(Distributed 06/18/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – More than 1,000 people braved the heat and humidity of a Louisiana June day to attend the Garden Fest at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden on June 15.

Distributed 06/18/13) WINNSBORO, La. – Louisiana has the lowest cotton acreage in recorded history, with the state’s farmers planting an estimated 125,000 acres this year, according to LSU AgCenter cotton specialist and entomologist David Kerns.

(Distributed 06/17/13) CROWLEY, La. – The short height of this year’s rice crop doesn’t mean it is necessarily late in development. Johnny Saichuk, LSU AgCenter rice specialist, said many rice fields are already at the green ring stage, even though they don’t look tall enough to be that developed.

(Distributed 06/17/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – With the 2013 hurricane season officially underway, the LSU AgCenter’s LaHouse Home and Landscape Resource Center will showcase hurricane and flood-hardy features for both new and existing homes on July 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

(Distributed 06/13/13) HAMMOND, La. – The use of palms in home landscapes has gained considerable interest in the last few years. Several reasons have brought about this resurgence. For one, many new, exotic palm species and varieties are more readily available; however, our cold temperatures the past couple of winters have damaged some of the species, and people are searching for the most reliable palms for landscape use.

(Distributed 06/13/13) WINNSBORO, La. – One of the latest research projects funded by the Louisiana Soybean and Grain Research and Promotion Board will look at the effect of nitrogen loss on corn growth.

(Distributed 06/12/13) WINNSBORO, La. – Portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry is normally a process used by those in the metal industry, but a study funded by the Louisiana Soybean and Grain Research and Promotion Board is using the equipment to look at fertility issues in corn and soybeans.

ZWOLLE, La. – A workshop for landowners interested in starting an outdoor recreational business on their property will be held July 23 at the Wildwood Resort in Sabine Parish.

POLLOCK, La – Charles and Nelda Hutchins have been making mayhaw jelly in their Grant Fruit Processing facility for 12 years. The couple buys mayhaw berries from growers in Louisiana and neighboring states, but they have never seen a mayhaw season this bad.

BATON ROUGE, La – Cristina Sabliov was charged with finding a way to apply nanotechnology to agriculture. Sabliov, a scientist in the LSU AgCenter Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, uses nanotechnology to develop better delivery systems for antioxidants and nutraceuticals.

(Distributed 06/07/13) CROWLEY, La. – Five remaining LSU AgCenter field days for rice farmers will be held in Louisiana. They include the Acadia Parish Rice Field Day, June 14, at the South Farm of the Rice Research Station, starting at 8:30 a.m.

(Distributed 06/07/13) WINNSBORO, La. – The old cliché that says “timing is everything” is especially true when growing soybeans in northeast Louisiana, according to Josh Lofton, LSU AgCenter researcher at the Macon Ridge Research Station near Winnsboro.

(Distributed 06/07/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Gina Eubanks, vice chancellor for extension at the Southern University Agricultural Center, has been named program leader for food and nutrition at the LSU AgCenter. Her joint appointment was approved by the LSU Board of Supervisors on June 7.

(Distributed 06/07/13) HAMMOND, La. – June is here, and that means summer will officially start in a couple of weeks. In reality, Louisiana typically experiences summer-type growing conditions from early to mid-May to as late as late September or early October.

(Distributed 06/06/13) ALEXANDRIA, La. – RoyOMartin, a forest-products and forestland-management company based here, has announced that it will make a $500,000 donation to the LSU AgCenter’s Grant Walker Educational Center near Pollock, La. The donation will nearly fulfill the fundraising commitment for a second phase of the new multipurpose building at the center.

(Distributed 06/05/13) ALEXANDRIA, La. – LSU AgCenter extension agents got a better understanding of the cattle market on June 4 using a computer simulator that replicates selling cattle at the feedlot.

(Distributed 06/05/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Jeff Davis, LSU AgCenter entomologist, is finding stink bugs in agricultural fields earlier this year than expected. More alarming, though, is his finding of redbanded stink bug nymphs on June 3 on soybeans only 8 inches tall, and adult redbanded stink bugs in 12-inch-high soybean plots.

(DIstributed 06/04/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The public will have a chance to cast their vote in the contest for the American Garden Award at the annual Garden Fest at Burden on June 15 at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens in Baton Rouge.

