From Saturday night in Tiger Stadium to golf courses, lawns, cemeteries, sod farms, airports, roadsides and parks, turfgrasses provide environmental, economic, recreational, employment, health, safety and aesthetic benefits to Louisiana.

In Louisiana, southern green stink bugs and brown stink bugs have become common pests of corn, cotton, grain sorghum, soybean and wheat. In corn, an infestation can cause injury to the plant from seedling emergence through ear formation and grain development. Seedlings punctured by stink bugs exhibit small holes surrounded by localized dead tissue.

Saltwater intrusion into rice production has been a cause for concern in southwest Louisiana for decades. But storm surges from recent hurricanes coupled with recent droughts have brought this problem to the forefront.

Water is an essential resource for aquaculture. No single factor influences the success of aquaculture operations more than the availability of good-quality water.

The LSU AgCenter conducts extension programs to inform Louisiana citizens about water resources and ecosystem policy, protection and conservation.

Most agricultural producers who irrigate are using older diesel power units and old wells where upgrading to newer wells and diesel engines or electric motors needs to be technically and economically evaluated.

Runoff from highway rights-of-way can be difficult to manage. Following extended rainfall duration and short periods of high intensity rainfall water, seepage on sloping soils commences and becomes the dominant mechanism that initiates runoff and erosion.

Aquaculture is a nearly half-billion dollar per year industry in Louisiana. Many aquaculture systems include water filtration to protect fish and maintain water quality, enhancing productivity and the environment.

With an annual statewide-average rainfall of approximately 60 inches per year, only Hawaii receives more rain on an average statewide basis. Louisiana’s proximity to the Gulf of Mexico is the primary source for the state’s rains and makes her just slightly wetter than her central Gulf Coast sisters, Mississippi and Alabama – and notably wetter than Florida

The quality of water resources is a major concern in Louisiana and nationally. Surface and subsurface water quality depends in large part on human activities in the surrounding areas.

In addition to being the showplace for home building ideas, the LSU AgCenter’s LaHouse in Baton Rouge also serves as a model for a sustainable home landscape.

Population growth and urbanization over the last century have raised concerns about stormwater runoff and the environmental impact of the pollutants it may carry, such as fertilizer from home lawns and recreational turf areas.

Managing and restoring coastal wetlands requires knowledge of wetland conditions and the factors creating the desired conditions. Flooding stress, nutrient starvation and salinity stress are the most likely suspects in wetlands that have higher loss rates or appear less productive than typical wetlands.

Tidal surges from hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike deposited enormous amounts of salt in the sugarcane fields of coastal Louisiana in a period of active tropical weather from 2005 to 2008.

About 40 percent of the nation’s coastal wetlands are in Louisiana and include contiguous freshwater wetlands, contiguous brackish wetlands, and low and high salt marshes. These natural ecosystems are highly productive and serve as critical nursery areas for Gulf of Mexico sea life, ensuring a thriving marine and fisheries industry.

The mantra of the environmental movement reads – Reuse, Reduce, Recycle. In this regard, the ancient farming practice of land application of animal waste is an environmental trifecta – excreta is reused as a fertilizer, thereby reducing the application of inorganic fertilizer while recycling organic matter back into the soil.

The Mississippi-Atchafalaya River carries a large quantity of nutrients, making Louisiana’s estuarine and coastal waters highly productive for commercial fisheries.

Trying to keep the University Lakes in Baton Rouge clean and healthy is a goal of LSU AgCenter researcher Yi Jun Xu, associate professor in the School of Renewable Natural Resources.

Flooding from Hurricane Katrina has resulted in federal and state mandates to raise levees in New Orleans and surrounding parishes.

As the largest bottomland hardwood swamp ecosystem in the United States, the Atchafalaya River Basin offers a tremendous diversity of terrestrial and aquatic habitats that support many economically and recreationally important activities including oil and gas extraction, shipping, farming, timber harvesting, hunting, and commercial and recreational fishing.

Dissolved oxygen (DO) is an important indicator for water quality in surface water bodies. Like most terrestrial organisms, fish and many other aquatic organisms are adapted to a narrow range of DO concentrations.

Water quality describes the chemical, physical and biological properties of water. It embodies many complex characteristics including temperature, dissolved oxygen and other gases

These articles were published in the fall 2011 issue of Louisiana Agriculture Magazine.

For an urban university, it may be a well-kept secret that some of the best dairy products in Louisiana are produced on the LSU campus.

THORNWELL, La. – Birdwatchers from 23 states and two countries converged on rice fields in Jefferson Davis Parish to get a glimpse of the small, elusive bird called the yellow rail.

A system to test various aspects of crawfish biology and culture has recently been completed at the South Unit of the Rice Research Station in Crowley.

In 2011, Texas experienced a severe drought that state officials declared as the worst on record. Sustained dry, hot conditions caused fires and damage to the ranching and farming industry, as well as placed a strain on the state’s recreational hunting and fishing sector.

This issue of Louisiana Agriculture is devoted to the water resources of Louisiana and the commitment the LSU AgCenter has made to protecting and improving these resources. 36 pages. Fall 2011, Vol. 54, No. 4

Soon the portrait of another farm animal first will hang on the wall of the narrow hallway at the LSU AgCenter’s Embryo Biotechnology Laboratory, located near St. Gabriel, La.

Louisiana grain sorghum fields are threatened by a group on insects that includes the corn earworm, fall armyworm and sorghum webworm.

Wheat is a versatile crop that easily fits into several cropping systems. Additionally, harvest and marketing in the late spring provide producers much needed cash flow to support summer farming activities.

Weed management in wheat is usually relatively simple compared to other agronomic crops, but it does require planning. The most important aspect of managing weeds in wheat is establishing a good stand before weeds emerge.

Since 1999, stripe rust has emerged as the predominant disease of wheat in Louisiana. Losses from stripe rust escalated from zero in 1999 to 5 percent in 2005. LSU AgCenter scientists are focusing on ways to control this disease.

Over the past 20 years, the feed grain industry in Louisiana has generated an average farm gate value of roughly $136 million per year.

Historically in Louisiana, producers will double-crop 95 percent of all wheat acreage with soybeans, so proper management of wheat stubble is critical in maximizing soybean yields.

Choosing varieties for production is among the most important decisions farmers make each season. For maximum profit, producers must select adapted varieties that will perform well in their farm environments.

Aflatoxin is perhaps the major production concern for Louisiana corn growers. LSU AgCenter researchers are taking three approaches to help control aflatoxin.

LSU AgCenter researchers have found resistance in corn borers to commercial Bt corn. The resistance detected in the sugarcane borer is the first major resistance to Bt corn in any corn borer species.

Most producers recognize the importance of managing weeds in corn and grain sorghum and do an excellent job with the tools available. The main weakness in many weed management programs is the lack of early season weed control, which can be critical to maximizing yield.

The sugarcane beetle is a sporadic pest of several crops including field corn, sugarcane and sweet potatoes across many southern states. Only the adult stage of these beetles is reported to cause crop injury.

On-farm demonstrations are nothing new to the LSU AgCenter, and in 2002, a variety/hybrid-based program specifically focusing on soybean, corn and grain sorghum was initiated.

Zinc deficiencies in corn appear to be increasing with sometimes severe effects on yield. The increase may be due to declining soil organic matter, where a little decrease can significantly affect micro-nutrient availability.

The mid-March to early April planting dates required for optimal corn production in Louisiana often result in exposure of seedlings to lower than optimal soil temperatures.

When Hurricane Katrina hit the GulfCoast on August 29, 2005, it disrupted grain transportation on the Mississippi River. More than half the grain exported from the United States passes through the Mississippi River Gulf Grain Transportation and Handling Complex.

The focus of the fall 2006 issue is feed grains, which include corn, grain sorghum (milo), wheat and oats. Corn is the most widely grown of the feed grains in Louisiana, but the others have become increasingly valuable to the economy. 36 pages. Vol. 49, No. 4.

Conservation tillage systems, including no-till and stale seedbed, require successful control of native winter vegetation or planted cover crops before planting. Some winter vegetation is easy to control, such as annual bluegrass and common chickweed, while others are difficult, including curly dock and ryegrass.

The recent outbreak of foodborne illness traced to fresh spinach should serve as a reminder for taking food safety measures every day, according toLSU AgCenter nutritionist Beth Reames.

To help continue the supply of new small-grain varieties in the South, a regional cooperative was established among five universities in 2005. Called SUNGRAINS (Southeastern UNiversity GRAINS), the cooperative’s mission is to more efficiently develop wheat, oat, rye and barley varieties for growers and seed producers.

The LSU AgCenter small-grain breeding program was initiated in 1985 when research priorities shifted from variety testing and production practices to genetics and variety development.

Plant breeding is a long-term investment in agriculture’s future. The science of plant breeding has evolved considerably in the past 20 years with the development of techniques such as marker assisted selection and genetic transformation. Yet, even with these improvements,plant breeding is dependent on developing large numbers of breeding lines and testing those breeding lines across multiple environments.

The feed grains are a diverse group of crops, each with a unique set of problems, challenges and opportunities. Feed grains in Louisiana include corn, grain sorghum (milo), wheat and oats.

Consumers will find an abundance of high quality Louisiana-grown citrus this year, according to growers and industry observers.

The 2007 LSU AgCenter “Get It Growing” calendar is now available.

Louisiana farmers will plant alot more wheat this year than last.At least that’s what LSU AgCenterexperts predict – provided the weathercooperates in October and November.

At a ceremony in the Governor’s Mansion on Oct. 4, Gov. Kathleen Blanco, center, signeda proclamation honoring National 4-H Week

Viruses cause lost productivity in all species of agricultural plants and animals. Viruses work by entering a cell and subverting the essential functions of that host cell to replicate their own kind. Implicit in this strategy for survival are consequences for their hosts, ranging from pain and suffering to possible death, depending on the nature of the virus and the particular host.

Volunteers play a vital role in the delivery of research-based programs conducted by the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service.

Howard Cormier, county agent for rice and sugarcane in Vermilion Parish, waded into a rice field near Gueydan to get a firsthand look at weeds in the fledgling crop.“I see duck salad, sesbania, paspalum. Here’s some bull’s tongue.”

Bill Williams, formerly an associate professorat the LSU AgCenter’s Northeast ResearchStation in St. Joseph, has assumed a 75 percent appointment as extension weed scientist with a 25 percent research appointment.His office has moved to the Scott Researchand Extension Center in Winnsboro.

