Amid the business of summer, many farmers take a break from field chores to attend a field day. The opportunity to see firsthand the latest research that can help improve their profitability is a tradition that goes back to the 19th century and continues today.
Seaman A. Knapp planted the seed for Extension by pioneering the idea of demonstration agriculture. Considered the founder of Cooperative Extension, Knapp saw the power of teaching farmers modern, research-based techniques.
Read MoreCoca-Cola announced today it will release a new version of its classic soda sweetened with U.S. sugar, which could benefit Louisiana’s sugarcane industry. Louisiana ranks second in the country in sugar cane produced, nearly 14 million tons of sugarcane each year. Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain is excited about the news.”
Read MoreHay! Sign up for Grassland CRP to conserve grasslands while also continuing most grazing and haying practices on your working lands. The sign-up runs through Aug. 8, 2025.
The Grassland Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is part of CRP, a federally funded voluntary program that contracts with agricultural producers so that environmentally sensitive agricultural land is not farmed, but instead used for conservation benefits.
Read MoreThis year’s annual field day at the LSU AgCenter Sugar Research Station featured a stop that highlighted several conservation practices.
Kenneth Gravois, AgCenter sugarcane specialist, joined Brenda Tubaña, AgCenter soil scientist, and Bruno Nicchio, AgCenter postdoctoral researcher, to explain how sugarcane farmers can benefit from implementing these practices. The July 16 event drew a record-breaking audience of more than 300 people.
Read MoreForisk Consulting will hold a webinar on Timber Market Analysis Class in October and COFC foresters and Master Loggers can earn 3 CE credits to attend one day of the two-day event or 6 CE credits if they attend both days.
The live Zoom webinar will be held frm 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. CDT Oct. 1 and 2. It is designed to help attendees "understand, track and analyze the price, demand, supply and competitive dynamics of local timber markets and wood baskets though the use of case studies," according to the Forisk website.
Read MoreWe turn off the highway and drive a couple of miles on a gravel road through the tall longleaf pines of Louisiana’s Kisatchie National Forest. This area in Vernon Parish is home to the once-endangered red-cockaded woodpecker. But now the small woodpecker is making a comeback. Thanks in part to the efforts of humans. Biologists have been tracking these woodpeckers for years, finding their nests dozens of feet above the ground in the trunks of tall pines. They raise a camera to peek inside.
Read MoreAlmosta Ranch, a farm located in Calcasieu Parish, is just a thirty-minute drive from downtown Lake Charles, where kids ages five and up can experience life in the country.
Each day of the camp centers around a new animal and gives kids a full experience from going inside their pens, to feeding and, of course, petting them.
Read MoreIn the year ahead, the United Soybean Board (USB) will boost demand for U.S. Soy, drive on-farm resilience and bring value to the nearly half a million U.S. soybean farmers. Led by its 77 farmer-leaders, USB recently approved a $121.3 million budget for the 2026 fiscal year, strategically allocating funds across vital research, promotion and education investments. This spans the food, feed, fuel, industrial, exports and sustainable production market segments.
Read MoreFarmer Clint Judice represents the seventh generation of his family to farm sugarcane in the heart of southern Louisiana. Challenging soils and proximity to the coast, along with this year’s blizzard bringing 10 inches of snow, make producing nature’s sweetest crop a challenge.
St. Mary Parish, where Judice farms around 4,000 acres of sugarcane, is one of Louisiana’s top sugar-producing parishes. In January, it also was home to the county’s southernmost blizzard warning.
Read MoreThe original Section 18 crisis exemption for Sivanto Prime in sugarcane for aphids/West Indian Cane Fly was set to expire July 18th. However shortly after, LDAF office of Pesticide Programs filed for a specific exemption to extend the use beyond July 18th.
Read MoreUSDA’s Office of Pest Management Policy (OPMP) is requesting your participation in a survey on the use of targeted pesticide application equipment and the incentives and barriers to adoption. The questions in this survey are focused on growers' use of targeted spray technologies for chemical pesticides (for example, See&Spray™, Greeneye™, SmartSpray™ and others). Targeted pesticide application technology has the potential to control weeds and other agricultural pests while reducing the overall amount of pesticide used.
Read MoreAn announcement from President Donald Trump has sparked excitement among sugarcane farmers and processors in South Louisiana. Coca-Cola is reportedly considering a switch from high fructose corn syrup to real cane sugar in its US-manufactured beverages.
President Trump stated that the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola, which has a facility in Lafayette, has agreed to this change. The potential shift is creating a buzz in the local sugar industry, as it could boost demand for cane sugar.
Read MoreEthan Zoerb doesn't mind suiting up to head to Washington, D.C., if he can talk about his favorite subject: corn.
Zoerb serves on a NCGA action team that addresses how to best use checkoff dollars in communication and educational efforts. On the Hill, he met with legislators from Maine, Louisiana and Florida and felt the interactions were interesting and productive.
Read MoreMore than 1,500 attendees gathered in New Orleans in late June for the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation’s 103rd annual convention, making it one of the best-attended sessions in the organization’s history. The event attracted a diverse crowd of farmers, ranchers, educators, policymakers and advocates from across the state, all united by a shared commitment to ensuring Louisiana agriculture has a viable future.
Read MoreFrom turfgrass to tea production and rain gardens to robotics, there was something for just about everyone at the LSU AgCenter’s annual horticulture field day July 18.
Cloudy skies and occasional mist provided a cool backdrop for the event at the Hammond Research Station, which is devoted to improving the horticulture industry through research and plant evaluations.
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