(Distributed 06/03/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter’s wheat breeding program has begun using molecular makers – small fragments of DNA – to help with disease and herbicide resistance.

(Distributed 05/31/13) HAMMOND, La. – The largest Louisiana landscape evaluation of ornamental plants, especially annual flowers and herbaceous perennials, is located at the LSU AgCenter Hammond Research Station on Old Covington Highway just east of Hammond.

(Distributed 05/30/13) CROWLEY, La. – The LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station Field Day on June 26 will feature the latest in research tailored at helping Louisiana rice farmers.

(Distributed 05/30/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter School of Renewable Natural Resources will host the fourth Louisiana Natural Resources Symposium on Aug. 1-2, 2013, at the Lod Cook Conference Center on the LSU Campus.

(Distributed 05/30/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Rice farmers joined an LSU AgCenter reception for legislators and their staffs on May 28. The event, held at the Pentagon Barracks near the Capitol, featured a new line of Louisiana-grown rice products by Louisiana Rice Mill.

(Distributed 05/29/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter and Pennington Biomedical Research Center are embarking on an ambitious nutrition education program in West Carroll Parish, starting June 1. Anchored by the town of Oak Grove, West Carroll sits in Louisiana’s Delta region where the incidence of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and obesity are higher than in other areas of the state.

(Distributed 05/28/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU AgCenter personnel are looking for Asian soybean rust in kudzu and soybean sentinel plots across the state.

(Distributed 05/27/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Cattle industry experts are becoming increasingly concerned about cattle parasites’ resistance to dewormers – a condition known as anthelmintic resistance.

(Distributed 05/27/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – While it has been three years since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, scientists are still researching to determine its impact on the plants and animals that inhabit the ecosystems of the Gulf of Mexico.

(Distributed 05/24/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – After the devastating tornado in Oklahoma, people in Louisiana may be wondering how they can protect themselves from a storm’s winds. LaHouse, the LSU AgCenter’s showcase home and landscape resource center on the LSU campus, addresses storm safety issues, according to Claudette Reichel, extension housing specialist.

(Distributed 05/24/13) ABBEVILLE, La. – The Louisiana County Agents Association honored two of its members on May 21 at the organization’s annual convention.

(Distributed 05/24/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – This year will mark the 99th time 4-H Club members will compete in a variety of contests and hold elections for statewide officers on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge.

(Distributed 05/24/13) MAMOU, La. – LSU AgCenter rice experts speaking at the Evangeline Parish Rice Tour on May 23 said this year’s rice crop so far has been unusual and difficult.

(Distributed 05/24/13) HAMMOND, La. – Vinca is the most popular, most sold and most planted warm-season bedding plant in Louisiana. We sometimes call this plant periwinkle.

(Distributed 05/23/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – With the heat of summer here and people headed outside to enjoy the sunshine and warm temperatures, it may seem like a great time to take your dog for a run. But is it safe?

(Distributed 05/22/13) LAFAYETTE, La. – Joey Durel, Lafayette city-parish president, wants to make sure the local Master Gardeners organization will have a major role at the new 100-acre park commonly known as the Horse Farm.

(Distributed 05/21/13) ST. JOSEPH, La. – Research at the LSU AgCenter Northeast Research Station on corn, cotton and soybeans will be featured at the pest management and crop production field day on June 19.

(Distributed 05/20/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Wholesale beef prices are at historically high levels. This may affect summer cookouts as consumers can expect to see higher prices at the grocery store. LSU AgCenter livestock economist Ross Pruitt said drought in the Midwest in 2012 led to a shortage of hay and higher corn prices. This in turn is affecting beef prices.

(Distributed 05/20/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – For almost 20 years a group of volunteers has made life easier for those with gardening questions and others in need of an extra set of hands to help with a big seminar.

(Distributed 05/17/13) HAMMOND, La. – Spring blooms on roses came late this year due to unusually cool conditions in March and April. But May flowering has been outstanding throughout Louisiana. In most home landscapes, roses perform their best at first flowering in spring and at fall bloom in October.

