(Distributed 02/08/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter has scheduled 12 field days at off-campus research stations during 2013, according to John Russin, vice chancellor and director of the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station.

(Distributed 02/28/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Louisiana’s mild winter, lacking those temperatures that hover in the upper teens and lower twenties, could well be the reason for the earlier appearance of Asian soybean rust in south Louisiana.

(Distributed 02/28/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – As the garden show season begins across south Louisiana, questions about insect and disease damage on plants will continue to increase.

(Distributed 02/27/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana Soybean and Feed Grains Research and Promotion Board has awarded $1.8 million to the LSU AgCenter for research and extension projects in 2013.

(Distributed 02/27/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Gray mold, a fungal disease common to tomatoes grown in greenhouses, has been showing up in operations from East Feliciana to Terrebonne parishes in recent months.

(Distributed 02/26/13) BOSSIER CITY, La. – The Northwest Beef and Forage Field Day will be held April 16 at the LSU AgCenter Red River Research Station.

(Distributed 02/25/13) The 14th annual Southwest Louisiana Garden Festival will be held March 22-23 at Burton Coliseum.

(Distributed 02/25/13) A weekend full of food, flowers and fun is scheduled for Baton Rouge on March 9-10 when the LSU AgCenter presents the 11th annual Baton Rouge Spring Garden Show, the 7th annual Louisiana State and Regional Chili Cook-off and the 4th annual Baton Rouge Spring Car Show.

(Distributed 02/25/13) The LSU AgCenter and the St. Tammany Master Gardeners will hold their annual Northshore Garden Show and Plant Sale March 15-16 at the St. Tammany Fairgrounds in Covington.

(Distributed 02/25/13) CROWLEY, La. – The faculty at the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station conducted a day-long rice farming clinic Thursday, Feb. 21, for employees of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and Ducks Unlimited to learn the basics of growing rice.

(Distributed 02/25/13) The Hammond Spring Garden Day is set for March 9 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the LSU AgCenter Hammond Research Station.

(Distributed 02/22/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana Direct Seafood Academy will be held in February, March and April across coastal Louisiana with a series of programs focusing on marketing techniques, improving product quality, safety and getting new business. Sponsors are Louisiana Sea Grant and the LSU AgCenter.

(Distributed 02/22/13) HAMMOND, La. – Home gardeners need to increase their knowledge and awareness of management practices recommended for roses in our landscapes.

(Distributed 02/21/13) WEST MONROE, La – The LSU AgCenter will host a Connect My Louisiana Summit on March 6 to explain options for access to high-speed Internet connections in rural areas.

(Distributed 02/21/13) The 24th Annual Florida Parishes Forestry Forum will be held in the University Center at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond on March 15.

(Distributed 02/20/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Insect researchers from across the Southeast will gather in Baton Rouge early next month to discuss the pests that can kill crops, harm livestock and make life uncomfortable for people. The Southeastern Branch of the Entomological Society of America will hold its annual meeting March 3-6.

(Distributed 02/20/13) WELSH, La. – A meeting to explain options for high-speed access to the Internet in rural areas will be held at the Welsh Community Center on March 5. The meeting, starting at 9:30 a.m., will provide consumers, business owners and government officials information on broadband connectivity in rural Louisiana, according to Deborah Cross-Young, LSU AgCenter extension agent.

(Distributed 02/19/13) NEW ORLEANS – The 34th Annual New Orleans Spring Garden Show will be held at the City Park Botanical Garden on April 6-7 from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. each day.

(Distributed 02/19/13)GONZALES, La. – Hundreds of young people from across Louisiana were named state champions during the 78th Annual LSU AgCenter Livestock Show held Feb. 9-16 at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales.

(Distributed 02/19/13) MARKSVILLE, La. – Louisiana agricultural consultants met at their annual convention to hear expert advice from LSU AgCenter researchers on cotton, corn, soybeans and rice in preparation for the upcoming crop season.

(Distributed 02/20/13) FRANKLIN, La. – A 4-H project aimed at helping St. Mary Parish residents avoid troublesome encounters with black bears is being honored with an award from the Louisiana Wildlife Federation. Adriana Drusini and Jennifer Ducote, both 4-H agents, and Catherine Siracusa, black bear conflict officer, will receive the Governor’s Conservation Award in Baton Rouge on Feb. 23.

