(Distributed 04/12/07) The unusually cool weather this past Easter weekend slowed the growth of most of the corn and grain sorghum in Louisiana, but experts say farmers are lucky because the crops are expected to easily recover.

(Distributed 04/02/07) Hunting season is more than seven months away, but deer hunters can improve their chances of success now by starting work on food plots, according to the experts.

(Distributed 04/05/07) Landowners, government officials and the forest industry members attended the LSU AgCenter’s Florida Parishes Forestry Forum late last month in Hammond and heard about some of the latest developments in the industry.

(Distributed 04/05/07) Test plots at Baton Rouge last year showed that Asian soybean rust can defoliate plants within seven to 10 days after the disease is detected. But all is not lost once it is found, according to an LSU AgCenter expert.

(Distributed 04/09/07) Educational materials and training are available for current and potential child care operators in eight of the parishes most severely affected by the 2005 hurricanes.

(Distributed 04/13/07) The LSU AgCenter’s Rosepine Research Station will host its annual Beef Cattle and Forage Field Day May 3. The event will feature tours of research plots at the station and will include the 20th annual Beauregard Cattlemen’s Trade Show.

(Distributed 04/13/07) The LSU AgCenter’s annual Wheat and Oat Field Day will be April 20 at the Macon Ridge Research Station in Winnsboro. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m.

(Distributed 04/13/07) More than 85 4-H Club members spent a day of their spring break at the beach – but, unlike the usual day in the sun, they were busy planting marsh grass to help fight coastal erosion. The students from Calcasieu, Jefferson Davis and Vermilion parishes planted the grass along a two-mile stretch between Holly Beach and Constance Beach.

(Distributed 04/18/07) Family and friends of the late Bob R. Jones recently celebrated the renaming of the LSU AgCenter’s Idlewild Research Station to honor his legacy.

(Distributed 04/18/07) More than 200 4-H members, junior leaders and adult leaders from Bienville, Claiborne, Lincoln, Union and Webster parishes will learn about electric energy, safety and conservation at the annual 4-H Energy Day on Saturday, May 12, at 9:30 a.m. at Claiborne Electric.

(Distributed 04/19/07) What once were pastures now are wetlands – with water where cattle used to graze. "I’ve seen this change in my lifetime," said Herdis Neil as he served as a chaperone for a group of seventh-graders planting smooth cordgrass near Point Aux Chenes as part of a project intended to reduce losses of coastal lands to the waters of the Gulf.

(Distributed 04/20/07) The LSU AgCenter will launch a financial education program for K-12 school system employees as part of Jump$tart Your Money Week April 23-27.

(Distributed 04/23/07) LSU AgCenter wheat experts predicted outstanding yields across the state this year during the Wheat and Oat Field Day held at the Macon Ridge Research Station here on April 20.

(Distributed 04/23/07) Because of the success of the Louisiana Master Farmer Program, the LSU AgCenter has scheduled a variety of model farm field tours this spring and summer for producers needing to complete the second phase of the program.

(Distributed 04/24/07) What does it take to become a more effective leader for agriculture? Many of the answers to that question are part of the LSU AgCenter’s Agricultural Leadership Development Program, and applications are now available for its 11th class, which will begin in January 2008.

(Distributed 04/24/07) 4-H leader Sharon Nabours took her wetlands program on the road recently – teaching students at several schools in Southwest Louisiana the valuable role marshes and swamplands play in protecting the fragile coast.

(Distributed 04/25/07) Young people and adults are seeing the "magic" of agriculture this week at the LSU AgCenter’s AgMagic events in Baton Rouge.

(Distributed 04/25/07) In the 70-something years since a Louisiana man first gathered turtle eggs along the railroad track and sold the hatchlings as pets, the turtle industry in Louisiana has experienced a roller coaster ride that may be at its lowest point.

(Distributed 04/27/07) As corn acres rise, cotton acres are plummeting. Many farmers who typically plant cotton are planting corn this year because of high prices for corn. Last year, Louisiana farmers planted 620,000 acres of cotton. This year, they may plant only half that amount, said LSU AgCenter cotton specialist Dr. Sandy Stewart.