In Louisiana and other catfish-producing states, most growers focus on the production of market-ready fish and purchase fingerling catfish to restock their production ponds from a smaller number of farmers who specialize in fingerling production. In Louisiana, fewer than 20 fingerling producers satisfy the annual seed stock requirements for the state’s catfish industry.

New sugarcane varieties are the lifeblood of the Louisiana sugar industry. In fact, the high and the low points of the Louisiana sugar industry closely parallel those of sugarcane variety development. The first sugarcane varieties grown in Louisiana were of foreign origin. Introduced varieties were typically renamed and included “Creole,” from which Etienne De Bore first granulated sugar, “Otaheite,” and later “Louisiana Striped” and “Louisiana Purple.”

Only a small percentage of the more than 75,000 acres of sugarcane fallow land in Louisiana is planted annually to rotational crops. Most sugarcane growers traditionally have used the fallow period for three purposes: to control troublesome weeds like johnsongrass, itchgrass and bermudagrass; to reform the land to facilitate drainage; and to rejuvenate the soil.

Weeds are a major factor limiting production of sugarcane in Louisiana. The battle for water, light, nutrients and space between weeds and the crop can reduce sugarcane stalk population and yield. Sugarcane differs from other crops in that at least three harvests, and in some cases four to five harvests, are made from a single planting.

The presence of cultivated crops such as rice or volunteer vegetation, grown as food for crawfish in ponds, interferes with seines and requires that crawfish be harvested with small, baited traps over an extended period, beginning as early as mid-November and continuing through April or June.

Herbicides are necessary for obtaining optimum yield and maximum profit in the rice industry. Before the development of selective rice herbicides, weed control involved intensive hand labor. Combined with improved cultural and fertility practices and the development of high yielding varieties, selective herbicides have dramatically increased rice yields in the last 50 years.

Sugarcane has been an integral part of the South Louisiana economy and culture for more than 200 years. When the Jesuit priests first brought sugarcane to Louisiana in 1751, little did they know that they were laying the foundation for an industry that now contributes $2 billion to the Louisiana economy. In the last century, research advances in both production and processing have kept Louisiana’s sugar industry competitive.

Construction of the free-stall barn at the LSU AgCenter’s Southeast Research Station is expected to be completed by Sept. 1, 2001. The barn is Phase III of changes at the station that make it a state-of-the-art dairy research facility as well as dairy farm.

Two scientists have been named to the next Experiment Station Committee on Policy (ESCOP) and Academic Programs Committee on Policy (ACOP) leadership development course, and two have just graduated from their year’s involvement. Michael Moody, head of the Food Science Department, and Roger Leonard, a researcher at the Northeast Research Station, have been selected for the national group.

These three images are of the upper middle field shown on page 25. The photo at top, which is of the bare field, displays the unique pattern of soil variability. It was taken in 1994.