An LSU AgCenter professor recently began serving as the president of the American Forage and Grassland Council.

Dr. Ed Twidwell, a professor in the Department of Agronomy and Environmental Management, moved into that role during the council’s annual meeting in mid-June.

Twidwell, who has been with the LSU AgCenter for nine years, had been a member of the Forage and Grassland Council’s executive committee for the past two years – senior vice-president in 2002 and president-elect in 2003. He will serve as its president for the coming year.

In his new role, Twidwell will oversee the council, which is an international organization made up of 27 affiliate councils in the United States and Canada with a total membership of more than 3,000. The primary purpose of the council is to advance forage agriculture and grassland stewardship.

That fits well with Twidwell’s LSU AgCenter duties, which find him serving as the state’s forage expert.

"I think I get the greatest satisfaction from providing information to livestock and forage producers that is relevant to them and that they can use on their farm or ranch.," Twidwell said of the rewards of his LSU AgCenter work. In that work, he is actively involved in the production of publications, group meetings, field days and field demonstration plots for livestock and forage producers in the state.

Twidwell has been active in American Forage and Grassland Council since 1985. He has been chairmen of several committees and served as the annual meeting chairman when the AFGC annual meeting was held in Lafayette during 2003.

On the state level, Twidwell is the executive secretary of the Louisiana Forage and Grassland Council, which is affiliated with American council. AFGC.

Contact: Ed Twidwell at (225) 578-4564 or etwidwell@agcenter.lsu.edu
Writer: Tom Merrill at (225) 578-2263 or tmerrill@agcenter.lsu.edu