(Video News 01/29/13) Sophisticated pedometers and smart phones can help people keep their healthy living resolutions. LSU AgCenter correspondent Tobie Blanchard tells how. (1:55:)

(Distributed 01/28/13) WINNSBORO, La. – LSU AgCenter entomologist David Kerns was honored Jan. 18 in a ceremony recognizing him as the Jack Hamilton Regents Chair in Cotton Production in the AgCenter.

(Video News 01/25/13) Childhood memories of her grandfather’s chicken flock in the Netherlands prompted Kim Kramer to turn her shed into a chicken coop. Three years later, “the girls,” as she calls them, are a part of her family. Kramer and her husband Chris Mores and their three boys are part of a growing number of city dwellers who have backyard flocks. (Runtime: 1:39)

(Distributed 01/25/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter is offering two new short courses for tree care and landscape professionals. The first course, Introduction to Arboriculture, will be held Feb. 18-22.

(Distributed 01/25/13) ST. GABRIEL, La. – The fledgling biofuels and bioprocessing industry in the South took a step forward Friday, Jan. 25, with the formal commissioning of a pilot plant at the LSU AgCenter Audubon Sugar Institute.

(Distributed 01/25/13) HAMMOND, La. – No specific set of rules will cover all pruning. The important consideration should be preserving the natural form of a particular species.

(Distributed 01/25/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced plans to increase lead safety and awareness of the Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule by mailing postcards to uncertified renovation contractors as a reminder of their obligation to become certified and by increasing its monitoring and enforcement activities.

(Audio 01/28/13) Light is a plant's food, so it is critical for the plant to grow and thrive. If you have indoor plants this winter, make sure they are near a window where they can get plenty of light. Clean windows or prune plants to let more light in. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Audio 01/28/13) Late January is a good time to prune everblooming roses. How far back you cut the roses depends on much their size needs to be controlled. Remember, pruning helps them bloom better. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Audio 01/28/13) If you can't find things to do in the landscape, consider planting ground covers. These plants establish well during cooler months. (Runtime: 60 seconds)