Several new food products or ingredients have been identified as contributing to human health. Including such ingredients in manufactured dairy products would improve their health-giving benefits. LSU AgCenter researchers are testing how the incorporation of these health-beneficial ingredients in dairy products affects physico-chemical and sensory characteristics.

The introduction of glyphosate-resistant transgenic (Roundup Ready) technology has offered an alternative for control of troublesome weeds in cotton, soybean and corn. One drawback to this technology is that “volunteer” Roundup Ready crop plants originating from seed produced the previous crop year have become “weeds.”

Before the availability of transgenic technology in cotton, weed management programs consisted of herbicide applications to the soil at planting followed by multiple herbicide applications directed underneath the crop in combination with tillage to control emerged weeds. Today, weeds are managed with over-the-top applications.

The projected Louisiana gross farm value of forest products decreased in 2003. The 2003 total sawlog harvest fell by more than 111 million board feet (9.5%) to a cut of 1,116,383,390 board feet.

Tenderness is a major determinant of our enjoyment in eating beef and is based on two factors, said Kenneth McMillin, professor of meat science in the Department of Animal Sciences. Connective tissue, which changes with an animal’s age and type of muscle, is a primary factor, while physical attributes, including the length of the muscle fibers and their relative density also affect tenderness.

While agricultural engineering has traditionally been employed for large scale monitoring, application and production,many new discoveries at smaller scales are improving our knowledge and application in agriculture.

During 2010, farms in 14 parishes commercially grew vegetables in 3.4 acres of greenhouse space, up slightly from 2009.

Tree and plant bark and similar resources are widely used in the Louisiana nursery and landscape industries and across the southeastern United States.

The Louisiana Super Plant program debuted in the fall of 2010 as an ornamental plant marketing program for Louisiana. Its purpose is to benefit all sectors of the nursery and landscape industry in Louisiana.

Specialty cut flowers, or nontraditional cut flowers, have become increasingly important in agriculture. Typically, specialty cut flower growers are owners of small acreages that have the basic equipment for producing a horticultural crop.

Additional images for "Weeds in Container Nursery Crops"

LSU AgCenter researchers had nearly $1.4 million in proposals approved by the Louisiana Board of Regents in the 2004 competition."We fared well under these competitive conditions," said David Boethel, vice chancellor and director of research.

Nearly 80 visitors attended the inaugural nursery, landscape and floriculture open house at the new ornamental and turfgrass research facility at the LSU AgCenter's Burden Center in Baton Rouge on April 23.

Growing high-cash-value vegetable crops under cover can exceed expectations. Europeans and Canadians are producing most of their fresh-market vegetables in greenhouses.

Stripe rust, a fungal disease, has begun causing problems for Louisiana wheat growers. And LSU AgCenter researchers are developing a disease forecasting system to try to head off an epidemic.

The Internet allows people access to a vast amount of information in a wide variety of formats at considerably lower costs in much shorter time than ever before. The Internet has removed geographical and time constraints ininformation gathering.

A recent study examined the preferencesof Louisiana farmers and crop consultants related to acquiring agricultural information. A secondary purposeof the study was to determine how farmers perceived LSU AgCenter information sources on accuracy, awareness and usefulness.

Aflatoxin is a highly carcinogenic contaminant produced in corn grain infected with Aspergillus flavus fungus. Aflatoxin is especially widespread in Louisiana when high temperatures and drought conditions prevail during the grain-filling period.

A big hurdle to increased corn production in Louisiana is aflatoxin, a byproduct of a fungal infection that generally occurs in drought-stressed corn. And Steve Moore, a researcher at the LSU AgCenter’s Dean Lee Research Station near Alexandria, is trying to find a remedy.

Corn yield and seed quality depend on management, climate and the interaction of these factors. In Louisiana in recent years, lack of rain combined with high temperatures have caused yields to suffer.

Forests in the United States represent 751 million acres of private and public land. This figure has remained relatively stable since 1910.

A rice line that exhibits tolerance to the imidazolinone class of herbicides was released by the LSU AgCenter in 2002 and sold under the trade name Clearfield.

In July 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Water senta memo to all of its Regional Offices urging them to work with states to investigatea Certainty Framework for Agricultural Producers.

Representatives from the Kellogg Co.and Walmart saw firsthand how Louisiana rice farmers use sustainable agricultural practices to produce a crop profitably in an environmentally friendly manner.

Rice yield reductions caused by panicle blighting have long been a sporadic and chronic problem in the southern United States including Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas and Mississippi.

In the past four years Louisiana farmers have planted and harvested record-breaking amounts of corn, soybeans and sorghum – so much that the state’s storage capacity could not handle it all.

While the pharmaceutical industry searches for single-entity drugs that target angiogenesis, many efforts have also been made to search for anti-angiogenic agents from botanical sources based on their medicinal-use records. LSU AgCenter researchers have identified a number of such botanical agents. One that has shown great promise is Chinese sweet leaf tea.

Louisiana Agriculture Magazine Summer 2009 (in PDF form)

The preferred way to cook crawfishis to boil the whole animal in seasonedwater and then serve it so the consumerextracts the abdominal muscle, or tailmeat, by hand.

Louisiana is the largest producer of crawfish in the United States, where some 1,200 farmers harvest in excess of110 million pounds of crawfish annually from about 184,000 acres of ponds.

Crawfish are Louisiana’s most valuable aquaculture commodity, and Louisiana is the only state that produces crawfish for human consumption on alarge commercial scale.

The rice water weevil is the most destructive early-season insect pest of rice in Louisiana.Both the adult and larval stages of this insect attack rice (Figure 1), but, generally, the larvae cause the economic losses by feeding on the rice roots.

The United States is one of the largest rice exporters in the world with about half its annual production going overseas. Meanwhile, about 12 percent of domestic rice consumption comes from imports, and the majority of those are Jasmine rice from Thailand and Vietnam.

Louisiana has the nation’s most productive commercial shrimp fishery, landing about 100 million pounds a year with a dockside value of $150 million. White and brown shrimp make up most of Louisiana’s harvest.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has estimated that by 2025 global aquaculture will provide more than half of the world’s seafood supply. Now it is about 35 percent to 40 percent.

Ohmic heating is a food processing method in which an alternating electrical current is passed through a food sample. This results in internal energy generation in foods. This produces an inside-out heating pattern, which is much faster than conventional outside-in heating. Ohmic heating is somewhat similar to microwave heating but with very different frequencies.

Processed beef products in the U.S. market include sausages and cured, canned, dehydrated and convenience meat items. The convenience and snack meat products make up about 2 percent of the total meat production.

The term “value-added” broadly means “adding value to a product.” For food items, adding value implies a degree of innovation that makes a product more desirable to consumers, perhaps in terms of shelf stability, improved functionality, better color, texture, flavor and more convenience.

Value-added industries and activities are fundamental to agriculture’s viability, stability and contribution to economic development of the state. In general, value-added means any activity or process that increases the market value or utility of a product to consumers.

The overwhelming majority of microbes in the world are not harmful to humans. Food processing researchers have established two kinds of microorganisms that are undesirable in food: spoilage microorganisms, which spoil the food but are not toxic to consume, and pathogenic microorganisms.

If you drive by a field of Jazzman rice, its pleasant, nutty aroma is unmistakable.For farmers, the pleasant fragrance is the smell of money.

LAFAYETTE, La. – Louisiana’s First Lady honored a Lake Charles woman on Aug. 25,2011, for her volunteer work with 4-H.

A bowl of cereal can be a great way forschool children or anybody to start themorning. Studies show cereal eaters have better nutrient intakes, said LSU AgCenter nutritionist Beth Reames.

OAK GROVE, La. – Researchers from the LSU AgCenter’s Sweet Potato Research Station showed growers how to optimize production at a field day on the Lee Jones and Sons Farm on Aug. 24.

Louisiana rice farmers are helping Texas ranchers by providing rice straw to be used as cattle feed in the drought-stricken LoneStar State.

This issue of Louisiana Agriculture includes a variety of articles. Topics covered are Jazzman rice and the dent its making in the aromatic rice market, rice water weevils and the continuing battle to control them without harming crawfish, the potential devastation of bacterial panicle blight in rice, residual herbicides and Clearfield rice, greenhouse tomatoes, Super Plants for the nursery industry and more. 32 pages. Vol. 54, No. 3.

This issue of Louisiana Agriculture features articles on corn hybrids, aflatoxin in corn, integrating herbicides and insecticides in cotton, improving Brahman cattle for meat quality and more. 28 pages. Vol. 47, No. 3

Research on livestock reproduction has been given a boost through the expansion and remodeling of one of the country's top facilities - the LSU AgCenter's Embryo Biotechnology Laboratory.

Few people know crawfish come in several colors besides the traditional red or brown. Ray McClain, crawfish researcher at the LSU AgCenter's Rice Research Station in Crowley, said he had heard of pure white and has seen a few sky-blue crawfish over the years.

This issue of the magazine features a variety of topics. These include herbicide-resistant weeds, clover value in pastures, the calf-to-carcass program, disease management in wheat, rice hybrids, ag awareness programs for children, ryegrass management and more. Vol 53, No. 3. 28 pages

The fall issue of Louisiana Agriculture focuses on invasive species. Topics covered include Asian carp, nutria, feral hogs, Formosan termites, fire ants, giant salvinia, Chinese privet, Mexican rice borer and more. Vol. 53, No. 4. 44 pages.

Most of the sweet potatoes produced in Louisiana are marketed within the continental United States. However, domestic per capita consumption of sweet potatoes has remained mostly stagnant during the past several decades, hovering around 5 pounds perperson per year. A market development within the past several years has been the significant increase in fresh sweet potato import volume by the United Kingdom (U.K.).

Because of the significant impact of Hurricane Mitch in October 1998 on the entire agricultural sector in Honduras,representatives of the LSU AgCenter contacted Honduran President Carlos Flores to offer assistance to and collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.

The best choice for shady areas where light is a limiting factor in turfgrass growth is a groundcover. Typical lawn grasses are physiologically incapable of surviving such locations. This research project explored groundcover options.

The Soybean Rust Sentinel Plot Program is designed to monitor the presence and movement of Asian soybean rust in the state.

Isoflavones are compounds found in soybeans that have powerful antioxidant characteristics and have been shown to prevent cancer and other diseases.

Soybeans are plagued by numerous diseases affecting the leaves, stems, pods and roots. Diseases of major concern are Cercospora foliar blight, purple seed stain, aerial blight, soybean rust, pod and stem blight, and anthracnose.

