During this time of financial emergency for the LSU AgCenter, it has been difficult to add new staff. But, fortunately, two key positionswere filled that have major implications for Louisiana’s economic development.

Thirteen of Louisiana’s finest farmers have completed the rigorous requirements to become a Master Farmer – a title that means they have not only learned the latest in scientifically based conservation techniques but they are voluntarily implementing them on their farms.

PDF of Louisiana Agriculture Magazine Summer 2006

Despite its relatively small size compared to many other states, Louisiana produces a wide and diverse array of agricultural products. Agriculture is big business and a major contributor to the state and many local economies. Sales of agricultural products provide income to thousands of farm families across the state.

Katrina and Rita – names that will live forever – remain a part of the South Louisiana dialog and a pair of storms that will undoubtedly reshape the way Louisiana residents think about tropicalweather. Virtually every aspect of community and business life across the Bayou State continues to display a direct effect from these catastrophes, and their signatures of destruction remain plainly evident in the agriculture and forestry sectors as well.

What is leadership? For many people, it is a difficult concept to understand because it is intangible. Even if most people would find it difficult to define leadership, they are likely to know a good leader when they see one.

Because soybeans are planted earlier in Louisiana, different insect species are becoming problematic. One of most concern is the red-banded stink bug.

For more than 10 years, rice producers in southwestern Louisiana have occasionally encountered a mysterious disorder in their crops. LSU AgCenter researchers have methodically worked to unravel the "mystery" and help farmers deal with this problem.

With weeds being a major pest in production agriculture, most growers have come to rely on herbicides to prevent negative effects on yield. Producers may choose from many herbicides, depending on the crop they are growing and the weed species affecting the crop.

Since the release of the first generationof Roundup Ready cotton in 1995, U.S. cotton producers have shown a willingness to adopt this new technology.

Crawfish yields for the 2005-2006 production season were abnormallylow. This is especially true for those using the production strategy of culturing crawfish following rice in a field rotation. Prolonged summer drought when crawfish are confined to burrows, where they reproduce, can hamper reproduction if residual water within the burrows is lacking.

In 2005, Louisiana producers harvested more than 16,000 acres of sweet potatoes with a total value exceeding $90 million. Research suggests that the majority of yield loss in the Beauregard sweet potato is caused by weed interference during the first two to eight weeks after transplant.

Roundup Ready cropping systems, which feature plant varieties genetically enhanced to withstand application of glyphosate herbicide with minimal to no adverse effect on the crop, have proven to be effective and cost-efficient for managing weeds in cotton and soybean.

The Hammond Research Station, just outside Hammond, La., has been undergoing a transformation to provide more research and education for the green service industry.

On April 25, 2006, the LSU AgCenter released two new sugarcane varieties, L 99-226 and L 99-233, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Research Service Sugarcane Research Laboratory in Houma and the American Sugar Cane League.

Nearly 200 farmers and other agricultural industry representatives attended the annual field day at the Northeast Research Station in St. Joseph, La., on June 14, 2006. The half-day program featured stops at 10 field locations where LSU AgCenter scientists explained their research with row crops.

Perennial weeds such as alligatorweed and redvine are becoming more difficult to control as producers adopt conservation tillage practices.