(Distributed 07/26/13) Ornamental sweet potatoes are popular warm-season annuals for adding foliage color to the summer landscape. The original varieties include plants with leaves that are chartreuse-lime green (Marguerite), blackish purple (Blackie, Black Beauty, Ace of Spades) and tricolored (Pink Frost).

(Distributed 07/26/13) NEW IBERIA, La. – Sugarcane farmers attending the Iberia, St. Mary and Vermillion parishes field day got to see how an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is currently being used to help growers be more efficient in crop production.

(Distributed 07/26/13) VICKSBURG, Miss. – A tourism workshop on Aug. 13 will be aimed at attracting international tourists to local communities.

(Distributed 07/26/13) PALMETTO, La. – An LSU AgCenter plant pathologist warned farmers at the St. Landry Parish rice and soybean field day on July 25 that fungicide-resistant disease has been found in soybeans in some areas of the state.

(Audio 07/26/13) During Louisiana's humid summer, it is not unusual to see mushrooms in the landscape. Mushrooms are mainly a nuisance. Some types of mushrooms can be poisonous, so consider gathering and disposing of them if you have children or pets. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Distributed 07/26/13) ST. JOSEPH, La. – Because cars can now “talk” and phones can play movies, it’s only natural that farm equipment would communicate with satellites to make farmers money.

(Distributed 07/26/13)BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter Food Incubator has turned out to be more popular than expected when it was first established in December 2012. Already, 19 clients are taking advantage of the incubator’s services, even though the processing kitchen facilities in Ingram Hall on campus won’t be open until Aug. 1.

(Distributed 07/26/13) HAMMOND, La. – One of the programs at the LSU AgCenter, “Louisiana Yards and Neighborhoods,” was developed several years ago to inform home gardeners about sustainable landscaping and home horticulture practices.

(Audio News 07/24/13) Louisiana has about 700,000 acres of corn, a significant increase over recent years. LSU AgCenter corn specialist Ronnie Levy says despite a cold spring, growers were able to get their crop in. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Audio 07/25/13) Chrysanthemums are the queen of the fall flower garden, but summer is a good time to cut them back. If you wait too long to do this, it may interfere with their blooming. (Runtime: 60 seconds)