Search
Louisiana Agriculture Magazine Winter 2007
The following nine articles appeared in the fall 2006 issue of Louisiana Agriculture in "What's New?"
Louisiana rice producers have approved five-year renewals of checkoff fees on their crops to fund research and promotion.
An independent lab has determined that rice seed for sale this year by the LSU AgCenter’s Rice Research Station is free of Liberty Link, according to Steve Linscombe, the station director.
Any way to add value to rice can be of great benefit to Louisiana’s rice industry. One of the targets for research by the LSU AgCenter is broken rice kernels. From this otherwise value-less product, a valuable food additive can be made – resistant starch.
For more than two decades there was uncertainty about the cause of a common disease among pecan trees referred to as leaf scorch. LSU AgCenter researchers were able to distinguish the cause of the disease, which has improved pecan production.
In recent years, reports of high yield potential and the advantages of an early harvest have created interest in early planting of soybeans in Louisiana. Little research information is available on the responses of Maturity Group (MG) V soybeans to early planting dates.
The following eight articles appeared in the winter 2007 issue of Louisiana Agriculture in "What's New?"
Winter 2007
More than 135 private landowners, loggers and forest industry leaders participated in the LSU AgCenter’s Central Louisiana Forestry Forum on Jan. 30, 2007,to learn about the challenges still facing the industry more than a year after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
With the 2007 farm bill on the horizon, speakers at the 2007 AgOutlook conference in Baton Rouge on Jan. 23, 2007, talked about issues the new bill may involve as it makes its way through Congress this year.
Corn is the cheapest feedstock for ethanol production in the United States. Sugarcane has potential. The article provides information on ethanol production costs and discusses what needs to be done for sugarcane to become a viable option.
In the 70-some years since rural Louisianians first gathered turtle eggs, generally along railroad rights-of-way through swamps, and sold the hatchlings as pets, the turtle industry in Louisiana has experienced a roller coaster ride that may be at its lowest point. But legislation has been introduced that may boost the turtle industry in Louisiana from a $5 million business to a $300 million business.
Individual livestock producers have been using animal identification for decades. But not until recently has the need for a more comprehensive, coordinated national animal identification and tracking system been recognized.
A bill pending in Congress will permit the domestic sale of baby turtles in the United States, which would be a big economic boost for Louisiana.
Annual vinca, also referred to as periwinkle by many home gardeners and industry professionals, is one of the best-selling bedding plants in the Southeastern United States. LSU AgCenter researchers are working to prevent on the diseases that plagues this plant, leaf spot.
Six individuals and three teams won top honors during the LSU AgCenter’s Annual Conference Dec. 18-19, 2006.
Alligator processors in Louisiana annually generate about 175,000 pounds of wild alligator bones and connective tissues and more than 1 million pounds of farm-raised alligator bones and associated materials. Although these materials are discarded, they could be the source of a valuable product – collagen.
The 21st century has provided producers with a number of technological advances that affect all aspects of cotton production. Both Liberty Link and Roundup Ready Flex offer the potential to be used as highly effective alternate weed control systems in a weed-resistance management program.
After more than 80 years of service to the fruit and vegetable growers in Southeast Louisiana, the LSU AgCenter’s Hammond Research Station has a new initiative.
The dynamic of raising soybeans has changed forever with the discovery of Asian soybean rust in the United States in 2004. LSU AgCenter scientists aggressively monitor for any sign of the disease and pursue a rigorous research program to look for solutions to this problem.
Jim Griffin, Lee Mason LSU Alumni Association Professor inthe School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences, received the Weed Science Society of America Outstanding Research Award at the Society’s annual meeting held in San Antonio, Texas, in February 2007.
The traditional farming practice for cotton in the South for 200 years was to produce one summer crop per year following winter fallow. Now, year-round systems with summer crops of cotton, corn, soybeans or grain sorghum and winter crops of wheat, rye or vetch are considered best management practices (BMPs) and protect surface water quality from soil and nutrient losses.
Farmers Dan Bedgood and Erick Cherene of Madison Parish have a quick answer when asked to describe the upcoming 2007 growing season in North Louisiana. “A lot of corn,” they say in unison.
When he first went to work at the LSU AgCenter’s Northeast Research Station in St. Joseph, 15-year-old Roger Leonard expected it to be just a summer job during high school. What it turnedout to be, however, was the first step in a career that found him being named in 2006 the Jack Hamilton Chair in Cotton Production in the LSU AgCenter.