Soybean rust disease

Seedling disease

The history of the soybean crop in Louisiana is rather brief compared with cotton, sugarcane, rice and corn, which have been grown in the state for several hundred years.

Soybean is one of the many commodities that comprise the rich mosaic that is Louisiana agriculture.

This document shows photos of the microwave extraction and separation system and a schematic design and accompanies the article "Continuous Microwave Extraction of Soy Isoflavones for Food Application" by Cristina Sabliov, Zhimin Xu, Dorin Boldor and Marybeth Lima. (1 page)

For crops to grow, essential plant nutrients must be available in sufficient and correct proportions in the soil. Nutrients that crops need in the largest amounts, such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, are the most limiting and often deficient in most crop production systems.

Table 1. Relationship between seed quality and pod color among selected soybean varieties grown on the Dean Lee Research Station in 2010.

SHREVEPORT, La. – A Brazilian weevil that feeds on giant salvinia is a biological control for the invasive species that has been taking over water bodies in Louisiana since it was first discovered in the state in the Toledo Bend reservoir in 1999.

LAKE ARTHUR, La. – U.S. rice acreage has fallen significantly, and that could affect prices, according to LSU AgCenter economist Mike Salassi.

Progress is being made, but research continues on the redbanded stink bug problem in soybeans across the state of Louisiana.

Red crown rot disease

Purple seed stain disease

Louisiana seafood is fast and easy to grill for summertime eating enjoyment because it has smaller percentages of skeletal and connective tissues than equal portions of red meats or poultry.

The Louisiana Soybean Variety Testing Program plays an important role in the soybean industry in Louisiana. LSU AgCenter researchers conduct the trials annually to evaluate commercial soybean varieties for yield potential, agronomic performance and resistance to diseases.

Harvest aids are herbicides applied to the crop late in the growing season to dessicate leaves and accelerate plant drying. This can result in earlier harvest and improved crop harvest efficiency and seed quality.

Frogeye leaf spot disease

Cristina Sabliov, working with a team of scientists in the LSU AgCenter’s Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, has developed a continuous microwave system that can be used to extract beneficial compounds, such as isoflavone oils, from soy flour.

Downy mildew disease

Charcoal disease

Cercospora disease

From its humble beginnings in 1973 as a project between the student government association and the Dairy Science Department, the popularity of the LSU Dairy Store remains strong.

Anthracnose disease

Photos aerial blight disease

Herbicide resistance is defined by the Weed Science Society of America as the “inherited ability of a weed biotype to survive and reproduce despite exposure to a dose of herbicide that was previously effective on the population.”

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.

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.

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

Bacteria pustule disease

In the summer of 2000, daylily rust was reported for the first time in the United States. It has since spread across most of the country and continues to present problems for home gardeners, commercial landscapers and daylily growers.

As a way to bring awareness to Louisiana’s vanishing coast, the Department of Horticulture in cooperation with the Louisiana Sea Grant College developed an educational program called “Coastal Roots” aimed at elementary and secondary students.

Photo of microwave extraction and separation system.

Louisiana farmers often harvest soybeans with a high percentage of damaged seed, resulting in significant marketing discounts. Seed damage is caused by Louisiana’s climatic conditions that encourage high levels of diseases and insect infestations in soybean fields.

Seed quality ratings of selected soybean varieties at R8 and after 40 days of field weathering, Macon Ridge Research Station, 2010.

View six photos that accompany this article.

Mosquitoes don’t need blood to live. Their main energy source is nectar from plants.

The spring 2011 issue of Louisiana Agriculture features the soybean, a crop vital to the state's economy. Topics covered include the latest research on how to grow soybeans successfully in the state. Other articles talk about extracts from soybeans and their uses in boosting the nutritional value of foods. Vol. 54 No.2, 40 pages.

In recent years, soybean growers have experienced significant problems with mature plants retaining green leaves, green stems and green pods in soybean fields. The occurrence of these symptoms either alone or together has been termed the “green plant malady,” which is also known as the “green bean” or “green plant” problem.

These nine photos help illustrate the problems with green plant malady.

The tropical and subtropical climate in Louisiana creates conditions that support mosquitoes year-round. Mosquitoes are not only a nuisance but, more important, can transmit several diseases to people and domestic animals when biting for a blood meal. Louisiana is historically host to several viral mosquito-borne diseases such as St. Louis encephalitis, eastern equine encephalitis and LaCrosse-California encephalitis.

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.

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.

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.

Soybean producers annually face diseases, insects and environmental stresses that affect the yield and quality of their crop. The use of varieties with resistance to specific pests and stresses is generally considered the most cost-effective solution to these problems.

Soybean viruses have been shown to cause significant yield losses throughout the soybean-producing areas of the world. In the United States, many different viruses infect soybeans.

The double-cropping of soybeans and wheat has become an increasingly attractive option economically for Louisiana farmers because of technological improvements, and about 85 percent of Louisiana wheat acres are doublecropping with soybeans.

Epidemiological observations have consistently shown that incidences and mortality rates of cancers, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease and several chronic degenerative diseases vary significantly across regions of the world.

Every crop can be damaged by many different diseases and pests throughout its life cycle. In common practice, growers apply pesticides to control different pathogens and insect pests and protect a crop from all possible diseases and pests.

The Louisiana Soybean Research Verification Program allows producers a chance to participate in a program that demonstrates profitability through improved agronomic and cultural practices.In Louisiana, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, soybean producers averaged 41 bushels per acre on 1,020,000 acres in 2010.

Sensory tests of a mayonnaise-like product made from soy protein and rice bran oil got high marks from a consumer study in which people were asked to taste and evaluate the product developed by LSU AgCenter researchers.

The most yield-limiting and economically important soybean pest across the southern United States is a complex of stink bugs. Historically, the most common species in this complex had been the green stink bug, southern green stink bug and the brown stink bug.

Louisiana soybean growers have historically tried to protect their crop from a diverse insect pest complex consisting primarily of stink bugs, Lepidopteran defoliators (green cloverworm, soybean looper and velvetbean caterpillar), threecornered alfalfa hopper, and bean leaf beetle. Annually, at least one of these pests causes significant problems and isresponsible for limiting soybean productionby reducing yield.

Raising plants in containers creates unique problems for nursery growers. A series of tests were undertaken to help assess the benefits of different growing techniques.

Weeds compete with nursery crops for water, nutrients and light and can potentially harbor insects and diseases. They are common in all container nurseries and can cause significant losses in product quality and quantity.

Baseline data is needed to help forest and agricultural producers determine their role in the rapidly growing biofuel and energy sector, including small and medium-sized producers.

Topics include personal digital assistants as research tools, nematode-tolerant cotton and endowed professors.

(Vol. 53, No. 2) The focus of this issue is on LSU AgCenter efforts to assure that animal waste is converted into safe uses to grow food and protect the environment.

The productivity and composition of wetland forests depend strongly on hydrological conditions. Minor changes in the frequency, duration and seasonality of flooding can favor establishment and growth of entirely separate groups of species.

Regional increases in flooding are likely to reduce the productivity of baldcypress-water tupelo swamps in coastal Louisiana. Although these trees are merchantable for lumber production, it will be important to design appropriate management plans for these sites.

Water quality monitoring efforts in Louisiana’s streams focus on the concentrations of sediment, nutrients and other compounds in the water. However, activities within the watersheds of these streams actually play the most critical role in determining stream water quality.

Louisiana farmers and foresters could find a silver lining in the cloud of rising fuel prices with the development of new fuels from crops they already grow or could grow.

LSU AgCenter scientists have been researching remote sensing work with airborne lasers to develop three-dimensional pictures to measure the stand and take inventory of a forest.

LSU AgCenter area forestry agent Barry Crain helps youth develop forestry skills during a special 3-hour training event every year before the state 4-H University competition held on the LSU campus in June.

Louisiana is blessed with an abundance of forests and waterways. Miles of rivers, bayous and lakes provide Louisiana’s citizens with fishing, hunting, boating and recreational opportunities, which contribute to the state’s wealth and economic growth.

Since the late 19th century, the global average temperature of the Earth has increased by 0.7 to 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit. The significant global warming has been attributed to human activities such as fossil fuel combustion and land use change, which lead to the increase of the concentrations of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide.

Forests of Louisiana managed for timber production constitute the state’s top agricultural crop, contributing an estimated $4.554 billion to Louisiana’s economy in 2005. Louisiana’s managed forests, which are often loblolly pine plantations, are among the world’s most productive forests at producing timber and fiber.

(Vol. 46, No. 4) This is a focus issue about biotechnology.

In the past decade there have been major advances in molecular genetics research. A wide variety of DNA-based markers have been developed. These include random amplified polymorphic DNAs (RAPD), amplified fragment polymorphisms (AFLP) and DNA microsatellites. These markers are used to map genes, study population genetics and produce DNA fingerprints.

Because of the persistent infestation of the Formosan subterranean termite that has threatened to destroy historical buildings in the French Quarter of New Orleans, a federally funded program called Operation Full Stop was initiated in 1998 to apply areawide treatments to suppress the termite and limit further damage.

About three quarters of Louisiana rice is grown in the southwestern region of the state. In recent years, ratooning (a second harvest from the same planting) has become a common practice for many rice growers in this region. Ratooning allows Louisiana growers to compete with rice growers in other states where the environment is more favorable for rice growing.

Adequate and timely fertilization is an important component of small grain cropping systems. Much research has been conducted on nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium; however, less information is available on the need for the nutrient sulfur.

The United States produces about 10 million tons of rice annually, with about 1.4 million tons in Louisiana. Rice straw can be made into valuable panel products for construction with characteristics superior to wood. Manufacture of rice straw panel products would also be good for the environment, making valuable use of a waste product.

Wood is a renewable natural resource typically preservative-treated to ensure structural integrity in many exterior applications. LSU AgCenter researchers studied attitudes toward treated wood, including surveying a national sample of homebuilders.

Plastic mulch has been used in the production of warm-season crops such as watermelon and other horticultural crops to reduce water evaporation, decrease soil compaction and fertilizer leaching, modify soil temperature, control weeds andincrease yield. In general, black plastic mulch is recommended in Louisiana for spring and fall vegetable production while white plastic mulchis recommended for the summer growing season.

LSU AgCenter and Mississippi State University researchers are starting a project to measure how well nonindustrial private forest landowners understand certification programs.

Cotton is a perennial plant capable of recovering from many stresses during Louisiana’s long growing season, including insect damage. However, as plants near maturity, their capacity to recover from stresses is reduced.

