On September 12, Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry’s (LDAF) Forestry Enforcement Division agents responded to an arson event in Webster Parish.
Webster Parish Fire Department advised LDAF agents that four unnamed juveniles had allegedly stolen a flare gun from the local Walmart in Springhill, LA, and proceeded to shoot flares into a field behind the Walmart, starting fires in the area.
Read MoreSoil sampling for liming and fertilizer recommendations is a very common practice after summer crop harvest in the Fall. The following things need to be considered before soil sampling, testing, and fertilizer recommendations.
Read MoreSelecting the most adapted and high yielding varieties is one of the most important decisions a soybean producer makes every year. The LSU AgCenter conducts an Official Variety Trial (OVT) and Core-block demonstration plots to provide unbiased data to assist in variety selection. The OVT and core-block demonstrations are planted throughout the state to collect performance data in different environments.
Read MoreThe Southern University College of Agricultural, Family and Consumer Sciences has been renamed as the College of Agricultural, Human and Environmental Sciences. The name change was approved by the Southern University Board of Supervisors on August 18, 2023 during the board’s regularly scheduled meeting.
The name change comes after more than three years of evaluations, academic program assessments, rebranding, revamping curriculums, and acquiring the Environmental Toxicology Ph.D. program from the College of Sciences and Engineering.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) recent expansion of its hurricane crop insurance policy to cover tropical storms this year has already provided farmers with $85.4 million to help them recover from Hurricane Idalia. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) rolled out the new Tropical Storm Option for its Hurricane Insurance Protection-Wind Index (HIP-WI) Endorsement earlier this year after working directly with farmers to improve coverage.
Read MoreLouisiana is home to some of the most destructive invasive species found in the United States. The LSU AgCenter has long worked to monitor and manage these non-native insects, weeds and wildlife.
To better understand and control invasive species, the LSU AgCenter is developing a Center of Research Excellence for the Study of Invasive Species.
Read MoreHave you seen more crickets than usual? A sudden surge of cricket infestations has hit Louisiana. LSU Ag Center Entomologist Aaron Ashbrook says crickets are on the hunt for food after recent rain.
Read MoreBaton Rouge nonprofit the Walls Project Thursday announced it has received a $6 million grant from the U.S. Forest Services that it will use to launch an agroforestry apprenticeship program.
The grant is part of a 1.5 billion U.S. Department of Agriculture allotment from the federal Inflation Reduction Act to promote urban and community forestry.
Read MoreA $1.1 billion solar panel manufacturing facility broke ground today in Iberia Parish.
The facility, First Solar’s fifth fully vertically integrated factory of its kind in the United States, is believed to be the largest capital investment in the area’s history, according to an announcement Thursday.
Read MoreIf you’re in the mood for a sweet time, then the 80th annual Louisiana Sugar Cane Festival is the place to be this weekend.
Avery Hebert, who was named the 79th Louisiana Queen Sugar, is from Erath, Louisiana, but says she is deeply rooted in the tradition.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) today announced sugar loan rates for crop year 2023 (fiscal year 2024).
USDA offers commodity loans to processors of sugar beets and domestically grown sugarcane to provide interim financing to producers so that sugar can be stored after harvest when market prices are typically low and then sold later when price conditions are more favorable.
Read MoreFall is in the air, and the Corn Maze is back at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden each Saturday in October, and on Sunday, Oct. 8, with all the excitement that you could hope for.
Read MoreThe current U.S. cotton production forecast is 13.13 million bales. The forecast is expressed in standard 480-pound bale equivalents (or statistical bales). Actual physical bales (or running bales) tend to weigh closer to 500 pounds, so analysts typically use conversion factors following USDA, e.g., 1.0275 statistical bales for every running bale.
Read MoreA new legal advocacy hub called FarmSTAND — which is devoted “exclusively on dismantling industrial animal agriculture” — has launched today, with a former staff attorney for the Humane Society of the United States at its helm.
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