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Dr. Cole Gregorie, LSU AgCenter Sweet Potato Specialist
From Wet to Watchful: Louisiana Sweetpotato Season Settles In. Like last season, May brought exceptionally wet conditions that delayed planting for some growers. Fortunately, this year’s rains extended into June, allowing later plantings to establish successfully under favorable conditions. While July and August have been drier, overall conditions remain positive across the state, and most reports indicate that the crop is progressing well. However, additional timely rains may be needed to finish the season strong.
Acreage for 2025 is expected to remain steady at around 5,500 acres statewide. With planting complete and crop development looking promising, growers are cautiously optimistic. Thanks to the well-timed rainfall, irrigation inputs have been significantly reduced this season. In the southern part of the state, early harvest reports have been positive. The remainder of the state is expected to begin harvesting in the coming weeks. The hope is that the improved early-season conditions will translate into better yields and quality at harvest.
Meanwhile, the LSU AgCenter has wrapped up its foundation seed planting and will soon begin harvesting the earliest portion of its crop, along with research plots across the state. These efforts will provide valuable insights into crop performance and help guide future production strategies.
As the crop enters the later part of the growing season, producers are now focused on, scouting for insect activity as cucumber beetle pressure has been high, around the state. Growers should aim to integrate as many modes of action as possible during their in-season insecticide applications. With continued vigilance and cooperative weather, Louisiana’s sweetpotato season is shaping up to be a promising one.
Kay S. Rentzel, NCPN Sweet Potato Coordinator
A few weeks ago, the US Sweet Potato Council Board of Directors met in Washington DC for their Mid-Year Meeting and high-level meetings with the Administration officials at the Department of Labor (DOL), US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the White House office staff.
Your industry leaders, Caleb Englert, US Sweet Potato Council President (Mississippi); Sarah Alvernaz, US Sweet Potato Council Vice-President (California); Thomas Joyner, Nash Produce (North Carolina); and Board of Director Advisors, Michelle Grainger, NC; Lorin Harvey, MS; and Rene Simon, LA; advocated on behalf of the entire sweet potato industry. Additional industry representatives included Anna Rhinewalt, MS, and Justin Ferguson, MS Farm Bureau.
Meetings were held with Trump Administration senior advisors for:
Follow-up discussions are scheduled for Executive Director, Kay Rentzel, who continues working with federal agencies to ensure sweet potato producers remain central to the issues facing them.
Dr. Don LaBonte, LSU AgCenter Sweetpotato Breeder
Sweetpotato varieties all have their quirks. I wish they would all behave the same but that's just not going to happen! Avoyelles (18-100) is a good example. Yes, presprouting is a definite or plants beds just don't deliver. We also found that it has to be treated gently when bedded. It has acceptability to soft rot so you really need to avoid dropping the storage roots in the hoppers. Gently placing the roots into beds will greatly reduce this breakdown. We saw mixed results this spring - very solid beds when a careful approach was taken. Yes, not ideal however, that earliness is a big deal. A South Louisiana producer harvested 700 plus bushels per acre crop at the end of July!
Dr. Imana Power, LSU AgCenter Plant Pathology
Clayton Blake placed second in the LSU AgCenter Department of Plant Pathology Graduate Student Competition with his presentation “Hyperspectral image analysis: Utilizing sweetpotato potyviruses for image based pathogen detection”. Clayton presented updates on his research during the Plant Health 2025 meeting of the American Phytopathological Society. Clayton’s research is part of the CleanSEED project aimed at using hyper-spectral imaging to detect symptomless virus-infected sweetpotato in the field. This is done by generating hyperspectral image libraries of healthy plants and plants infected with the sweet potato feathery model virus (SPFMV), as well as machine learning (ML) models capable of detection. Healthy and infected plants were imaged at critical developmental stages. These images were used to develop preprocessing procedures, including masking and noise reduction. Clayton has identified models that can detect sweetpotato plants infected with SPSMV, but still asymptomatic, with 85% accuracy.
Dr. Jeff A. Davis, Professor and Entomologist
Reuel Pablo, Graduate Student
Dr. Imana Power, LSU AgCenter Plant Pathology
The most important sweetpotato viruses in Louisiana include sweetpotato feathery mottle virus, sweetpotato virus G, sweetpotato virus C, and sweetpotato virus 2. All four viruses can co-occur within a single storage root and can result in up to 40% yield loss. Aphids transmit these viruses quickly when probing on vines and leaves. Unfortunately, aphids are present in Louisiana throughout the sweetpotato growing season (See Fig 1 in PDF). Using a section trap that samples flying aphids 30 ft above the ground, we found aphids moving throughout the area during the entire growing season. This means viruses can be transmitted throughout the entire growing season as well.
In addition, previous work by the LSU AgCenter has shown the period of late July to early September to be particularly active aphid time (See Fig. 2 in PDF). This coincides with higher virus titer levels, creating a perfect storm for plant virus transmission by aphid vectors. What can producers do?
