LSU AgCenter Opens Application Process For Its Leadership Class
The LSU AgCenter Agricultural Leadership Development Program is now accepting applications for Class XIX, which is scheduled to begin in January 2025 with a completion date of February 2027.
“Developing leaders is essential to advancing agriculture, especially in areas such as finance, policy issues and regulatory matters,” said Matt Lee, vice president for agriculture and dean of the College of Agriculture. “The graduates of this program continue to advocate for agriculture and help maintain a healthy and viable industry that plays a crucial role in Louisiana’s economy.”
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LSU AgCenter Project Aims At Making Rice More Sustainable, Profitable
Its full name is Climate Resilient Innovations for Sustainable Production of Rice, but it’s mostly known by the acronym CRISP Rice.
The goal of this project being undertaken by scientists with the LSU AgCenter is to enhance the profitability and sustainability of rice production in the southern U.S.
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Corn Disease Update
Common rust has been reported in some fields in central Louisiana and on the Dean Lee Research and Extension Center. However, this disease has not been a major concern in previous years.
Common rust may be the first disease found in corn fields and usually occurs in the lower-to-mid-canopy. Disease development is favored when temperatures are cool (60-77oF) and leaf wetness of 4-6 hours.
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Hessian Fly: Generational Challenge for Delta Wheat Growers, Breeders
Hessian flies weigh in at only half the size of an average mosquito, but their in-field impacts, and year-over-year infestations cause big issues for Louisiana wheat growers.
A short reproduction cycle – occurring over about two and a half weeks – alongside a long residual life for pupae in–field mean Hessian flies cause significant impacts in the Delta region.
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Analyzing World & US Sugar Price Dynamics
It is critical to consider the relationship between macroeconomic forces and the balance of global sugar supply and demand when examining sugar markets.
Global economic expansion, along with a world population that is growing at approximately 1% per year (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2024), supports strong sugar demand globally, which typically also supports world prices.
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LSU AgCenter Researcher Provides Tips To Reduce Disease Outbreaks In Fish
Springtime disease losses in fishponds are common throughout the Southeast, especially in Louisiana, according to LSU AgCenter aquaculture specialist Greg Lutz. Many problems that become apparent in the spring begin in the fall, when hot weather can reduce oxygen levels in ponds and make fish susceptible to diseases.
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'In Touch But Not In The Way,' Justin Dufour Is A Resource For Central Louisiana Farmers
When he first enrolled in college, Justin Dufour thought he wanted to become an athletic trainer. But a few classes into his coursework at LSU Alexandria, he realized that career path wouldn’t suit his interests very well.
Ultimately, it was Dufour’s part-time job at the neighboring LSU AgCenter research station that helped him settle on a degree in biology and led him to a career in agriculture.
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Beat The Heat With Tips From The LSU AgCenter LaHouse Research & Education Center
With the first heat advisory of 2024 being announced, the LSU AgCenter LaHouse Research and Education Center is offering advice to homeowners to keep their homes comfortable more efficiently this summer.
“Higher temperatures don’t necessarily mean higher energy bills,” said LaHouse director Carol Friedland. “There are many different projects for homeowners to improve their home’s energy efficiency to lower their spending this summer.”
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How the 2023 Drought Could Impact the Crawfish Industry Long Term
Although the U.S. The Department of Agriculture approved emergency financial relief for struggling crawfish farmers, the 2023 drought’s impact could linger into next year and beyond, an LSU AgCenter professor surmises.
“Louisiana’s crawfish aquaculture industry will experience impacts from the 2023 drought for several seasons before an economic recovery is complete,” writes C. Greg Lutz, a professor in the LSU AgCenter’s Aquaculture Research Station, in his latest column, The Lutz Report, on TheFishSite.com.
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Minimizing Impacts Of Climate Change On Livestock
Recent weather extremes, which include record heat and cold as well as drought and flooding, have made it especially difficult to maintain the health and production of livestock in Louisiana.
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LSU AgCenter Researcher Becomes Third Woman To Win Sugar Industry Award
Gillian Eggleston, director of the LSU AgCenter’s Audubon Sugar Institute, has become only the third woman to win the prestigious Crystal Award for Achievement in Sugar Technology since its inception in 1961.
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Rice Field Days Calendar
As we near the end of May, most rice growers have their 2024 rice crop in the ground. Overall, reports have this year’s crop in pretty good standing so far, despite several rounds of inclement weather, severe in some areas of the south over the last few weeks. It’s also that time of year when growers take the opportunity to attend various field day events hosted by research and extension staff who provide updates on current crop conditions and progress reports on research projects.
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The '24 Hurricane Season Is Here; Prepare Now For Potential Storms
Hurricane season is once again upon us, and the LSU AgCenter has recommendations to mitigate potential damage and losses to yards, homes and animals as well as tips for keeping food and cleaning supplies on hand.
As the fourth-most active Atlantic hurricane season on record, 2023 saw 20 named storms — including seven hurricanes, three of which were major. However, wind shear caused by El Niño prevented most of the storms from strengthening to a high level.
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Impact of Selected Adjuvants Combined with Vantacor Against the Sugarcane Borer, 2023
The efficacy of 3 adjuvants combined with a standard rate of insecticide applied for sugarcane borer (SCB) control was compared with untreated controls in second ratoon sugarcane (HoCP 00-950) in 2023 at the USDA-ARS Sugarcane Research Unit Ardoyne Farm in Schriever, Louisiana. Plots consisted of 3, 60-ft rows, with 4 replications assigned using a RCBD. All insecticide applications used the insecticide Vantacor (FMC) at a rate of 1.2 fl oz/acre and were applied when the infestation reached the threshold level (3% of stalks with SCB larvae present in leaf sheaths) on 29 June 2023.
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LSU Agribusiness Program Honoring Late Gilster-Mary Lee President Now Accepting Applications
Don Welge, the late president of Gilster-Mary Lee, had a vision. He wanted to start a new kind of agricultural program at his alma mater of Louisiana State University.
“He had this concept of teaching food beyond the farm, meaning not just the growing of the crops and all the sciences that are involved and the economics of all that, but beyond that to the food processors, to food distribution,” said Tom Welge, Don Welge's son and current Gilster-Mary Lee president. “Even through retailing and marketing, so really every part of the cycle in food production.”
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