(Distributed 02/19/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter Bob R. Jones-Idlewild Research Station near Clinton will hold a wildlife field day on Sat., March 16.

(Distributed 02/18/13) GONZALES, La. – Six exceptional Louisiana youths were recognized Saturday (Feb. 16) for their knowledge, skills and communication abilities as they were named winners of the Gerry Lane Premier Exhibitor Awards at the 78th annual LSU AgCenter Livestock Show at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center here.

(Distributed 02/18/13) GONZALES, La. – The LSU AgCenter honored several Louisiana 4-H and FFA members and one adult leader Saturday, Feb. 16, for their work with youth livestock projects.

(Distributed 02/15/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter Southeast Region Extension office is conducting a pond management workshop on March 22 from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. at the St. Tammany Parish Council Chambers in Mandeville.

(Distributed 02/15/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Seventy people filled the meeting room to capacity the day before Mardi Gras (Feb. 11) to find out about the new LSU AgCenter Food Incubator and how it can help them start or expand their food businesses.

(Distributed 02/15/13) HAMMOND, La. – Azaleas are Louisiana’s most popular shrub among home gardeners. Fall is the best time to plant azaleas, followed, in turn, by winter, spring and summer. The vast majority of azaleas are, however, planted in spring. This is, of course, when garden centers have the best selection and is the time of the year when gardeners see azaleas in bloom.

(Distributed 02/14/13) HAMMOND, La. – Landscapes around the state are in various stages of their spring awakening, but it is still February.

(Distributed 02/11/13) ALEXANDRIA, La. – The LSU AgCenter will host the Central Louisiana Forestry Forum on March 12 at the evacuation center near the LSU at Alexandria campus.

(Distributed 02/11/13) JEANERETTE, La. – The LSU AgCenter Iberia Research Station will hold its Acadiana Beef Cattle Producers Field Day on March 9.

(Distributed 02/08/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden is holding a series of vegetable workshops on a variety of gardening topics beginning in February.

(Distributed 02/08/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Value-added processing will be featured at the 2013 Louisiana Food Processors Conference on March 13-14 in Baton Rouge.

(Distributed 02/08/13) HAMMOND, La. – Flowering trees add considerable color and beauty to our landscapes during late winter and early spring. Many of the trees that flower this time of year can be considered low-maintenance compared to the amount of joy we get from them.

(Distributed 02/08/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter is offering a three-day mold control and remediation training course March 26-28 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the LaHouse Resource Center on the LSU campus.

(Distributed 02/07/13) BRAITHWAITE, La. – An ecotourism workshop aimed at exploring potential business opportunities along the Gulf Coast will be held in Plaquemines Parish on March 12.

(Distributed 02/07/13) With more warm, sunny days across south Louisiana, gardeners will soon begin looking for outdoor chores to complete.

(Distributed 02/05/13) BOSSIER CITY, La. – The LSU AgCenter will conduct a free seminar on growing tomatoes in greenhouses on March 1 from 1-5 p.m. at the Red River Research Station.

(Distributed 02/05/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter’s Center for Natural Resource Economics and Policy will hold its fourth national forum on Mar. 24-26 at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in New Orleans. The conference is titled, "Challenges of Natural Resource Economics and Policy (CNREP 2013): the 4th National Forum on Socioeconomic Research in Coastal Systems.”

(Distributed 02/04/13) BATON ROUGE, La – Two Baton Rouge middle school students are having papers published in a peer-reviewed journal as a result of their school science projects.

(Distributed 02/04/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Most of us wouldn’t start something new without first gathering information and the necessary tools. Taking up a new hobby this year? Then you’re probably signing up for lessons or reading as much as you can about your new interest.

(Distributed 02/01/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Jeff Bush, formerly with Tulane University in New Orleans, has been named the executive director of the Louisiana 4-H Foundation. He will oversee the fundraising for the LSU AgCenter’s 4-H and youth development program.

(Distributed 02/01/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Rice prices are likely to improve with the expectation that China will buy American rice and the Brazilian crop will be off this year, a rice marketing consultant said Thursday (Jan. 31) at the National Conservation Systems Cotton and Rice Conference.

(Distributed 02/01/13) HAMMOND, La. – A couple years ago saw the debut of a new, heat-tolerant group of rhododendron varieties from the Southern Living Plant Collection. These were developed to perform well in the Deep South while performing equally well in traditional rhododendron areas.