School gardens are used as outdoor classrooms around the United States to supplement the curriculum. Educators have reported that school gardens can be used to teach across the curriculum and that concepts and skills from virtually every subject can be learned through a school garden.

Louisiana’s agriculture and seafood industries will have a new marketing tool in early 2010 when MarketMaker, a national Internet-driven service, is inauguratedin the state.

The LSU AgCenter has received grants totaling nearly $1.26 million during the past few months.

The Clearfield system, which involves herbicide-resistant rice, offers for the first time the ability to selectively eliminate the weed red rice from a production rice field with the use of an herbicide. But the system must be used following strict guidelines. Otherwise, its future as a way to prevent red rice is limited.

It is hypothesized that the level of environmental degradation will increase as per capita income increases up to a certain level. Then, the level of degradation will decrease with further growth in income, which would be beneficial to the environment. This relationship between environmental quality and per capita income would thus assume an inverted U shape.

The continuing transformation of U.S. agriculture profoundly affects the economies in rural America. The LSU AgCenter is attempting to bring relief to one of the most impoverished parts of the country through an innovative, economic and rural development educational program.

The lack of basic leadership skills and economic development knowledge is often identified by focus groups and advisory councils as a problem in rural areas.

The U.S. rural economy is often described as declining, even devastated, and at best as in a state of flux. To be sure, many rural communities in the United States are struggling to exist. Today’s economy is far less local than it ever has been. Because of technology, we can buy and sell almost anything globally in the time it takes to click “send” on our computer screens.

Experiences during the teenage years play a large role in determining whether teenagers go on to become productive and engaged citizens as adults.

Rural America is turning to nature to revitalize its communities.Ironically, farming communities with enhanced natural amenities may boost business opportunities.

The two-year “Be Child Care Aware!” educational campaign, launched in the fall of 2003, reached at least 205,000 people with information on quality child care.

It’s a fact. Most tots and toddlers spend the majority of their waking moments in child-care programs.

The LSU AgCenter’s Community Leadership and Economic Development Program received the 2005 training achievements award from the International Economic Development Council during the council’s annual meeting in Chicago in September.

The effect of early experiences on a child’s later success is well-documented by social scientists. Because young children are increasingly spending more of their early years in a variety of settings, it is critical that they receive high-quality care and education during these formative years.

In a recent report to the LSU System, an auditor of LSU’s technology transfer activities referred to the LSU AgCenter’s Office of Intellectual Property as the “crown jewel” of the system because of its productivity.

In February 2005, the Louisiana Board of Regents granted conditional approval for the Louisiana Center for Rural Initiatives, a rural development researchand outreach center located within the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness.

Louisiana continues to suffer from a persistent poverty rate within 24 of its 35 nonmetro parishes.

“Don’t give up” was the message from North Carolina's 4-H’ers to those in Louisiana who were affected by the recent hurricanes.

For decades, globalization and advances in information and communication technology have been creating two different kinds of jobs in the United States. Primary sector jobs are high-skilled, high-paying, stable and offer opportunities for advancement. Secondary sector jobs are low-skilled, low-paying, unsecured, monotonous and offer few opportunities to advance.

The National Science Foundation has awarded a $336,898 grant to Robert Laird through LSU A&M. Laird has a joint appointment with the LSU AgCenter, and the grant will allow him to continue his research on parenting teenagers.

The primary mission of the LSU AgCenter is to enhance the quality of life for people through research and education. This issue of Louisiana Agriculture concentrates on the AgCenter’s research and education efforts to enhance the social and economic development of families and their communities.

Rural development makes America a better place in which to live and work. Rural development emphasizes the well-being of people rather than economic growth itself. Development increases real per capita incomes and employment and improves housing, fire and police protection, schools, libraries and other government services. These amenities in rural communities are directly influenced by farmers. Also, the well-being of farmers is affected by communities.

Losing the roof on your home to high winds can be an expensive proposition. High winds can literally lift the roof off a house. Then you not only have to take care of the damage to the roof itself but also the damage to the inside of the house.

Financial security plays a major role in a person’s overall feeling of well-being and satisfaction. The Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy is a partnership comprising representatives from business, industry, government, education and nonprofit groups that seeks to improve the personal financial literacy of young adults.

Factory-made wall, ceiling and roof panels are among the four building systems of the LSU AgCenter’s state-of-the-art demonstration house that can withstand Louisiana’s climate and harshest elements, including hurricane winds.

With recent hurricanes battering the state, Louisianians are increasingly concerned about how to protect themselves from strong winds. An innovation at the LaHouse project is called a "safe room."

Sustainability in housing (meeting current needs without jeopardizing future generations) is an emerging necessity. Natural disasters such as hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 cause billions of dollars in damages to homes.

The Formosan termite is a devastating pest that consumes wooden structures and woody plants and causes hundreds of millions of dollars of damage each year. The LSU AgCenter is making progress slowing its spread in the New Orleans' French Quarter, despite the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

Established as the Fruit and Truck Experiment Station in January 1922, the LSU AgCenter’s Hammond Research Station has served the needs of the strawberry and vegetable industries in Southeast Louisiana for more than 80 years.

Those of us who have the privilege of being a professional horticulturist enjoy the reward of knowing that we directly touch the lives of every single citizen in Louisiana every day. The science and art of horticulture remains a dynamic influence on our lives.

No matter where you are in Louisiana, you can receive educational information to help you with your lawn and garden. One way we assure this is by offering a program called “Get It Growing,” featuring one of our horticulturists, Dan Gill.

The LSU AgCenter's mission is to serve Louisiana. And the employees did. In some cases, they were there to help others after hurricanes Katrina and Rita at great personal sacrifice to themselves. Read about the LSU AgCenter's response.

Nearly all of the rice grown in Louisiana was developed at the LSU AgCenter’s Rice Research Station in Crowley.

In 20 years, the LSU AgCenter’s small-grains breeding program has grown from nothing to being the source of the most widely planted wheat variety in Louisiana.

What to do with decommissioned, preservative-treated wood has become a burning issue. Well, not burning, actually. That’s one of the methods that can’t be used any longer, according to Todd Shupe, a forest products researcher in the LSU AgCenter’s School of Renewable Natural Resources. Shupe has been looking for answers for what to do with the products no longer serviceable.

Red rice, a noxious weed in rice, costs rice producers millions of dollars each year. Red rice is physiologically similar to rice. Consequently, rice andred rice are susceptible to the same herbicides, so controlling red rice with herbicides in rice fields is difficult.

Ricestar (fenoxyprop), a relatively new selective herbicide, is used for postemergence control of grasses in rice. It provides good to excellent control of major grasses such as barnyardgrass, broadleaf signalgrass and sprangletop.

Rural economic development addresses factors to increase the quality of rural life including the availability of infrastructure. The research and extension activities of the LSU AgCenter have adapted over time to meet the changing structure of our rural economies to promote their growth and well-being.

The LSU AgCenter has added strength to its quest to help organize an economic development strategy in the Northeast Louisiana. The added force is James Barnes, new director of the Delta Rural Development Center in Oak Grove.

Bedding plants are widely used in landscaping or in containers. Two-thirds of the value of U.S. floriculture production in 2002 consisted of bedding plants. Salvias have been one of the most common bedding plants used in landscaping and as a pot plant.

Research has found a consistent sorghum yield response to row widths narrower than 40 inches, particularly on alluvial soils. On Macon Ridge soils, narrow rows tend to yield better than wider rows in years with adequate rainfall, while wider rows are superior to narrow row widths in rain-deficient years.

Two years into her job has resident coordinator of the Hammond Research Station, Regina Bracy still considers it challenging and fun.

The green industry (nursery, landscape, greenhouse, sod and allied industries) is growing in Louisiana and nationally. This growth is fueled by changes in consumer incomes and demographics. Consumers continue to allocate a portion of their increased incomes to home improvements, including their lawns and gardens.

The LSU AgCenter offers help to nursery owners in their continual battle against pests, especially insect pests.

Traditional pot-in-pot production in a nursery attempts to combine field and container-growing techniques and offers advantages over both production systems.

The LSU AgCenter has long had an All-America Rose Selections Display Garden, first at the Hill Farm location on the LSU campus and now at Burden Center in Baton Rouge. Many rose varieties have been evaluated over the years.

Five years ago, the LSU AgCenter decided to dedicate a 20-acre site at Burden Center in Baton Rouge as a home for ornamental and turfgrass research and demonstration projects. And it has flourished ever since.

The Mexican rice borer has been the major economic pest in Texas sugarcane since it became established in 1980, quickly surpassing that same year the sugarcane borer in economic importance. Even though the insect has not yet been found in Louisiana, scientists from both states and from the U.S. Department of Agriculture are working together to conduct research on the areawide population dynamics of the Mexican rice borer and to develop cultural and production practices to reduce its spread.

Current technologies for the prevention and treatment of cancer are far from being effective at safe, non-toxic doses. Standard chemotherapeutic drugs are all designed to be toxic, harming cancerous and healthy tissues to varying degrees. Targeted therapies such as angiogenic inhibitors directed toward specific receptors or growth-factor pathways offer hope in managing cancer.

Efforts in 2003 and 2004 included evaluation of cannas, coleus, angelonias, purslane, lantanas, perennial verbena, annual and perennial salvia, vinca, zinnias, melampodium, petunias, rudbeckia, phlox, daylilies, dianthus, ornamental kale, ornamental cabbage, calendula, violas, pansies, ornamental sweet potatoes, garden mums, African and French marigolds and others.

Southern yellow pine (SYP) has for many years provided the homebuilding industry with abundant, cost-competitive wood products. Recent research indicates that softwood lumber, including SYP, continues to lose market share in the U.S. residential construction industry to substitute products such as concrete, steel and plastic and that builders remain concerned about softwood lumber quality and price.

Several physical, chemical and biological factors can influence corn seedling development and reduce maximum yield potential. Early-season seedling defoliation can make replant decisions difficult. Producers typically underestimate the resilience of corn plants after they undergo early-season injury.

Most greenhouse tomato operations in the southern United States are small. These growers have to hold down production costs to compete well in a market dominated by more efficient, larger operations. One way they do this is to reuse the root medium (perlite) for growing the greenhouse tomato plants.

Research has found a consistent sorghum yield response to row widths narrower than 40 inches, particularly on alluvial soils. On Macon Ridge soils, narrow rows tend to yield better than wider rows in years with adequate rainfall, while wider rows are superior to narrow row widths in rain-deficient years.

