(Distributed 12/14/05) Residents in this Caddo Parish town are looking to the LSU AgCenter to help them make their town a better place to live, work and play. Vivian is a town of about 4,000 residents, and 30 of them recently graduated from an LSU AgCenter Community Leadership and Economic Development class.

(Distributed 12/16/05) As the cleanup from this summer’s hurricanes continues, LSU AgCenter agents are helping coordinate the work of people who are coming to the rescue. Among those were 30 students from The Ohio State University who arrived in Louisiana earlier this week (Dec. 11-17) ready to roll up their sleeves and pitch in to clean up parts of hurricane-ravaged South Louisiana.

(Distributed 12/12/05) The holiday foods many people enjoy this time of year aren’t just tasty treats. They’re also part of a food and fiber sector that contributes handily to Louisiana’s economy.

(Distributed 12/07/05) Winter is the perfect time to prune trees so they will be healthy and better able to resist storm damage, according to experts with the LSU AgCenter.

(Distributed 12/12/05) LSU AgCenter county agent Eddie Eskew has been honored with the Rice Industry Award for his work in Jefferson Davis Parish.

(Distribued 12/14/05) Louisiana 4-H’ers are using some of the lessons they’ve learned about helping others to help people in the state, as well as around the globe, this year.

(Distributed 12/07/05) The LSU AgCenter announces the 2006 North Louisiana Ag Expo Livestock Show Jan. 21, 2006, at the Monroe Civic Center Horse Pavilion.

(Distributed 12/07/05) Growers from Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi will hear the latest in soybean research during the 2006 Tri-State Soybean Forum slated for Jan. 6, 2006, at the Delhi Civic Center.

(Distributed 12/19/05) Research on West Nile virus has moved back to the front burner at the LSU AgCenter with the recent arrival of Dr. Wayne Kramer from Nebraska. Kramer, an entomologist and mosquito expert, most recently led the West Nile surveillance effort in the Nebraska Department of Health.

(Distributed 12/01/05) LSU AgCenter scientists hope they will soon be able to make recommendations for farmers whose fields were hit with saltwater contamination from Hurricane Rita’s storm surge.

(Distributed 12/20/05) Nearly four months after Hurricane Katrina, the flowers are beginning to bloom again in New Orleans City Park, thanks to some LSU AgCenter Master Gardeners. As soon as the ground became dry enough, LSU AgCenter horticulture agent Karen Blackburn of Orleans Parish started rounding up the troops – specially training LSU AgCenter volunteers – to see what could be done to bring the botanical garden back to life.

(Distributed 12/16/05) The sound of rain falling Wednesday night (Dec. 14) was sweet as a symphony to Gary Wicke, an LSU AgCenter county agent in Cameron Parish. Reducing salt contamination in the marsh from Hurricane Rita will improve chances for cattle forage to regrow. The sooner that happens, the better, Wicke said.

(Distributed 12/15/05) LSU AgCenter coastal resources agent Mark Shirley had hoped to bring a group of students back to a plot near Holly Beach where they had planted marsh grass during the 4-H Marsh Maneuvers program in July. But, after driving for several miles on La. 82 between Holly Beach and Johnson’s Bayou last weekend, Shirley gave up on his hope to find the transplanted grass, which apparently fell victim to Hurricane Rita’s wrath.

(Distributed 12/21/05) Six employees received the LSU AgCenter’s top awards for 2005. In addition, a group of 15 who conducted the "Building Financially Literate Youth" program across the state received the annual teamwork award, LSU AgCenter Chancellor William B. "Bill" Richardson announced late in December (Dec. 19).

(Distributed 12/19/05) "Where we are matters," said building expert Joseph Lstiburek during a recent seminar, stressing, "We need a Louisiana way of dealing with construction." Lstiburek, a principal of Building Science Corp. of Westford, Mass., and an international expert on moisture-related building problems, recently led a two-part seminar on designing and building for extreme climates. Sponsored by the LSU AgCenter, the program was held in Baton Rouge last week (Dec. 15).

(Distributed 12/09/05) Keeping Louisiana’s agriculture and forestry industries competitive is the theme of the 2006 AgOutlook Conference Jan. 26-27 in Baton Rouge. Now in its fourth year, this year’s conference will focus on agricultural globalization and international trade, as well as this year’s hurricane damage, commodity outlooks, agricultural policy and the 2007 farm bill.

(Distributed 12/20/05) Louisiana residents can learn how to operate chainsaws more safely through workshops offered by the LSU AgCenter.

(Distributed 12/01/05) The LSU AgCenter’s 2005 Poinsettia Open House is set for for Dec. 15 at its Burden Center in Baton Rouge. The annual event, which provides poinsettia growers and the public with an opportunity to view some of the latest poinsettia varieties and to see results of LSU AgCenter research with the plants, will be conducted in conjunction with a monthly lunchtime program known as "Through the Garden Gate."

(Distributed 12/20/05) The LSU AgCenter is helping Louisiana residents expand their businesses and advertise their goods to larger audiences. One part of that assistance comes through a workshop titled "My Own Business," which LSU AgCenter agents are teaching in different areas across Louisiana.

(Distributed 12/07/05) LSU AgCenter officials say Asian soybean rust has been found on kudzu collected in Tangipahoa Parish by Dr. Billy Bond, a plant pathologist on the faculty of Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond.

(Distributed 12/14/05) It could be another five years before farmers in developing countries can grow Golden Rice to help malnourished people, according to the German biochemist who started work on the project 15 years ago.