Ronnie Levy knows rice. For four decades and in various roles with the LSU AgCenter, Levy has helped Louisiana farmers grow many of the state’s economically important crops, but much of the focus has been on what is the backbone of so many Louisiana dishes — rice.
Read MoreLSU College of Agriculture graduate students are usually working diligently in labs, fields and classrooms. A symposium held in December allowed them to gather with other graduate students from across the southeast, showcase their research and meet with potential employers
Read MoreA special delivery was made to all schools in the Zachary Community School District on Jan. 5.
Grass-fed beef from family-owned Muse 3 Farms in Greensburg was delivered by the Muse family to the school cafeterias. Muse 3 Farms is a vendor provided by the LSU AgCenter to supply the schools through a grant awarded to the ZCSD child nutrition program.
Read MoreThe LSU AgCenter precision agriculture summit set for Jan. 17 at the State Evacuation Shelter in Alexandria has been postponed because of weather. Plans are to reschedule the summit for a later date.
This summit is one of two planned. The second, scheduled for Feb. 23 at Fletcher Technical Community College in Shriever, is still on as scheduled.
Read MoreThis month’s 2023/24 U.S. corn outlook is for greater production, larger food, seed, and industrial use (FSI), increased feed and residual use, and higher ending stocks. Corn production is estimated at a record 15.3 billion bushels, up 108 million as an increase in yield to a record 177.3 bushels per acre is partly offset by a 0.6-million acre decline in harvested area.
Read MoreThe LSU AgCenter has named Adam Famoso resident director and research coordinator of its H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station near Crowley.
Famoso, a rice breeder who has been central to the station’s variety development efforts, assumed the role Jan. 1.
Read MoreThe LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden and Baton Rouge Green are planning their biggest Arbor Day celebration ever on Jan. 20 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
This year, Baton Rouge Green and other local organizations will provide fun, education and food for the entire family.
Read MoreThe 2023 Louisiana Outstanding Master Farmer Award, one new certification and nine recertifications were presented during a meeting of the Louisiana Association of Conservation Districts Jan. 9 in Baton Rouge.
Read MoreLSU Ag Center Crawfish Specialist Mark Shirley warns crawfish connoisseurs that 2024 will be one of the worst mudbug seasons on record as far as prices and supply are concerned. He says it’s so dire farmers are averaging one to two mudbugs a trap.
Read MoreA watermelon cultivar developed at the now closed LSU AgCenter Calhoun Research Station has been nominated for boarding onto the Slow Food Ark of Taste.
The Red-N-Sweet is a 1987 LSU release. Its disease resistance, dark red flesh and intense sweetness made it a regionally popular watermelon until the late 1990s.
Read MoreAnyone wanting to become a certified Prescribed Burn Manager, or those wanting to re-certify as required every five years, should attend an Agricultural Prescribed Burn Manager Certification Class from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Jan. 11 at the Yambilee Building, 1939 West Landry Street in Opelousas.
Read MoreMuch of the work LSU AgCenter nutrition agents are doing centers on the specific needs of the communities they serve.
In East Baton Rouge Parish, AgCenter nutrition agent Dewanna Bandy Drewery partnered with a local high school to provide nutrition classes for students and their parents.
Read MoreResearch efforts across all aspects of hemp production are currently needed to aid in the successful reestablishment and long-term success of this crop in the U.S. A 2020 survey of licensed U.S. hemp farmers determined one of the most challenging aspects of production was the lack of information on the efficacy of currently labeled hemp insecticides.
Read MoreThe LSU AgCenter and Fletcher Technical Community College are partnering to present two precision agriculture summits in early 2024.
The first event will be Jan. 17 at the State Evacuation Shelter, 8125 U.S. Highway 71, adjacent to the LSU Alexandria campus. The second is scheduled for Feb. 23 at Fletcher’s main campus, 1407 state Highway 311 in Schriever.
Read MoreIn St. Landry Parish, where soybeans, rice and sugarcane typically flourish, a new crop is rising high above one field.
On a 12-acre plot in the south Louisiana parish, Pat Deshotels and Matthew Indest have grown hemp three times, but this crop — standing thick in the field with tall, slender stalks leading to bunches of green leaves — is their most successful.
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