(Distributed 05/17/13) LAFAYETTE, La. – Building a pond requires more than just digging a hole and waiting for rain, LSU AgCenter experts said at a pond seminar recently (May 14). Planning and following basic guidelines can prevent problems.

(Distributed 05/16/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU AgCenter researchers are studying a bird species that lives only in coastal marshes to try to determine how it may be affected the by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.

(Distributed 05/15/13) MAMOU, La. – The Evangeline Parish Rice Tour will be held May 23 starting at 8 a.m. The first stop will be at Hebert Farms off Bieber Road. Signs will be posted to indicate the location, approximately 4.7 miles west of La. Highway 13.

(Distributed 05/15/13) MANY, La. – Poultry producers are getting help to face the expected challenge of inspections by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

(Distributed 05/14/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Children from all regions of Louisiana are learning about science, math and other subjects while watching their food grow in school gardens, according to LSU AgCenter county agent Miles Brashier, of Pointe Coupee Parish.

(Distributed 05/14/13) HAMMOND, La. – More than 200 Louisiana Master Gardeners braved downpours to be recognized for their volunteer efforts at the LSU AgCenter Hammond Research Station on May 10.

(Distributed 05/13/13) MANSURA, La. – A dozen new inductees into the Louisiana 4-H Hall of Fame were recognized at a ceremony at the 4-H Museum here on May 11 for their work with 4-H clubs across the state.

(Distributed 05/13/13) The LSU AgCenter 4-H program will share in a $2 million grant from the Walmart Foundation to help teach healthy living and eating choices.

(Distributed 05/10/13) HAMMOND, La. – Althea goes by the scientific name of Hibiscus syriacus. When they look at althea, most gardeners are reminded of the hibiscus family, to which this popular, Southern heritage plant belongs. These plants are also known as rose of Sharon.

(Distributed 05/10/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter LaHouse Resource Center will host a Lead Certified Renovator Training course on Thursday, May 23, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

(Distributed 05/10/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Small studies on alligator nutrition have been ongoing at the LSU AgCenter Aquaculture Research Station, but with the addition of new facilities, those projects can be expanded, according to LSU AgCenter assistant vice chancellor Phil Elzer.

(Distributed 05/10/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Small studies on alligator nutrition have been ongoing at the LSU AgCenter Aquaculture Research Station, but with the addition of new facilities, those projects can be expanded, according to LSU AgCenter assistant vice chancellor Phil Elzer.

(Distributed 05/10/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Small studies on alligator nutrition have been ongoing at the LSU AgCenter Aquaculture Research Station, but with the addition of new facilities, those projects can be expanded, according to LSU AgCenter assistant vice chancellor Phil Elzer.

(Distributed 05/09/13) Barbe Elementary School in Lake Charles received a gold award of distinction from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service’s HealthierUS Schools Challenge Tuesday (May 7) at the Calcasieu Parish School Board meeting. The award recognizes schools that have created healthier school environments through promotion of nutrition and physical activity.

(Distributed 05/07/13) SHREVEPORT, La. – Pecan growers meeting at the LSU AgCenter Pecan Research Station May 3 heard that proposed federal regulations under the Food Safety Modernization Act could have a major effect on their operations.

BATON ROUGE, La. – Food, music and hayride tours will be featured at the annual Garden Fest at Burden on June 15 at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens in Baton Rouge.

(Distributed 05/07/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Five 2013 state 4-H Commodity Ambassador contests named 15 winners on Tuesday, April 16, on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge. In all, 80 4-H’ers from across the state competed in the chicken, egg, seafood, sugar and turkey ambassador contests.

(Distributed 05/07/13) MANGHAM, La. – Students and parents gathered at Mangham Elementary School on April 25 to participate in Family Nutrition Night, an innovative, hands-on experience as part of the school wellness program.

(Distributed 05/16/13) LAFAYETTE, La. – The LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant will hold a pond management seminar May 14, starting at 6:30 p.m.

(Distributed 05/03/13) HAMMOND, La. – If you like the flowering habit of shade-loving impatiens, you’ll be excited to know that a new type of impatiens is on the market that will thrive in our Louisiana summer heat and humidity – SunPatiens.

(Distributed 05/02/13) CROWLEY, La. – Officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency met for a two-day (April 30-May 1) whirlwind tour of Louisiana agriculture with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry and the LSU AgCenter to give the EPA an understanding of the state’s unique challenges.

