Every year, millions of youth, parents, volunteers and alumni celebrate the first week of October as National 4-H Week. The week recognizes the many positive youth development opportunities 4-H offers.
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This month’s 2023/24 U.S. corn outlook projects slightly larger supplies and ending stocks. Projected beginning stocks for 2023/24 have been lowered by 5 million bushels mostly due to offsetting trade and corn used for ethanol changes for 2022/23. Corn production for 2023/24 is forecast at 15.1 billion bushels, this a 23-million-bushel increase from last month’s estimates as greater harvested area more than offsets reductions in yield.
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The LSU College of Agriculture and Arkansas' Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences are gearing up for an exciting battle, but it's not happening on the football field. This crowdfunding challenge, known as the Golden Boot Giving Challenge, is set to take place from September 16 to September 23, 2023.
Each year, the LSU Tigers and Arkansas Razorbacks fight for the “Golden Boot” on the football field. Mirroring this rivalry, LSU and University of Arkansas are battling to see which college of agriculture has the most supporters.
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Like most agricultural crops in Louisiana, Christmas tree farms have been impacted by the state’s prolonged drought. Good management techniques on farms have kept mature trees from drying up said Valerie West, an LSU AgCenter forestry agent in northwest Louisiana.
She said consumers can still expect to see real trees this holiday season.
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In west-central Louisiana where the drought and wildfires have ravaged thousands of acres of forests, it only adds insult to injury to landowners who incurred losses from Hurricanes Laura and Delta just three years ago. Forester Robbie Hutchins with the LSU AgCenter said it’s difficult to explain the devastation that’s occurred.
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Described as a labor of love by one of its developers, the LSU AgCenter’s new web-based Drought Irrigation Response Tool, or DIRT, will greatly benefit farmers during one of the driest seasons on record.
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While crawfish season begins in January, drought conditions could have an impact on the state’s $230 million dollar crawfish industry. LSU AgCenter Area Agent for crawfish production Todd Fontenot says producers are already flushing their fields to reduce cracking.
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Introducing a change in agronomic practices can be compared to pressing the reset button on a computer or router. The practice change requires the soil system to restart before it establishes a new normal.
“We don’t know what that reset will look like, but with conservation practices, it often results in a crop yield hit as the soil microbes adjust,” explains Lisa Fultz, associate professor and soil microbiologist with Louisiana State University AgCenter.
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In a summer replete with challenges for Louisiana farmers as they’ve dealt with a heatwave and extended drought conditions, there is finally some good news on the agricultural front. The state’s sweet potato crop is doing just fine, and although harvest may be slightly delayed this year, some producers are expecting bumper yields.
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Louisiana is home to more than 1 million feral hogs.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries suggests that 70% of hogs are killed every year to maintain a stable environment.
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Soybeans have been used as a forage crop since they were originally brought to the United States. Their use as a forage declined in the 1940’s as producers adopted other forages that had higher yields. So, although soybeans today are most commonly grown as a grain crop, they can be harvested as a forage crop under certain situations, such as drought.
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Small grain variety trials are conducted annually by scientists of the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center Agricultural Experiment Station to evaluate grain yield, agronomic performance and disease reaction of varieties and advanced breeding lines. The trials are conducted at seven LSU AgCenter research stations representative of the major soil and climate regions of the state.
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Join Seeds to Success: The Louisiana Farm to School Program for the seventh annual farm to school conference at the Pennington Biomedical Convention Center on Oct. 11, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event will emphasize three main components of farm to school: education, school gardens and local food purchasing.
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It’s a few months early for most people in Louisiana to have crawfish on their minds. But the cycle of producing crawfish for those eagerly anticipated springtime boils is already underway — and this summer’s drought conditions could have an impact.
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Extreme heat and record-high temperatures are impacting the cattle industry.
According to economists, cattle are losing weight, hay prices are rising and ranchers are being forced into liquidation due to not being able to afford their animals.
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