Predatory birds cause problems for aquaculture farmers because they eat their crops. In Louisiana, birds such as cormorants and pelicans prey on young catfish and crawfish, which costs producers thousands of dollars each year in lost revenue.

The number of annual bedding plant species and varieties available for residential and commercial landscape has increased dramatically in the last five to 10 years.

The heat is a winter crop that is often part of a double-cropping system, most often followed by soybeans. There is considerable interest in double-cropping cotton and grain sorghum with wheat. In North Louisiana wheat is planted in mid October to mid November and harvested from mid May to early June.

Consumer use of farmers’ markets has been steadily increasing in the last few years. The number of markets in the United States has grown by 63 percent since 1994. As of 2002, there were 2,868 farmers’ markets.

Vol. 46, No. 1

LSU AgCenter agricultural engineers Randy Price and Steven Hall are developing robotic boats that will keep winged predators out of commercial ponds.