(Distributed 05/02/13) NORCO, La. – On an unseasonably cold day in late April, a group of high school students from Washington, D.C., got into Lake Pontchartrain to help save the wetlands that border it.

(Distributed 04/29/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The agricultural economy in Louisiana grew to a record high value of $11.4 billion in 2012, an increase of 6.5 percent over the 2011 amount of $10.7 billion, according to the latest figures released by the LSU AgCenter.

(Distributed 04/29/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new pavilion on April 25.

(Distributed 04/29/13) CROWLEY, La. – Southwest Louisiana farmers are frustrated this year with a larger-than-usual number of birds eating rice seed, causing many farmers to replant.

(Distributed 04/26/13) HAMMOND, La. – One of the nicest small, flowering trees for Louisiana landscapes is the chaste tree or vitex (Vitex agnus-castus). Midspring through early summer is the main time for flowering on this increasingly popular plant.

(Distributed 04/24/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Matt Fannin, an associate professor in the LSU AgCenter Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, has been appointed as associate director for analytic and academic programs in the Rural Policy Research Institute.

(Distributed 04/24/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The day after the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig – April 21, 2010 – Linda Hooper-Bui, an LSU AgCenter entomologist, had a graduate student sampling insect populations in the marshes of southeast Louisiana.

(Distributed 04/24/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Louisiana cotton producers have the opportunity to provide direction for prioritizing cotton research in Louisiana by participating in a survey being conducted by the LSU AgCenter.

(Distributed 04/23/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Many area students who know little about where their food comes from received a lesson complete with live farm animals when they attended Farm Day at the LSU AgCenter dairy on April 18-19.

(Distributed 04/22/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are presenting a workshop on complying with regulations on genetically engineered organisms on April 30 in Baton Rouge.

(Distributed 04/19/13) WINNSBORO, La. – The 2013 wheat harvest in Louisiana is only a few weeks from beginning, and experts aren’t sure how the crop will turn out.

(Distributed 04/19/13) HAMMOND, La. – Lantanas continue to be one of the most popular herbaceous perennials for Louisiana landscapes. Many varieties, some old and some new, offer a multitude of growth forms and flower colors.

(Distributed 04/18/13) BOSSIER CITY, La. – Growing grass efficiently was the focus of the LSU AgCenter Red River Research Station Beef and Forage Field Day held April 16.

(Distributed 04/12/13) HAMMOND, La. – As the peak of the spring bedding plant season arrives, we may need a few warm-season flowers in our shade areas around the landscape.

(Distributed 04/11/13) CAMERON, La. – LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant representatives met with a handful of shrimpers April 9 to tell them about ways to make more money.

(Distributed 04/10/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden will hold the groundbreaking ceremony for its new pavilion at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 25.

(Distributed 04/10/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Louisiana agricultural producers are highly dependent on the world market to sell their commodities, and a new export facility at the Port of Baton Rouge could increase the amount of ag products shipped abroad.

(Distributed 04/10/13) CHALMETTE, La. – Darion Dewhirst had never tasted a tomato before Beth Gambel brought her mobile iPad lab and bags of fresh vegetables to his school. Now the third grader looks forward to trying new vegetables.

(Distributed 04/09/13) CROWLEY, La. – Rice planting in the southern part of Louisiana is wrapping up, and north Louisiana farmers are getting ready to plant.

(Distributed 04/09/13) FRANKLINTON, La. – Scientists from the LSU AgCenter and Mississippi State University shared findings from research on forage and feed at a Southeast Research Station field day here on April 5.

(Distributed 04/09/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – This prom season high school girls will spend weeks struggling to find the perfect dress – will it be gold metallic, ravishing red, bright white or the hottest color? The dress is just the beginning.

(Distributed 04/09/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana 4-H Foundation has announced that it has met its financial goals to begin construction on the first phase of its multipurpose building at the Grant Walker 4-H Educational Center near Pollock, La.

(Distributed 04/08/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – An LSU AgCenter researcher recently received a $100,000 grant from the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources pending final approval from the state contracting office to provide a series of water project evaluations and management plans regarding the Atchafalaya Floodway System.

