(Distributed 01/10/12) BATON ROUGE – Youth from across Louisiana are preparing to compete in the 77th annual LSU AgCenter Livestock Show next month at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales.

(Distributed 02/01/12) Three workshops will provide information on managing legal risk for forest landowners and foresters in Arkansas and Louisiana.

(Distributed 01/31/12) HAMMOND, La. – The LSU AgCenter and the Tangipahoa Master Gardeners are sponsoring their annual camellia garden stroll from 1-4 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 26, at the Hammond Research Station.

(Distributed 01/27/12) RAYVILLE, La. – LSU AgCenter rice breeder Steve Linscombe told north Louisiana rice farmers at their annual meeting on Jan. 26 that grain quality is becoming more important to buyers.

(Distributed 01/27/12) CROWLEY, La. – Dr. Mike Strain, commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, told rice farmers at a Jan. 25 meeting of the Louisiana Rice Council and Louisiana Rice Growers Association that he is working to address the problem of saltwater entering irrigation ditches.

(Distributed 01/26/12) Retail garden center owners, wholesale nursery growers and landscapers are cautiously optimistic about having a good year in 2012, according to LSU AgCenter horticulturist Allen Owings.

(Distributed 01/25/12) RAYVILLE, La. – Research by the LSU AgCenter is the reason ConAgra built a state-of-the-art sweet potato-processing facility near Delhi, state Sen. Francis Thompson, of Delhi, said at a farm forum.

(Distributed 01/24/12) WEST MONROE, La – For more than 2,000 first-and fourth-graders from northeast Louisiana, the LSU AgCenter’s Ag Alley at the 30th annual Ag Expo on Jan. 18-19 offered a chance to get up close and personal with plants and animals.

(Distributed 01/24/12) WEST MONROE, La. – With excess houses on the market and no immediate sign of increased housing construction, forestland owners and others were told to be patient at the 2012 Ag Expo Forestry Forum presented by the LSU AgCenter Jan. 20 at the West Monroe Convention Center.

(Distributed 01/23/12) Louisiana rice farmers overwhelmingly agreed to continue paying a nickel for every 100 pounds of rice for research and 3 cents per hundred pounds for promotion for the next five years.

(Distributed 01/20/12) B. Rogers Leonard, associate vice chancellor for research at the LSU AgCenter, has been named the first recipient of the Insect Research and Control Conference Award for Excellence in Cotton Integrated Pest Management.

(Distributed 01/19/12) The LSU AgCenter will be presenting two short courses on food processing sanitation control and safety.

(Distributed 01/13/12) OPELOUSAS, La. – Farmers received recommendations and advice from LSU AgCenter experts at a wheat and soybean production meeting Jan. 12.

(Distributed 01/13/12) LAFAYETTE, La. – Eleven men and women were honored on Jan.12 for completing the Louisiana Master Farmer Program part of the annual convention of the Louisiana Association of Conservation Districts. “This is one of the most rewarding things we do – recognize farmers who have gone through this rigorous program,” said Bill Richardson, LSU AgCenter chancellor.

(Distributed 01/12/12) BUNKIE, La. – Two rice varieties developed by the LSU AgCenter have been approved by the Kellogg Co. for use in their products, rice farmers learned at a meeting here Jan. 11.

(Distributed 01/11/12) A referendum will be held Jan. 17 for the renewal of a rice check-off program in existence for the past 40 years. Balloting will be conducted at the LSU AgCenter extension offices in parishes with more than 50 rice producers, including Acadia, Evangeline, St. Landry, Jefferson Davis, Vermilion and Calcasieu parishes, from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.

(Distributed 01/10/12) The deadline for submitting photos to be considered for the LSU AgCenter’s 2013 Get It Growing Lawn and Garden Calendar is rapidly approaching. Although 2012 just arrived, it’s already time to begin work on next year’s calendar. Photographers interested in having their photos considered for the calendar must submit them by Jan. 31, 2012.

(Distributed 01/09/12) OAK GROVE, La. – An LSU AgCenter economist gave an outlook for the 2012 soybean market at the Tri-State Soybean Forum on Jan. 6.

(Distributed 01/06/12) CROWLEY, La. – U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany said Thursday (Jan. 5) that the upcoming effort to pass a new farm bill will be a difficult struggle that threatens to divide commodity groups.

(Distributed 01/06/12) A workshop that addresses the financial concerns and challenges of graduating high school seniors and their parents will be held on Saturday, Jan. 14, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Tara High School in Baton Rouge.

(Distributed 01/06/12) ABBEVILLE, La. – An LSU AgCenter workshop that will provide information for raising cocahoe minnows as baitfish for recreational anglers will be held at 6:30 p.m., Jan. 17, at the Vermilion Parish Extension Office.

(Distributed 01/05/12) Making sure that children get a head start on reading was the goal of the LSU AgCenter Little Bookshelf recent book donation to infants and toddlers at YWCA Head Start sites in Baton Rouge.