Annual bluegrass and henbit are the most common and frequently targeted weeds in Louisiana wheat. Ryegrass is the most challenging weed to manage in Louisiana wheat and is increasing in abundance.

These articles were published in the winter 2011 issue of Louisiana Agriculture Magazine.

Ben Legendre, professor and head of the LSU AgCenter Audubon Sugar Institute at St. Gabriel, has received the 2010-2011 President’s Award from the American SugarCane League.

John Russin has been appointed the interim vice chancellor for the LSU AgCenter and the interim director of the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station.

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines, released in January 2011 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services, are the first to address the U.S. problem of too many over weight or obese adults, according to LSU AgCenter nutritionist Beth Reames.

The LSU AgCenter has received a$115,000 grant from the Walton Family Foundation

Friends, family and former co-workersof Rouse Caffey gathered Feb. 10 at the Rice Research Station in Crowley to celebrate the naming of a new rice variety in his honor.

Table on the occurrence of Hessian fly and grain yield of 26 common what varieties in Louisiana. Content relates to Lousiana Agriculture Winter 2011 issue, article on page 15

The art and science of plant breeding has evolved much since it was first practiced during the early stages of crop domestication. This study compares breeders' estimates with observed yields.

Hessian fly is one of the most destructive pests of wheat worldwide. This pest was first detected in the United States on Long Island, N.Y., in 1778, and is thought to have been introduced to this country by the Hessian soldiers during the Revolutionary War.

It’s tough to become a Super Plant. But once a plant gets that designation, it will be promoted as an ideal plant for Louisiana.

Disposal of solid waste is a growing concern to municipal officials and corporate managers, and in some sections of thecountry, critical. As the population grows and industrial productionincreases, so does waste. At the same time, disposal costs have increased, often dramatically, because of increased regulationand centralization of waste disposal sites.

The brown pelican, once extinct in Louisiana, has successfully been restored to the state. These birds are seen frequently all along the Louisiana coast and have been reported as far inland as Baton Rouge in recent years.

David Boethel’s last day of work at the LSU AgCenter was Jan. 7, 2011. He retired as the Vice Chancellor for Research and Director of the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station, a post he held for the last six years of his 36-year career with the AgCenter.

Farmers from across the Midsouth,along with researchers from the LSU AgCenter and several other universities, met Feb.1-2, 2011, to share techniques and ideas at the National Conservation Cotton and Rice Conference.

She rarely cracked a smile during her hour-long presentation, but internationally renowned animal scientist Temple Grandin cracked up the audience many times with her wry observations on the food industry.

Paclitaxel, which is isolated from the bark of the Pacific yew, is a chemotherapeutic, intravenous drug produced under the names of Taxol and Abraxane.

This map shows the Louisiana parishes and Mississippi counties targeted for study of biofuel profitability.

Corn producers who raised corn before the introduction of Roundup Ready varieties are aware of the interaction between sulfonylurea herbicides and soil applied organophosphate insecticides,which were in use then.

Weed management decisions in rice often drive the overall production system. Economic considerations determine the specific herbicides a producer will include in a weed management program.

Red rice is one of the most trouble some weeds of rice in the South. Because of genetic similarities, controlling red rice with traditional rice herbicides has been unsuccessful.

The establishment of a local farmers market poses many challenges for stakeholders. In particular, operators of and suppliers to farmers markets should pay particular attention to the fresh produce shopping habits of the millennials, individuals born in the 1980s and 1990s.

The winter 2011 issue of Louisiana Agriculture is 20 pages with articles about research on medicinal plants; rice production; weeds in rice, corn and wheat; and farmers markets, among others. The cover features one of the new Super Plants. Read more in the magazine.

Nearly 8 million tons of nitrogen in commercial fertilizers are applied annually in the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin, which makes up about 40 percent of the contiguous United States.

Automobile tires are accumulating in waste dumpsthroughout the United States. Research exploring the useof shredded tires could reduce the number of waste tires.One use is in horticulture

Can poultry litter be used to fertilize cotton? That’s thequestion an LSU Agricultural Center researcher will attempt toanswer with a new project in northwest Louisiana cottoncountry.

The Formosan subterranean termite is a formidable adversary. Foraging aggressively and quickly reducing wooden structures to paper-thin sheaths,this species of termite has been aparticular menace in the New Orleans area for more than 30 years.

Survival for many endangered wildlife got a boost recently when representatives from the Louisiana State University system and the Audubon Institute in New Orleans signed an agreement to work more closely together on animal reproduction projects.

From an entomology integrated pest management perspective, invasive species have several characteristics that make them difficult to control. As the insect is brought in or migrates into new areas, only rarely does the new pest bring along its natural enemies, which can include parasites, predators and diseases.

Over the past 120 years, many individuals have released aquatic plants into state and private waters in Louisiana with the best of intentions, only to find out that the seemingly innocuous and often very attractive plants have completely upset the ecology of the receiving water bodies.

The Louisiana citrus industry includes 250 growers who produce on average $9 million worth of fruit on 800 acres per year. The majority of the commercial citrus acreage, 550 acres, is in Plaquemines Parish, the narrow strip of land just south of New Orleans next to the Mississippi River.

Louisiana is a beautiful state with a unique blend of cultures and habitats. Positioned on the Gulf of Mexico and at the mouth of the Mississippi River,the state benefits economically from international trade and interstate commerce.

Invasive species Louisiana Agriculture Magazine Fall 2010

Poultry production is the largest animal industry in Louisiana. It generated approximately $883.5 million in combined farm revenue of $450.8 million and value-added products at $432.7 million and employed more than 4,000 people in 2009.

Since the arrival of Europeans in North America, thousands of plants have been introduced intentionally for agricultural, fiber or ornamental purposes.

The nutria is possibly the most well-known of the non-native species introduced into the environment of south Louisiana.

Chinese privet is not the only plant that has invaded the Louisiana landscape and created problems for farmers, forest owners and homeowners.

I remember watching a science fiction television program as a child where the residents of a house were being attacked by giant termites the size of small cars from an alien world.

The red imported fire ant invaded the United States from South America more than 75 years ago. It was first discovered in Louisiana in the early 1950s.

In the eyes of many conservationists, feral swine are among the most damaging invasive species around the world. Farmers, ranchers, foresters and landowners consider the feral swine to be a nuisance, at best, and, more commonly, a grave threat.

Scott Angelle, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources(DNR) and former Louisiana lieutenant governor, has received the national Epsilon Sigma Phi (ESP) Friend of Extension Award for his support and promotion of the LSU AgCenter’s 4-H program.

An unintended consequence of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which occurred on April 20, 2010, has been the expansion of invasive freshwater plants into the intertidal zone along Louisiana’s Gulf Coast.

Experts estimate the damage from Formosan subterranean termite infestations in the United States exceeds $1 billion per year. In Louisiana alone, the most affected state in the continental United States, they estimate damage at almost $500 million a year.

Red imported fire ants were introduced into the United States more than 75 years ago. Since then, fire ants have invaded more than 320 million acres in 12 southeastern states, and they continue to spread despite eradication and quarantine efforts.

Plants and animals introduced into Louisiana cause a wide range of ecological problems. Notable examples include water hyacinth, Chinese tallow tree, nutria, English sparrows and European starlings.

The LSU AgCenter has released three new varieties of rice.

The Formosan subterranean termite is considered the most important structural pest of the new millennium. It is more aggressive than native subterranean termites, and colonies may be greater in numbers reaching millions of termites.

There is an invasive species in town that might not be welcome, but at least this one we would like to invite to dinner. Commercial fishers across Louisiana have been reporting increasing populations of both bighead carp and silver carp, known collectively as Asian carp, beginning in the early 1980s.

Asian carp have become a huge environmental problem in waterways throughout the Mississippi and Missouri river basins.These fish, which are comprised of the “silver” and “bighead” species, were originally introduced into private U.S. ponds in the 1970s.

An LSU AgCenter 4-H program has been chosen for a national award by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

For the past few months, the institutions of higher education in Louisiana, including the LSU AgCenter, have been under the threat of deep budget cuts as high as 32 percent. Such severe cuts would be catastrophic.

Solving the whodunit mystery of insect damage in a rice crop will be easier with a new online program developed by the LSU AgCenter.

The Kellogg Company of Battle Creek, Mich., recently announced a partnership with the LSU AgCenter to develop a sustainability program for Louisiana rice producers who grow rice for Kellogg’s products.

The Mexican rice borer, a threat to sugarcane and rice, has moved eastward from Texas extending farther into Louisiana.

Gov. Bobby Jindal, state legislators and ConAgra Food officials thanked the LSU AgCenter during the Nov. 5 grand opening of ConAgra’s new sweet potato processing plant near Delhi.

The usable carbon and nutrients contained in rice hulls and bran, sugarcane bagasse and sweet potato skins, which are Louisiana agricultural byproducts, may be converted by microorganisms to high-value products. LSU AgCenter researchers are developing bioconversion processes that can be used to produce specialty or nutra-ceutical compounds from these byproducts.

In the early 1900s, bald eagles were common throughout southern Louisiana, but the deleterious effects of DDT on the birds and their eggshells had placed the species on the endangered list by the 1970s. In 1972, only six or seven nesting territories remained in South Louisiana.

How the Asian soybean rust discovery in Louisiana will affect the agricultural outlook for the state in 2005 is difficult to predict.

The following news articles appeared in the summer 2008 issue of Louisiana Agriculture.

The LSU AgCenter, along with a Mississippi agriculture agency and three other southern universities, has been awarded a $518,000 grant to develop an interactive, educational Web site about blueberries.

Highlights of the LSU AgCenter.

With sweet potato consumption rising and a shift in the industry toward more processed products, LSU AgCenter scientists showed growers how to optimize production at a field day held at theSweet Potato Research Station in Chase on Aug. 24.

Ryegrass, a popular cool-season forage,may be desirable in some pastures, but it is a serious weed in wheat and rowcrops.

A quick way to test for salmonella in vegetable fields may be in the offing if research by an LSU AgCenter scientist proves its worth.

The LSU AgCenter’s research andeducational outreach programs are an integral piece of Louisiana’s agriculturalframework.

Herbicide-resistant weeds have been causing havoc in crop fields across the South, and they appear to be “just an eyelash away” from being confirmed as a problem in Louisiana, an LSU AgCenter weed scientist told the participants at the at the Aug. 4 field day at the Dean Lee Research Stationin Alexandria.