(Distributed 04/05/13) HAMMOND, La. – Joseph’s coat, which includes several species of Alternanthera, is one of those old garden plants that is becoming new again. These are foliage plants for the landscape.

(Distributed 04/05/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – April is the ideal time to resume the annual war against red imported fire ants in Louisiana, according to experts in the LSU AgCenter.

(Distributed 04/05/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Tax credits can reduce the amount of tax you must pay. A refundable tax credit not only reduces the federal tax you owe, but may also result in a refund.

(Distributed 04/05/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Connecting Cooperative Extension Service personnel in each state when information is needed after a disaster is the goal of LSU AgCenter disaster specialist Pat Skinner.

(Distributed 04/04/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter and Junior League of Baton Rouge will offer the last of the Story Time at Burden series on April 13 at the Steele Burden Orangerie.

(Distributed 04/02/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The next lead-certified renovator training class will be held at the LSU AgCenter LaHouse Resource Center from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on April 16.

(Distributed 03/28/13) NEW ORLEANS, La. – More than 200 economists, sociologists and government policymakers brought ideas and lively discussion about ecosystem services and valuation to the “Big Easy” during the 4th National Forum on Socioeconomic Research in Coastal Systems on March 24-26.

(Distributed 03/28/13) HAMMOND, La. – In Louisiana, we are ideally located to grow many plants that are adapted to more tropical and semi-tropical climates. This is especially true south of Interstate 10 and Interstate 12.

(Distributed 03/26/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter’s 4-H youth development program has received a $1.5 million, three-year grant to continue a wetlands-based curriculum aimed at students and teachers in grades fourth through 12th. This is the third time the AgCenter has received a grant for this program, which has been in operation since 2007.

(Distributed 03/25/13) DELCAMBRE, La. – Experts from the LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant met with area shrimpers to help them become more efficient, learn new technology and comply with federal fishing regulations. “We are talking about efficiency and quality,” said Thomas Hymel, extension agent.

(Distributed 03/22/13) NEW ORLEANS, La. – New Orleans is famous for its food. Fried seafood, rich gumbos and spicy etouffees are some of the city’s staples. But healthier fare is making its mark on the city’s landscape in the form of urban farms.

(Distributed 03/22/13) HAMMOND, La. – Gardeners have long desired flowers that are low-maintenance in their landscape. But they also want these flowers to last spring through fall.

(Distributed 03/12/13) LSU AgCenter will conduct a wheat and oat field day on April 17 at the Macon Ridge Research Station south of Winnsboro, La.

(Distributed 03/20/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Dan Hayes, an assistant professor in the LSU AgCenter Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, has been awarded a $400,000 Career Award grant from the National Science Foundation.

(Distributed 03/20/13) ALEXANDRIA, La. – Farmers sowed the first seeds of spring with corn going into the ground early in March. Wet weather delayed the start of planting, according to LSU AgCenter corn specialist, Ronnie Levy, but once drier conditions moved in, farmers planted a lot of corn in a short time.

(Distributed 01/25/13) ST. GABRIEL, La. – The fledgling biofuels and bioprocessing industry in the South took a step forward Friday, Jan. 25, with the formal commissioning of a pilot plant at the LSU AgCenter Audubon Sugar Institute.

(Distributed 12/13/12)BATON ROUGE, La. – Buck moths on the wing in December conjure up thoughts of buck moth caterpillars in the yard in spring. And large numbers of buck moths flying in south Louisiana this season suggest buck moth caterpillars will abound next spring, according to experts at the LSU AgCenter.

(Distributed 08/15/12) For many people, just the act of fishing can provide relief from the stresses of everyday life. But catching fish can put food on the table, and for some, this is the best part of owning a recreational pond.

(Distributed 07/03/12) The LSU AgCenter’s 30th Annual Sugarcane Field Day will be held July 18 at the Sugar Research Station near St. Gabriel, beginning with registration at 8:30 a.m.

(Distributed 04/05/12) Many Louisiana gardeners enjoy a summer landscape planting of caladiums. These are one of the most popular plants to fill shady gardens because they thrive in the heat and humidity common in Louisiana summers. Caladiums are a great, low-maintenance bedding plant.