(05/16/25) BATON ROUGE, La. — A seven-year collaboration between Loveland Products, Inc., and the LSU AgCenter is driving innovation in rice breeding and agricultural research. Through the LPI Research Station Support Fund, Loveland has provided critical resources that have enabled the AgCenter to expand its rice breeding program, launch impactful grant writing initiatives and support early-stage research projects.

This partnership is fostering advancements in agriculture while creating a strong alliance between the AgCenter and Loveland’s parent company, Nutrien. The results are the release of multiple commercial rice varieties and a pipeline of new breeding materials.

“Our relationship with the LSU AgCenter is very important to our overall success in rice technology development,” said Randy Ouzts, U.S. rice manager at Loveland Products. “We look forward to a very bright future working with the university and its key researchers as we move forward in product development.”

Adam Famoso, LSU AgCenter rice breeder, said the strength is in the sharing of resources.

“The support and collaboration with the Nutrien rice breeding program has enabled sharing of germplasm and joint breeding efforts that provide unique opportunities to each organization,” Famoso said. “We have all been able to develop and release new commercial varieties that would not have been possible without the collaboration.”

The resources from Loveland Products also have supported the Hanover Grant Writing Program, which has given 36 LSU AgCenter professors the opportunity to improve their abilities to write successful and poignant grant proposals.

Imana Power, assistant professor in the AgCenter Department of Plant Pathology and Crop Physiology, completed the program, and said she felt a significant improvement in her abilities to write and be awarded grants.

“What I really appreciated was the professionalism and the feedback,” Power said. “They were always professional.”

Power also said the program significantly improved her chances of being awarded a grant, offering helpful insight into the grant awarding process.

The grant program has provided tangible results, including a $3.9 million grant managed by Qinglin Wu, a researcher in the AgCenter School of Renewable Natural Resources.

Seed funding has also been provided by the support fund, providing small grants for researchers trying to do preliminary research in their disciplines. So far, 13 projects have been awarded money, and seven projects are being completed.

One of these projects was under Yue Liu, a researcher at the AgCenter Aquatic Germplasm and Genetic Resources Center, who has built the infrastructure and reputation of the AGGRC using the funds provided by Loveland. For Liu, these funds are paramount to building a successful research center.

“In order to compete in the national in the international stage, we need to build relationships with other centers, in the laboratories and the outreach, especially outreach,” Liu said. “The seed funding grants are made in a flexible and supportive way to provide funding and a resource to build something that would have not been possible in other research grants.”

In recognition of this impactful collaboration, Loveland Products was honored with the Industry Leader Award at the LSU AgCenter and College of Agriculture’s AgExcellence ceremony on April 25.

Vice President and Dean Matt Lee standing with Randy Outz, a U.S. rice manager from Loveland Products, at the AgExcellence Ceremony. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter