(Distributed 01/26/07) Thousands of Louisiana youngsters will gather in South Louisiana Feb. 10-17 as they compete in the 72nd annual LSU AgCenter Spring Livestock. Approximately 1,500 4-H and FFA members are expected to bring about 4,500 animals to the state show, which will be held at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales.

(Distributed 01/25/07) Two LSU AgCenter faculty members recently were named to short-term, part-time administrative positions in the AgCenter. Dr. Jim Griffin is assistant to the director for plant sciences in the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station, and Dr. Bobby Fletcher is assistant to the director for special programs in the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service.

(Distributed 01/25/07) With last year’s state yield record and good prices, Louisiana soybean farmers seem eager to get their 2007 crop planted. During a recent meeting of the Louisiana Soybean Association at the LSU AgCenter’s Dean Lee Research, Extension and Livestock Facility near Alexandria, AgCenter soybean specialist Dr. David Lanclos recalled that the approach to the 2006 crop was not as optimistic.

(Distributed 01/25/07) The new 13-member Louisiana Rice Research Board took the oath of office in mid-January. The board oversees the use of check-off funds from rice farmers, which are used for research and have funded approximately $1 million in work annually through the LSU AgCenter the past several years.

(Distributed 01/23/07) With the 2007 farm bill on the horizon, speakers at the 2007 AgOutlook conference in Baton Rouge talked about issues the new bill may involve as it makes its way through Congress this year. About 200 members of the Louisiana agricultural community met in the Lod Cook Conference Center on the LSU campus Tuesday (Jan. 23) to hear experts provide their views on what might happen.

(Distributed 01/23/07) The Louisiana Equine Council is planning its first Equine Expo for March 9-11 at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales. The event will include lectures, riding and training demonstrations, several competitions, a trade show, a parade of breeds and many other activities, according to LSU AgCenter specialist Dr. Clint Depew.

(Distributed 01/22/07) Louisiana consumers begin looking forward to crawfish almost as soon as the holidays end. Some producers already are harvesting, and it looks like 2007 will be a good year for crawfish, according to an LSU AgCenter expert.

(Distributed 01/18/07) Before recent rains and low temperatures, many of Louisiana’s strawberry growers were looking forward to an above-average crop. But the cold, wet weather in south Louisiana has slowed down the ripening process, said Dr. Regina Bracy, LSU AgCenter professor and research coordinator of the LSU AgCenter’s Hammond Research Station.

(Distributed 01/17/07) The colder the weather in winter, the better Louisiana soybean farmers like it. That’s because freezing temperatures kill kudzu, a noxious plant that among its many faults harbors the fungus that causes a dreaded disease called Asian soybean rust.

(Distributed 01/17/07) Will Southwest Louisiana farmers benefit from a shift of rice acreage in other farm regions to corn, sorghum, wheat and soybeans? The possibilities of such a scenario were detailed by LSU AgCenter experts in a series of meetings for rice farmers held in Southwest Louisiana during early January.