The LSU AgCenter Forage Quality Laboratory at the Southeast Research Station provides feed and forage analysis for Louisiana and Mississippi forage and livestock producers.

Community gardens are blossoming in Shreveport neighborhoods and providing access to cheap, healthy food for the people who live there.

The bull performance testing program at the LSU AgCenter, which identifies the best genetics of a producer’s bulls, has been under way, twice annually,since 1958.

The tarnished plant bug is the most yield-limiting and costly arthropod pest attacking Louisiana cotton. Integrated pest management tactics are limited for tarnished plant bug, and infestations are controlled almost exclusively with chemicals.

A dozen new members of the Louisiana 4-H Hall of Fame were recognized at a ceremony Aug. 11 at the Louisiana 4-H Museumin Mansura for their years of service to 4-H clubs across the state.

Gary Lirette and his son Stephen are poultry producers in the heart of Natchitoches Parish near Marthaville, La. Gary, who owns Little Flower Farm Enterprises, is one of three poultry producers certified as Master Farmers in the Louisiana Master Farmer Program.

Louisiana’s abundance of public water bodies and plentiful rainfall makes the state’s waters particularly susceptible to runoff from manure-enriched soils and overflow from concentrated animal-rearing facilities.

Edgar and Christine Raymond own Riverosa Ranch, a registered Angus and Brahman X Angus F1 cattle operation in West Carroll Parish near Oak Grove, La.

Animal waste is not necessarily waste at all and can be a valuable resource in agriculture.

Animal waste management has always been a concern for agricultural producers. In Louisiana, a group of environmentally concerned farmers has taken waste management matters into their own hands.

The Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station is the research arm of the LSU AgCenter. Its faculty can be found in 11 academic departments, where scientists conduct research and hold joint teaching appointments in the LSU College of Agriculture, and 20 research stations across Louisiana, where resident faculty develop new knowledge and technology to help our producers provide our state and the nation with a vast array of food, fiber and fuel.

The U.S. Clean Water Act of 1972 requires states to have water quality guidelines that protect the condition of water bodies within that state.

The LSU AgCenter has received two specialty crop block grants worth $310,500 from the U.S. Department of Agricultureto enhance the competitiveness of Louisiana-grown nursery crops and sweet potatoes.

Dairy producers face the challenge of minimizing the costs of manure disposal while at the same time complying with environmental regulations.

Three West Carroll Parish high school students learned enough sophisticated computer technology that they were able to create digital fire district maps, which will be used to improve local services in the parish.

The Journal of General Virology, a prestigious international journal of virus research published by the Society for General Microbiology in the United Kingdom, has selected a photo from Rodrigo Valverde, professor in the Department of Plant Pathology & Crop Physiology, for its October 2009 cover.

TransGenRx (TGRx) – a biotechnology company started by licensing technology from the LSU AgCenter – has landed its first contract worth $30 million.

Making biodiesel fuel from vegetableoil or animal fat is a simple process. Rudolph Diesel used raw vegetable oil when he invented the first diesel engine in Augsburg, Germany, in 1893.

Students at Warren Easton High School in New Orleans along with 10 other schools around the state really know what it means to get down and dirty, thanks to a $25,000 grant secured by the LSU AgCenter’s 4-H Youth Development office.

Sugarcane farmers heard about alternative crops and cane varieties under development during field days July 24 and 25 in Iberia Parish.

ST. MARTINVILLE – New sugarcane varietiesare increasing yields, but diseases pose a constant threat, farmers were told by LSU AgCenter researchers at a July 18 sugarcane field day here.

Patrick Colyer is first to be the second regional director in the LSU AgCenter administration.Colyer, a plant pathologist at the Red River Research Station in Bossier City for 25 years, became director of the Northwest Region, one of the AgCenter’s seven regions in March 2008.

Fourteen Bienville Parish 4-H’ers learned about the world of work in professional jobs this summer in a new program that’s a joint venture between the LSU AgCenter and the Bienville Parish Police Jury.

The 2007 LSU AgCenter “Get It Growing” calendar is now available for purchase either online (go to www.lsuagcenter.com) or by calling (225) 578-4161.

The recent outbreak of foodborne illness traced to fresh spinach should serve as a reminder for taking food safety measures every day, according to LSU AgCenter nutritionist Beth Reames.

Consumers will find an abundance of high quality Louisiana-grown citrus this year, according to growers and industry observers.

Louisiana farmers will plant alot more wheat this year than last.At least that’s what LSU AgCenterexperts predict – provided the weathercooperates in October and November.

At a ceremony in the Governor’s Mansion on Oct. 4, Gov. Kathleen Blanco, center, signed a proclamation honoring National 4-H Week – Oct. 1-7.

The following news articles appeared in the winter 2005 issue of Louisiana Agriculture.

The LSU AgCenter will have a $1 million endowed chair in cotton production as the result of industry donations honoring a man who was a driving force in Louisiana cotton production.

LSU AgCenter researchers recently completed a study that shows promise for the economic feasibility of using sugarcane rind as a supplemental raw material for manufacturing oriented strand board(OSB) and similar products.

Highway construction moves a lot of dirt around, and with construction comes the potential for erosion.

IOTA – Acadia Parish farmer GerardFrey figures he has cut costs and increasedproduction of crawfish by using push boatsinstead of mechanized watercraft to harvesthis crop.

Groundbreaking for the Louisiana Emerging Technologies Center will be sometime in June, with completion expected the following spring, said Paula Jacobi, CEO of the LSU System Research and Technology Foundation, which will oversee the center.

Rice farmers soon will have two more weapons in their arsenals for fighting stink bugs and rice water weevils.

The Board of Regents and the LSU Board of Supervisors recently approved the establishment of the Center for Natural Resource Economics and Policy at the LSU AgCenter.

David J. Boethel, former associate vice chancellor at the LSU AgCenter, became vice chancellor for research and director of the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station effective April 19.

Louisiana soybean producers are facing a new type of stink bug pest more difficult to control than the green and brown stinkbugs they are accustomed to fi ghting, said LSUAgCenter entomologist Jack Baldwin.

Cattle farmers are going back to school to learn how to improve their herds and possibly their income through the new Louisiana Master Cattle Producer program.

A historic 150-year-old cotton warehouse on NewOrleans’ riverfront near the Garden District is the test site of a new patented bait system that holds promise of controlling the dreaded Formosan subterranean termite.

The LSU AgCenter’s Audubon Sugar Institute celebrated new facilities and a federal grant at an open house Aug. 31,2004.

More than 120 hunters and other interested participants learned the do’s and don’ts of attracting doves at the LSUAgCenter’s first Dove Field Day on Aug.28, 2004, at the Idlewild Research Stationnear Clinton.

Horse owners who have not had their animals vaccinated against Eastern Equine Encephalitis must do so, said LSU AgCenter veterinarian Dr. Steve Nicholson.

Listeria monocytogenes is a bacterium that can cause illness when consumers eat refrigerated, ready-to-eat foods contaminated with this micro-organism. Eating foods contaminated with L. monocytogenes normally causes flu-like symptoms in healthy adults.

In the nursery business, as in the rest of agriculture, uncontrollable events such as weather, changes in markets or currency valuations cause product prices to rise or tumble. The risk may be managed to a certain extent by individuals and government-sponsored programs.

More than 120 hunters and other interested participants learned the do’s and don’ts of attracting doves at the LSU AgCenter’s first Dove Field Day on Aug. 28, 2004, at the Idlewild Research Station near Clinton.

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.

During the winter of 1999, the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) entered into a compliance agreement with the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) concerning a pheromone trapping protocol that would allow sugarcane produced in Southeast Texas to be transported to mills in Louisiana for processing.

The Mexican rice borer was first detected in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in 1980. The insect caused yield reductions in sugarcane of up to 50 percent before the end of that year and now represents more than 95 percent of the sugarcane stalk borer population in the valley.

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.

Farmers have been growing cotton since 4,000 B.C. in India. In the New World, cotton production goes back well before Columbus landed in the Bahamas in 1492. He took cotton back to Spain to prove he had circled the world and reached India. Until the 18th century, England was the center of the European wool clothing industry. However, cotton soon became the preferred fiber for summer clothing.

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.

Our nation’s cotton production has undergone tremendous adjustments in the past 50 years fueled by the forces of technical change. One prime indicator of the magnitude of changes is yield per acre. At the national level, per acre cotton yields have increased more than 64 percent since the mid 1950s. At the same time, area devoted to cotton production has decreased 17 percent.

Geospatial tools offer great promise of increasing profitability of cotton production. These tools, however, must be adapted to the specific agronomic and plant protection needs of cotton production and made available in a user-friendly format that can be easily transferred to producers, commercial pesticide applicators and agricultural consultants.

Conservation tillage systems, whether no-till or stale seedbed, require use of herbicides before crop planting to rid fields of native winter vegetation and planted cover crops. Elimination of competing vegetation, which is called burndown, helps improve soil moisture and assure crop stand establishment, rapid early season growth and efficient fertilizer use.

Resistance monitoring provides a useful tool for detecting changes in the insecticide susceptibility of field populations of insect species from year to year.

The abundance of stink bugs has increased in Mid-South and Southeastern cotton-producing states in the last six years. Stink bugs have become more common cotton pests because of a number of changes in Louisiana’s agricultural environment that have made crop and noncrop hosts available year-round.

Legislation designed to protect specific species dates back to early history in the United States. However, the Endangered Species Act of 1966 was the first piece of legislation specifically addressing species with a threatened or endangered status. In 1973, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was modified to include plants as well as animals.

Transgenic technology has had a dramatic effect on cotton production. In 2002, more than 70 percent of Louisiana cotton acreage was planted to transgenic varieties. Cotton varieties resistant to herbicides glyphosate (Roundup Ready), bromoxynil (BXN) and glufosinate (Liberty Link) have been developed.

Many fishery species rely on estuaries as critical habitat during early life stages, including redfish, menhaden, shrimp, blue crab, croaker and flounder. Because of the economic importance of many of these fishery species, the success of many coastal restoration projects is partially determined by the habitat provided for them.

A decline in loblolly pine, first reported in Bogalusa, La., in 1966, helped trigger a long-term study at the LSU AgCenter. At first, it was suspected that it was the same disease as littleleaf disease of shortleaf pine, which was attributed to site factors and Phyphthora cinnamomi, a water mold.

The tarnished plant bug has always caused problems in cotton, but in recent years the problems have escalated. Data from 1990 to 1995, before the advent of transgenic Bt cotton, put the cost per acre to control the tarnished plant bug at $3.19 compared to $12.02 from 1996 to 2002, after Bt cotton was introduced.

