LSU AgCenter researchers have recently been awarded three U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture grants totaling more than $1.5 million to study diseases and pests destructive to some of the state’s most important crops — rice, sugarcane and soybeans.
Read MoreScientists from Embrapa Agroenergia in Brazil have developed the first sugarcane varieties edited using CRISPR gene editing technology. The edited sugarcane varieties are called Cana Flex I and Cana Flex II. The respective distinctive features are easier cell wall digestibility and higher sucrose concentration in plant tissues.
Read MoreWhen Bobbie Johnson and James Williams were students at Baton Rouge’s McKinley High, they never envisioned one day owning an alcohol business.
Read MoreThe Louisiana sugarcane harvest season will be coming to an end soon. Most mills have completed their grinding, with the last mill set to finish Jan. 20. This year’s crop was a lighter one in terms of cane tonnage, but sugar recovery was excellent. LSU AgCenter reporter Craig Gautreaux has this report.
Read MoreThe US Department of Agriculture in its Jan. 12 World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report raised from December its forecast of 2021-22 US sugar production, lowered imports and left deliveries unchanged.
Read MoreAmerica's largest farm advocacy group renewed its support of a no-cost sugar policy that creates a level playing field for sugar producers while ensuring a safe, reliable and affordable supply for consumers.
Read MoreDr. Michael Grisham, Research Leader of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Sugarcane Research Unit in Houma, Louisiana has retired.
Read MoreIt’s 7 p.m. in early December, and Lane Blanchard is just getting in from a long day in the cane fields. Like other growers, he has been cutting his cane since the first week of October. With grinding season nearly finished now, he and his crew at Lane Blanchard Farms in Loreauville will be working nonstop until the middle of January. It’s a life he and his wife Kristie, who is also an integral part of the business, have been at since 1983. Now with two grown sons helping, the Blanchard’s are an example of the family spirit and work ethic that bring success and longevity to the sugarcane industry.
Read MoreWith a new year comes a time of remembrance and a hope for a better tomorrow. In this spirit, the family of Durwood Joseph Newton has set up an LSU AgCenter professorship in sugarcane variety development in his name to honor their beloved father and grandfather.
Read MoreFertilizer prices are on the rise. Make informed nutrient management decisions based on soil testing and following these guidelines.
Attached are the 2022 sugarcane soil fertility recommendations.
Read MoreAndre Reis was born and reared n the big city of Sao Paulo, Brazil, but at 16, he decided he wanted to go to the countryside and study agriculture. His career path has taken him to many places, the latest being the LSU AgCenter Dean Lee Research and Extension Center near Alexandria.
Read MoreOrders have been pouring into Andrew Schuman's candy cane business this year, but business has been anything but sweet.
"We're not taking new orders from new customers," said Schuman, chief executive officer of Hammond's, based in Denver, Colorado. "We can't keep up with demand."
Candy makers, like retailers and farmers, have been slammed during the pandemic with high commodity prices, labor shortages, and transportation and supply chain snarls, preventing them from fully cashing in on the holiday season.
Read MoreThe US Department of Agriculture in its Dec. 9 World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report lowered from November its estimate of 2020-21 and 2021-22 US sugar ending stocks and stocks-to-use ratios with the current year reductions mainly due to lower production in Louisiana.
Read MoreAfter a near all-time record crop last year, Louisiana sugarcane growers can’t help but be a little bit disappointed with the 2021 crop. Growing conditions were challenging throughout the year, leading to a lighter crop. LSU AgCenter reporter Craig Gautreaux has this report from Assumption Parish.
Read MoreSugarcane producer Keith Dugas of Assumption Parish loves farming. He loves everything about it.
He remembers watching his father, the late Lloyd Dugas, on the tractor and he couldn’t wait for his turn.
“My father came from a family of ten brothers and one sister,” Dugas said. “Four of the brothers farmed and then went on to other things as they got older.”
Farming during the elder Dugas’s time was different. It was certainly labor intensive, and
took a lot of hands to bring in a sugarcane crop. Other crops and livestock were grown as well. Moss picking was still a thing in Assumption
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