Donald E. Franke, professor in the Department of Animal Sciences, has been awarded the Rockefeller Prentice Memorial Award in Animal Breeding and Genetics. “This is the highest award of its kind in the country,” said Paul Humes, department head. “Only one such award is presented each year.” The presentation was made at the annual meeting of the American Society of Animal Science.
Michael Saska, professor at the Audubon Sugar Institute, was awarded the Sugar Industries Technologists Crystal Award. This achievement award is made annually to a technologist from anywhere in the world who has made a significant contribution to advancing the technology of the international sugar industry, according to Peter Rein, head of the Audubon Sugar Institute.
Marybeth Lima, assistant professor in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, has been awarded the A.W. Farrall Young Educator Award for 2002 by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers.
T. Eugene “Gene” Reagan, professor in the Department of Entomology, has been selected to receive an LSU Distinguished Faculty Award for 2002. Only 10 such awards were given this year and only one to a professor in agriculture. This honor indicates a sustained record of excellence in research, teaching and service.
James L. “Jim” Griffin, weed scientist and professor in the Department of Agronomy, has been named the Lee F. Mason LSU Alumni Association Professor in the College of Agriculture. This honor is in recognition of outstanding teaching and includes a supplementary salary stipend of $5,000 annually and a $2,500 academic support budget.
M.C. “Chuck” Rush, professor, and Abul-Khair Shahjahan, post-doctoral fellow, from the Department of Plant Pathology and Crop Physiology, and Donald E. Groth, professor at the Rice Research Station in Crowley, won the Distinguished Rice Research and Education Team Award at the Rice Technical Working Group meeting in Little Rock, Ark. The award recognized their research identifying a bacterial cause for rice panicle blight, which is a major constraint on rice production in Louisiana and other southern states.
Michael E. McCormick has been named resident coordinator at the Southeast Research Station in Franklinton. He will continue with some of his research work in dairy nutrition and assume some of the administrative duties of James Beatty, the former resident director who retired March 1.
Poultry Litter Composting Process Looks To Be Money Saver
Once again the magical powers of composting are proving to be productive—this time in North Louisiana broiler houses. An AgCenter team has devised a way to use composting techniques on poultry litter to rid it of dangerous pathogens that can kill new “biddies,” the baby broilers. This will help reduce reliance on expensive chemicals to sanitize the bedding and delay the need to buy new bedding. The AgCenter is conducting this demonstration project with several ConAgra producers. The farmer goes into the emptied house with a tractor-drawn scraper blade and creates rows of the bedding at least 2 feet high. These heaped rows, called “windrows,” contain enough oxygen and moisture to generate heat, which kills the pathogens in seven to 10 days. During this period, the AgCenter scientists are also finding that the heat dries out the bedding enough to vaporize ammonia buildup, which is also harmful to the biddies. The farmer can then go back in, re-spread the bedding and have a broiler house safer for new arrivals. The AgCenter team includes Theresia Lavergne, poultry specialist; Bill Carney, environmental specialist; David Schellinger, research associate; and Matt Stephens, county agent in Union Parish. So far, ConAgra is impressed with the cost savings and is encouraging its producers to use composting techniques.
Macon Ridge Gains New Lab Building
A new 4,000-square-foot pest management research building at the Macon Ridge Research Station at Winnsboro has been completed. It includes offices for research associates, labs and a workroom that can double as a meeting room. The research being conducted there will be that of Roger Leonard, cotton entomologist, and Boyd Padgett, plant pathologist.
Linda Foster Benedict
(This article was published in the summer 2002 issue of Louisiana Agriculture.) |