(02/17/17) MARKSVILLE, La. – Four LSU graduate students and two retired LSU AgCenter faculty members were honored recently (Feb. 15) at the Louisiana Agricultural Technology and Management Conference.

Johnny Saichuk, retired LSU AgCenter rice specialist, and Jim Griffin, retired LSU AgCenter weed scientist, were honored as the two new members of the Louisiana Agricultural Consultants Association Hall of Fame.

Saichuk said teaching has been the most rewarding aspect of his career in agriculture. “It took me a long time to learn my gift was to teach,” he said.

Griffin said he enjoyed working with students. “They are the reason I was as productive as I was.”

Student Jorge Pineda received a scholarship funded by Ray and Dorothy Young, RiceTec and Crop Production Services. Originally from Honduras, Pineda is working on his master’s degree at LSU, studying the fungus that causes aflatoxin in corn.

Lina Bernaola received a scholarship from the Louisiana Land Bank. Bernaola, from Peru, is working on her doctoral degree in entomology, studying the effects of a fungi on rice resistance to insects and pathogens.

Emily Kraus received a scholarship from AgBiTech. She is working on her doctoral degree in entomology, studying rice water weevils and armyworms. She has received 20 scholarships, honors and awards, and she has worked in Africa.

Myra Purvis received a scholarship from Grady and Barbara Coburn and Pest Management Enterprises. She is working on her master’s degree in plant pathology, studying soybean taproot decline, while working as a research associate at the AgCenter Macon Ridge Research Station.

Bradley Sartain, a graduate research assistant in the LSU AgCenter School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences, received the 2016 Young Endowed Assistantship for Row Crop Integrated Pest Management, funded by Ray and Dorothy Young. Recipients are required to make a presentation on their work. Sartain is studying control measures for giant salvinia, an invasive species that has choked waterways throughout the state. He warned that another aquatic weed, crested floating heart, now found in Texas, could be a bigger problem than giant salvinia.

Several AgCenter faculty members at the conference made presentations on cotton, soybeans, rice, sugarcane and corn.

Bill Richardson, LSU vice president for agriculture, said state budget cuts have shrunk the LSU AgCenter. “We can’t continue to do all the things we have done,” he said.

The reduced budget has forced a cutback. “We’re going to have to re-mission some of our research stations,” Richardson said.

Changes may also occur on the parish level. “The days of having one agriculture agent in each parish may be coming to an end,” he said.

Richardson urged consultants to make legislators aware of the impact of the cuts. “Work with us, but let your legislators know we cannot continue to let this happen,” he said.

Richardson said proposals by companies to grow medical marijuana under a contract with LSU are due March 21.

The first product could be available in 2018, but he said it’s unlikely a company would be able to make a profit for two to three years from the $10 million to $15 million project.

Graduate student Jorge Pineda, far right, receives a scholarship from Dorothy and Ray Young, and RiceTec, represented by Cullen Minter, second from right. The presentation was made in Marksville at the Louisiana Agricultural Technology and Management Conference, sponsored by the Louisiana Agricultural Consultants Association. Photo by Bruce Schultz/LSU AgCenter

Graduate student Myra Purvis, center, receives a scholarship from Grady and Barbara Coburn and Pest Management Enterprises at the Louisiana Agricultural Technology and Management Conference on Feb. 15 in Marksville. The event was sponsored by the Louisiana Agricultural Consultants Association. Photo by Bruce Schultz/LSU AgCenter

Lina Bernaola, an entomology doctoral student at LSU, receives a scholarship at the Louisiana Agricultural Technology and Management Conference on Feb. 15 in Marksville. The event is sponsored by the Louisiana Agricultural Consultants Association. Photo by Bruce Schultz/LSU AgCenter