recognized three new graduates, two people who have completed recertification and the winner of the Outstanding Master Farmer Award at a ceremony Jan. 12.
The event was held in Baton Rouge in conjunction with the Louisiana Association of Conservation Districts annual meeting.
Read MoreLouisiana youth from Ruston to Raceland and everywhere in between will gather in February for the 88th annual LSU AgCenter Livestock Show at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales.
AgCenter officials expect more than 2,000 4-H and FFA exhibitors to bring thousands of animals for competition during the week of Feb. 11 to 18.
Read MoreIn his 33 years of farming sugarcane, Ricky Gonsoulin had never had as good of a crop as the one he saw growing in his fields in 2022. And in 33 years, he had never lost so much as a stalk of sugarcane to a freeze.
But that unlikely scenario came to pass in late December when an arctic blast sent temperatures below freezing for three days across Louisiana.
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