The biofuel industry has expanded tremendously over the past decade. LSU AgCenter scientists are conducting research on a wide variety of crops that can be turned into fuel. This issue of the magazine includes the latest results on use of sugarcane, sweet sorghum, switchgrass, algae, Chinese tallow and more. Please contact Linda Benedict, the editor, if you would like a back issue.

Preparing for cotton harvest involves some of the most important management decisions producers face. Applying chemical harvest aids before harvest can increase harvester efficiency, reduce leaf and trash content in harvested lint, facilitate dew drying, straighten lodged plants, retard boll rot, maintain or improve fiber quality and stimulate boll opening.

Research in forest pathology is shaped by the need to consider the consequences of a crop that must be managed from 20 to 100 years. If the desired end product of a forested area is wilderness, then dead and hollow trees may be considered part of the natural process and desirable for providing shelter for wildlife.

Commercial cow-calf production is the primary beef cattle enterprise in Louisiana. The state has about 550,000 beef cows in 15,000 herds located in all parishes but Orleans. The primary product marketed from these herds is the weaned calf. At least 80 percent of the cow-calf herds in Louisiana use crossbred cows of one kind or another, and most of these crossbred cows have some Brahman inheritance.

Cotton farmers may soon have a new way to evaluate the effectiveness of one class of insecticides, thanks to a new LSU AgCenter procedure that received a U.S. patent.

Since 2000, nearly 450 pest control operators and technicians have completed two days of either basic or master training programs on treating for termites and other wood-destroying insects at the Lois Caffey Termite Training Center at the LSU AgCenter in Baton Rouge.

Three more scientists, including the first woman, have been inducted into the LSU AgCenter’s Patent Club, an elite group that now includes 46 researchers that have received patents or plant variety protection certificates.

Rice farmers throughout the world face a unique weed problem. A weedy relative of cultivated rice, red rice, can invade and severely infest rice fields, both lowering yields and reducing the selling price of the harvested grain. Most of Louisiana’s rice acreage is infested, at least to some extent, with this weed. Because of its close genetic relationship to commercial rice, red rice has proved difficult to control.

The Louisiana Master Gardener program started in Baton Rouge in 1994 and was adopted statewide in 1997. The program is offered in 20 parishes, with volunteer participation in 40 parishes.

Plant pathology researcher, Ray Schneider, discovered the presence of a soybean disease new to this country at the perfect time, so the agricultural industry could gear up to prevent potentially catastrophic losses.

Producers and managers of deer work toward improved animal performance just as those who produce livestock. For deer, this can involve relocating animals from one part of the country to another in an effort to improve animal genetics and deer characteristics, such as size, antler development and reduced disease problems.

The next time you travel to New Orleans, look for the Jesuit church for Immaculate Conception Parish, which is on Baronne St. just off Canal St. and across from the Roosevelt Hotel. That all used to be sugarcane.

Louisiana Agriculture Spring 2004, Vol. 47, No. 2, 40 pages

Louisiana’s coastal waters, lakes, rivers and bayous are the lifeblood of the state. They have provided economic survival and year-round recreation, earning the state the well-deserved title of “Sportsman’s Paradise.”

Much of the land where cotton is grown in Louisiana has been used for cotton production for decades. This has left the soil deficient in both nutrients and organic matter. Some of these deficiencies could potentially be corrected by supplementing these soils with organic waste from Louisiana’s poultry industry. This is the state’s largest animal industry generating tons of organic waste that must be disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner

The rich, fertile soils of the Red River valley of northwestern Louisiana have supported cotton production for decades. Unfortunately, as in most agricultural soils, continuous cultivation has resulted in a steady decline in native soil fertility, especially organic matter.

In Louisiana, most row crops are produced on “stale” seedbeds, which means the fields are prepared in the fall,allowing vegetation to cover the field over the winter and help prevent soil erosion.

Entomologists for many years have dealt with insect resistance to insecticides. For weed scientists, however, weed resistance to herbicides is relatively new.

Louisiana Agriculture Winter 2010, Vol. 53, No. 1, 32 pages

The large-scale and economic diversification of sucrose in other than food products has not been realized. The biorefinery concept can solve this problem.

Crates of crabs sit on the bustling dock of Pontchartrain Blues, a crab processing facility in Slidell, La., on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain.

Since their introduction into the U.S. rice market, hybrid rice varieties have been grown on an increasing amount of Louisiana acreage.

The LSU AgCenter is conducting research on converting bagasse into value-added nonwoven materials. This research involves procedures for bagasse fiber extraction, bagasse fiber processing and bagasse fiber formation into nonwoven materials. It also involves methods of evaluating nonwoven bagasse products, including fiber bonding structure, mechanical and physical properties, and biodegradability.

On Aug. 28, 2009, sugarcane variety L 01-299 was released to the Louisiana sugar industry by the LSU AgCenter in cooperation with the USDA-ARS and the American Sugar Cane League.

Table 1. Outfield variety trials conducted across south Louisiana comparing L 03-371 with other commercial sugarcane varieties in 53 combine-harvested trials conducted from 2007 to 2009.

Louisiana Agriculture Magazine Winter 1999 (in PDF form)

If not properly managed, diseases can reduce grain yield and quality,adversely affecting the profitability of wheat production in Louisiana. The major diseases of Louisiana wheat are leaf rust and stripe rust.

The LSU AgCenter’s Calf to Carcass Program helps beef cattle producers learn how their animals perform after they are weaned and in the marketplace.

Warm-season grasses are the most valuable forage resource in Louisiana livestock production, filling the forage demand during the summer and providing hay for winter feed.

Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for plants and animals and is critically important to poultry production. Most of the phosphorus in broiler diets, however, is in the form of phytate.

The1958 science fiction cult classic movie “The Blob” featured an alien amorphous creature that consumed what ever it touched and was nearly impossible to stop. In 1998, science fiction became science fact when the invasive plant giant salvinia was first identified in Toledo Bend Reservoir in Louisiana.

The cranberry was once an obscure, regional fruit that through research and marketing has been propelled to a commodity with international demand. LSU AgCenter researchers hope that the mayhaw may also achieve such prominence, and research projects are under way. The following study involves mayhaw-muscadine juice blends.

Louisiana Agriculture Magazine Spring 1999.pdf

Nutrient management and recovery on livestock farms, such as dairies, is important for two reasons. The major concern is the gradual buildup in the soil of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus from manure application.

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.

The history of sugarcane began in New Guinea, which is the home of a cultivated form of sugarcane. In ancient times, people migrating from the Indochina area to New Guinea encountered different types of wild sugarcane. High-fiber forms were used for construction; softer and juicier forms were propagated in gardens for chewing.

The LSU AgCenter's Smart Bodies program addresses the issue of obesity in Louisiana.

Louisiana Agriculture Magazine Summer 2005

Beginning in 1989, one-cell waste lagoons were being constructed on Louisiana dairy farms as new installations or were modified from established two-stage, aerobic and anaerobic cell lagoons using financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP). Building these types of waste installations continued through 2000.

Regulations intended to assure public water safety in the United States have been in place since 1948 under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Despite these laws, degradation of public waters continues.

Controlling phosphorus loss from pastures fertilized with poultry litter is a nutrient management problem poultry farmers face.

Poultry production is the largest animal agricultural industry in Louisiana with a gross farm value in 2009 of $450.8 million and an industry value-added total of $432.8 million, ranking it second to forestry in total income production from statewide agricultural commodities.

Perlite is a processed volcanic mineral widely used as a propagating and growing medium for many horticultural crops, including tomatoes. The expense to dispose of the old material and replace it with new perlite shipped from distant markets can be significant.

Solid wood forest products as opposed to pulp and paper products can be characterized broadly as primary or secondary. This classification is not always clear, but most industry observers agree that primary products are those produced directly from raw timber input. Examples include chips, lumber, veneer, plywood and their byproducts.

The LSU AgCenter is operating a program in Ukraine that is a model for how to run a successful educational effort in a country formerly part of the Soviet bloc. The program, “Improving Income of Private Ukrainian Agricultural Producers,” targets farmers with fewer than 250 hectares and household plot owners (HPOs).

In recent years, many large food and beverage companies have adopted team approaches to new product development. The approach typically involves both a marketing department and a research and development department generating product ideas, concepts and ultimately prototypes, which are subsequently tested in selected target markets.

Crop nutrient demand and nutrient supply from broiler production by parish in 2008

The growing demand for food and fuel in the world has spurred widespread concern about the sustainability of agriculture’s intensive use of energy and nutrients. An easy and cost-effective method to improve nutrient balance in animal husbandry is to reduc inputs.

For more than 100 years cotton has been the most important crop grown in northeast Louisiana. At one time cotton was grown all across the state, but over the years it has become concentrated in the northeast part because of more favorable environmental conditions and because other crops are preferred in south Louisiana.

Ken McMillin, a professor in the Department of Food Science, was elected as an Institute of Food Technology Fellow in 2010 for his outstanding achievements in meat and food processing, packaging and safety, as well as international trainingin these areas.

David Weindorf, an assistant professor in the School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to teach and do research at University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Lee Southern, Doyle Chambers Professor in the School of Animal Sciences, has been named chairman of the National Research Council’s committee to update the publication, Nutrient Requirements of Swine.

A device that can “harvest” an oil spill in open seas or in a marsh – much like a combine harvests wheat and eliminates the chaff – was built as a working concept model by LSU AgCenter engineer Chandra Theegala.

The aquaculture industry is looking increasingly to genetic improvement for gains in production. But improving the genetics of aquatic species can take a long time. With catfish, for instance, a male typically spawns with only one female each season. Even if genetically superior males and females could be identified, the process of developing breeding stock and improved lines could take a decade or more.

Strawberries are one of the most popular fruit crops grown in the world. Per capita consumption of fresh strawberries in the United States has increased in the past 10 years and is predicted to continue to rise in the foreseeable future. Most U.S. commercial production of strawberries is in California where the arid climate and low disease pressure make ideal growing conditions.

The bacterial genus Brucella includes six recognized species. They are characterized by the animals that they preferentially infect. Three of these bacteria were classified by the Centers for Disease Control as “agents of mass destruction” after the Sept. 11, 2001, tragic events in this country. They are B. abortus, B. melitensis and B. suis.

Vol. 46, No. 2

Poultry is the leading animal agricultural industry in Louisiana. The industry is concentrated in the hilly, northern Coastal Plain area where land is used mostly for pasture and timber production.

