The LSU AgCenter will hold its sugarcane field day Wednesday, July 17, at the Sugar Research Station in St. Gabriel.
The day will begin with a field tour covering multiple topics from AgCenter specialists.
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The ancient underwater forest about eight miles off the coast of Gulf Shores, Alabama, is known as a time capsule from the last ice age—and for the first time, researchers understand why. Chemical and pollen analyses found the bald cypress trees were buried in sediment from swamp and marsh ecosystems, like those in southeastern United States today. Such low-oxygen environments helped preserve the wood, which is more than 60,000 years old and grew on land at a time when sea levels were much lower than they are today.
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A group of high school students and teachers from Baton Rouge recently wrapped up a two-week camp that had them exploring crop fields, laboratories and research stations alongside LSU AgCenter scientists.
Six students and four teachers from Woodlawn High School, Baton Rouge Magnet High School and Arlington Preparatory Academy participated in the inaugural Camp CRISP from June 17 to 28.
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The Louisiana 4-H Shooting Sports Team are once again reigning national champions after defeating competitors from across the United States.
The team has placed first in four out of the past five national competitions, including 2019, 2021 and 2023, with a second-place finish in 2022 and the 2020 event being canceled due to COVID restrictions.
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The USDA recently released its annual Acreage Report which provides markets a more accurate idea of spring planting progress and what potential supply implications may be in store for the 2024 crop year. On the demand side, USDA also released its Quarterly Grain Stocks report which shows usage rates between March 1, 2024 and June 1, 2024. These changes in supply levels will impact 2023/24 ending stocks and 2024/25 beginning stock levels which will subsequently be reflected in the July World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report.
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For many 4-H’ers, coming to LSU to compete in a contest, attend an educational program or run for a statewide office is one of the highlights of their 4-H experience. And for many, this year did not disappoint.
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For the 115th year, farmers gathered June 25 for the LSU AgCenter’s annual rice field day, where they heard updates on researchers’ efforts to breed higher-yielding varieties, develop pest management strategies and encourage beneficial agronomic practices.
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It can be harvested up to 30 days sooner than other sweet potatoes. It is a high yielder and tastes great, though its skin is a shade lighter than the sweet potatoes many Louisianans are accustomed to.
It’s the LSU AgCenter’s newest sweet potato variety, Avoyelles — named for the parish where scientists initially saw its potential and a parish that has played a central role in the state’s sweet potato industry for decades.
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Potassium deficiency symptoms in soybean first appear as irregular yellowing on the edges of K-deficient leaves, typically manifesting as early as the V3 vegetative stage (three trifoliolate leaves), primarily on the lower older leaves (Figure 1). In severe K-deficient soils, symptoms often appear on the upper younger leaves during the reproductive stages (Figure 2). Early-season K deficiency symptoms are relatively easy to diagnose and manage. However, many soybean fields experience K deficiency and consequent yield losses without displaying visible symptoms until the later reproductive growth stages (beginning seed, R5 to full-seed, R6).
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Louisiana is one of the most vulnerable U.S. states to extreme weather events due to its high frequency of natural disasters. Of these disasters, drought is the most expensive risk to Louisiana agriculture, accounting for 95% of projected crop losses by 2050.
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The Louisiana climate is heavily influenced by the Gulf of Mexico and the subtropical climate that we share with the four other Gulf Coast states. Of those Gulf Coast states, we are on average the wettest. That rain is a big component of why we call Louisiana Sportsman's Paradise, and the abundance of water that creates a green environment is a monster contributor to Louisiana agriculture.
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Over the next two years, young people in northeastern Louisiana will be introduced to swimming, bird-watching, fishing and other activities through a series of LSU AgCenter events and clinics designed to improve access to the outdoors.
The programs will include birding and fishing clinics and water activity days at lakes in the region that will introduce children and teens to activities and help them learn the best places to take part in outdoor recreation in northeastern Louisiana.
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The 2024/25 U.S. corn outlook is unchanged relative to last month. The season average price received by producers remains at $4.40 per bushel. USDA will release its Acreage report on June 28, which will provide survey-based indications of planted and harvested area.
The 2024/25 outlook for U.S. soybeans includes higher beginning and ending stocks. Higher beginning stocks reflect reduced crush for 2023/24, down 10 million bushels on lower soybean meal domestic use that is partly offset by higher exports.
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They love the adventure and the atypical day. Field trips are a fun and casual way to learn new things and create core memories. We’ve decided this will be the summer of field trips for the Career Center. We need to get out, see the awesome things happening around campus, and have a little fun as a team.
First up – The Dairy Store.
The LSU Dairy Store has been around for a LONG time but just got a glow-up with a new facility in the Spring. It’s no secret the ice cream is delicious, but we had no idea how big of an operation this was.
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At first glance, it would be difficult to tell much of a difference between the rice fields sitting on either side of a dirt road running through Wyatt Hardee’s farm near Kaplan.
But as attendees of a recent field day heard while touring the farm with Hardee and a team of LSU AgCenter researchers, the two rice fields have been subjected to vastly different production methods.
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