Keeping sweetpotatoes virus free is a year-long process that currently relies on two main tactics; virus tested seed and weedy-host removal. It begins with purchasing and bedding certified virus tested clean seed, removing the primary virus inoculum source. Next, keeping your field and fencerows weed-free prevents secondary virus inoculum from entering the field through weedy hosts such as Ipomoea hederacea (ivy-leaved morning glory), I. cordatotriloba (tievine), I. lacunosa (white morning glory), and Jacquemontia tamnifolia (hairy clustervine). Without virus inoculum, aphids cannot acquire and transmit viruses.
Are there alternative control tactics? Part of the research being conducted by the LSU AgCenter through the CleanSEED grant is addressing this question. Under the direction of Drs. Jeff Davis and Imana Power, graduate student Reuel Pablo is testing alternate control methods focused on soybean crop borders, crop oils, and kaolin clay (See Fig. 3 in PDF). The soybean crop border arrests aphid flight, causing the aphid to land on the soybean and probe. Since soybeans are not a host for sweetpotato viruses, when aphids probe on the soybean, they lose the virus particles, and when the aphids move to the sweetpotato and probe again, the aphid is virus-free and does not transmit. Oils prevent aphids from acquiring viruses and deter aphids from probing. Kaolin clay deters aphid landing. Combining all these tactics into a single management plan, with knowledge of when aphids are landing within sweetpotato fields, has the potential to reduce virus transmission, keeping sweetpotatoes virus free.
In summary, aphid vectors of sweetpotato viruses are present year-round but landing rates increase during the latter half of the growing season when virus titers are higher. To reduce the chance of virus infection in your crop, remove virus inoculum by planting virus-tested clean seed and removing weedy virus hosts. Results from studies using alternative control methods such as crop oils, kaolin clay, and crop borders will be available soon. In the meantime, begin trying out these sustainable integrated pest management methods to see which works best on your farm.
M. Jeff Murray
Research Associate
Department of Entomology, LSU AgCenter
It is with heavy heart and deep sadness that I announce the passing of Mr. M. Jeff Murray. Mr. Jeff was a longtime research associate with the Department of Entomology at the LSU AgCenter. He worked for thirty-five years on sweetpotato. Originally from Massachusetts with a B.A. in anthropology and an M.A. in geography, he joined the department in 1990 when he began working with Dr. Larry Rolston on sweetpotato breeding, IPM of sweetpotato weevil, and on taxonomic catalogs for several families of Hemiptera. From 1994 until 2012, he worked in sweetpotato IPM, particularly chemical control of root feeding insects with Drs. Abner Hammond Jr. and Rick Story. In 2012, he joined the Davis Lab and has worked on multiple soybean and sweetpotato IPM projects. Many of you had the pleasure of knowing him. Jeff was jovial, kind, and always willing to do anything for anyone. He will be greatly missed as a colleague and a friend.
Dr. Arthur Villordon: was recently awarded the Floyd S. Edmiston, SR. Professorship in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management. This is a very well deserved award that highlights the year of work that has supported the Louisiana and worldwide Sweet Potato Industry.
Marissa B. Barbosa: Placed second in the scholars Ignite competition at the 2025 ASHS Meeting in New Orleans with her presentation: Modeling the Timing of Sweetpotato Storage Root Initiation and Initial Bulking Stages
Lisa Arce: Placed first in the PhD Student Competition at the 2025 National Sweetpotato Collaborators Meeting with her presentation: Genotype Reveal: Variation in Nitrate and Phosphate Signaling Responses Highlight Sweetpotato Cultivar Differences During the Onset of Storage Root Formation
Mae Ann Bravo: Placed second in the PhD Student Competition at the 2025 National Sweetpotato Collaborators Meeting with her presentation: Variation in Root Architectural Adaptations in Putatively Low- and High Lead-Accumulating Sweetpotato Cultivars
See you there! Fort Worth Texas
January 18-20, 2026
Louisiana is a leader in the production of Sweet Potato Fries. Upgrade your comfort food this season with this game changer.
2 pounds sweet potatoes of your favorite prepared sweetpotato fries
1. In a 12-inch cast-iron skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add sausage, and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Remove sausage using a slotted spoon, reserving drippings in skillet.
2. Add tasso and onion to skillet; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste, and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
3. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to tasso mixture. Sprinkle flour on top, and whisk until combined.
4. Add half of broth, whisking constantly and scraping bottom of skillet with a wooden spoon. Add sausage, Worcestershire, Creole seasoning, and remaining broth. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly; cook, stirring constantly, until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve warm over Sweet Potato Fries. Top with cheese curds. Garnish with parsley and pepper, if desired.
Serving Size: 4
For more information, contact the LSU AgCenter Sweet Potato Research Station
P.O. Box 120 | Chase, LA 71324 | Phone: 318-435-2155 | Cole Gregorie 318-680-9833 or Myrl Sistrunk 318 -267-6712
Office Hours: Monday – Friday 7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
The LSU AgCenter and LSU provides equal opportunities in employment and programs.