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Vol. 47, No. 1

An LSU AgCenter soil scientist has been working on a project to help detect oil and other hydrocarbons in soil, and it could be used with the Gulf of Mexico disaster.

Members of LSU’s Interinstitutional Biological and Recombinant DNA Safety Committee were honored at an awards recognition luncheon April 28 in Baton Rouge.

Within a month, hurricanes Katrina and Rita damaged about 4.4 billion board feet (3.0 billion by Katrina and 1.4 billion by Rita) of sawtimber inventory in Louisiana.

Farming practices can affect environmental and agronomic sustainability as well as productivity. Traditional farming practices in the Mid-South typically use tillage and produce one crop each year, which exposes the soil to long periods with little or no protection from elements that cause sediment and nutrient losses.

Despite its success throughout history, cotton as a crop in the U.S. suffers from many problems for many different reasons. Cotton in Louisiana is plagued by diseases, insect pests and dozens of competing weed species. Adverse weather in early spring is hard on this tropical plant, and rainy periods during late summer and fall often cause yield losses through boll rot and delayed harvest.

Vol. 46, No. 2

What do red-cockaded woodpeckers and gopher tortoises have in common? They are endangered species, and both require a habitat becoming rare inLouisiana and throughout the southern United States. To thrive, they need open pine forests, known as longleaf pine savannahs.

The 1,200-acre Lee Memorial Forest in Washington Parish serves as an important research and teaching resource for the LSU AgCenter.

The Biomass Research and Development Initiative in the 2002 farm bill sets a goal of a 12 percent increase in production of chemicals and materials from biomass by 2010.

The furniture industry uses overlaid panels as flat, straight elements in furniture and cabinet construction. The panels are often in 3-ply or 5-ply construction with a thick core and thin overlays. Occasionally, 2-ply overlaid panels, which are particle board or medium density fiberboard overlaid on the visible face only, are used for economical reasons.

Itchgrass, often referred to as Raoulgrass, is a major weed problem in south Louisiana. Yield reductions attributed to itchgrass competition have been as high as 43 percent in sugarcane and 30 percent in corn and soybeans.

In 1998, the equine industry contributed an estimated $41 million in gross farm income and an additional $89 millionin value-added and related activities to Louisiana’s $1.5 billion animal industry.

The tarnished plant bug is becoming a major cotton pest in the mid-South states of Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. In 1998, the tarnished plant bug caused a loss of more than 14,000 bales of cotton in Louisiana, even though more than $5.5 million was spent to control it.

Interest in daylilies is still strong despite rust problems over the past several years. New daylily selections and All-American daylily winners need to be evaluated in the Gulf South for landscape performance.

Richard Latiolais gazed over the emerald field of an emerging wheat crop near Palmetto in St. Landry Parish.“This is all fresh ground,” he said. “We precision-leveled it last summer.” He is a participant in the LSU AgCenter's Master Farmer Program directed by Carrie Mendoza.

Louisiana has been in the international spotlight because of a reported sighting of the ivory-billed woodpecker, a bird thought to have been extinct. The bird was never seen during the official 30-day search in January and February. However, search team members said they heard the unique tapping sounds made by the bird.

The U.S. Geological Survey Fish and Wildlife Cooperative Research Unit, also known as the Coop Unit, has been part of the wildlife and fisheries research program even longer than the LSU AgCenter has been its own separate campus of the LSU system.

This issue of Louisiana Agriculture contains articles by members of the wildlife and fisheries faculty of the recently renamed School of Renewable Natural Resources. These articles reflect the growing breadth of the school’s mission.

Alligator populations in Louisiana have changed drastically during the last century in response to changes in management and in the environment. American alligators are strictly carnivorous reptiles whose native range was restricted to the southeastern part of the United States. They occur in a wide variety of aquatic habitats including rivers, streams, lakes and ponds but are most abundant in swamps and marshes.

The three little bears squealed like baby pigs as they were pulled from the bosom of their unconscious mother, curled up in a steel cage in the back of a pickup truck.

The Louisiana black bear was once distributed throughout eastern Texas, southern Arkansas, Louisiana and southern Mississippi. By the early 1900s, however, Louisiana black bear populations in this region were decimated from excessive harvest and habitat loss and degradation.

An abundance of opportunities for fishing, bird watching, boating and hunting lends credence to Louisiana’s claim as a “sportsman’s paradise.” If you are one of those enthusiasts who anticipates the 3 a.m. alarm, long drives, boat rides on dark and cool mornings knee-deep in mud and water, then you know that Louisiana is paradise for wildfowlers.

Females have one to three cubs, usually two, and often only one the first time around. They have their first cubs at age 3.

Legend has it that the term “Teddy” bear resulted from a famously unsuccessful hunt of a Louisiana black bear by then U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt.

Sturgeons have inhabited lakes, streams and rivers for millions of years. Worldwide there are 24 species of sturgeon, including the beluga sturgeon of the Caspian Sea, which can reach a length of more than 16 feet and weigh more than 1,000 pounds.

Louisiana is blessed with a variety of game animals that provide recreational benefits for sports enthusiasts. Often overlooked is the benefit many landowners derive from allowing others to lease their land for hunting.

The Northern bobwhite, a member of the quail family, has a long history in the southeastern United States and for decades has been a premiere game species of sports enthusiasts.

Waterfowl managers face an unusual situation with the midcontinent population of snow geese – there are just too many. Some estimates have the population of these geese that winter in the central part of the United States, especially in Louisiana and Texas, at more than three million.

The LSU AgCenter is helping landowners find alternative ways to profit from their land through a program that capitalizes on natural resources and helps revitalize the state’s rural economy. The new program is called the “Natural Resource-Based Enterprise Initiative.”

During the last century, the Atchafalaya Basin has evolved into a highly altered and regulated floodway of the lower Mississippi River. The basin still supports a complex mosaic of aquatic and terrestrial habitats, but this unique ecosystem continues to be threatened.

LSU AgCenter scientists are launching a series of research projects in 2005 to learn what they can about Asian soybean rust and how this potentially devastating disease will develop in Louisiana.

LSU AgCenter scientists conduct research to identify the best insecticides to manage sugarcane insect pests without causing damage to the environment. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Louisiana sugarcane industry relied exclusively on aerial sprays of the organochlorine insecticide, Endrin, averaging more than three applications per acre annually to control the sugarcane borer.

Knowledge of wetlands is becoming increasingly important to study and research about wildlife.

Several harvest aids available for cotton are described.

Debbie Otwell has learned tomatoes can be as profitable as they are tasty. Otwell grows about 2,000 tomato plants, which produce about 35,000 pounds per year, in her three greenhouses near Dubach, La. She got the idea after visiting the LSU AgCenter’s Red River Research Station in Bossier City.

Resistant starch is chemically not a fiber; however, there is an effort to have it declared so because it acts like soluble fiber in the gastrointestinal tract, thus providing the health benefits of fiber. Resistant starch and soluble fiber ferment in the small intestine—conferring their health effects.

In the past few years there has been a resurgence of a boll rot often referred to as boll dangle, Phomopsis boll rot, atypical boll shed or vascular cavitation. This boll rot has been present at low levels for many years but has become more severe in the past eight years.

Researchers at Cornell University’s Ornithology Lab in Ithaca, New York, recently finished analyzing audio recordings and have determined that there is no conclusive evidence of the ivory-billed woodpecker’s existence in Louisiana. The last documented sighting of the bird was in Tensas Parish in 1942.

What may well be one of the country’s largest private camellia collections is on its way to a new home at the LSU AgCenter's Burden Center in Baton Rouge.

Many changes are under way at the LSU AgCenter. These changes are for the most part internal and involve some rearranging of personnel and reallocation of resources. But we see them as having profound, positive and long-term effects on you, our clientele.

The rice water weevil is an important biological constraint on rice yields in the southern United States and has been recognized as such almost as long as rice has been grown in the South. Yield losses in Louisiana, where this insect is a particularly severe pest, typically exceed 10 percent and can approach 30 percent or more.

Advances in weed control technology have played an essential role in the development of the rice industry. Herbicides are critical to obtaining optimum yield and maximum profit. Before the development of selective rice herbicides, weed control involved intensive manual labor.

Vol. 45, No. 3

Cotton seedling diseases caused by fungi can reduce seedling emergence and plant establishment. The fungi commonly found attacking cotton in Louisiana are Rhizoctonia, Fusarium and Pythium. The detrimental effects from these pathogens are typically non-uniform plant populations and reduced plant vigor. In severely damaged fields, producers may be forced to replant, costing time, money and yield potential.

The LSU AgCenter has long been actively involved in evaluating ornamental plants, providing recommendations for county agents and green industry professionals (landscape contractors, retail garden centers) to use when working with home gardeners. One group of plants that has generated considerable interest recently is the crape myrtle.

Vol. 44, No. 3

Of all the flowers to be found in gardens throughout the world, the rose is the most popular and the most widely grown. In 1938, the All-America Rose Selections (AARS) program was established to evaluate and promote exceptional roses. The LSU AgCenter’s Burden Center in Baton Rouge is a designated AARS Display Garden, where the public can view roses awarded the AARS distinction.

The cotton disease called “bronze wilt” (it gives the leaves a copper color and they wilt) was first observed in Louisiana and Mississippi in 1995. While losses in Mississippi were minimal, the disease caused yield reduction in some Louisiana cotton fields.

Vol. 44, No. 4 Sugarcane

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Vol. 46, No. 1

The LSU AgCenter has released a new sweet potato named “Bienville,” which has resistance to root knot nematodes.

The cotton aphid is a common secondary pest of cotton in Louisiana. Cotton aphids can infest cotton plants from seedling emergence until harvest and injure plants by continuously feeding on them. Injury symptoms may include a downward cupping of infested leaves, inter-veinal discoloration, compressed main stem nodes and reduced plant height.

Genetically engineered plants are an important part of integrated pest management (IPM) programs in cotton production. One such plant, Bollgard cotton, includes a gene from a bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis, that is toxic to caterpillar pests, while being safe for humans, other animals and the environment.

Beef and dairy producers in north Louisiana plant more than 30,000 acres of hill land to annual ryegrass each fall for grazing cattle during the winter and spring. Nitrogen is the most limiting plant nutrient required for annual ryegrass production on these sandy Coastal Plain soils.

Regiment, a new herbicide from Valent, will be available to rice producers for 2002.

As Louisiana cattle producers continue to improve their beef stocker programs, it is important that they choose the right ryegrass for their pastures.