(Distributed 09/25/07) A rainy weather pattern has soaked fields, wet down cotton fiber and slowed the cotton harvest in the central and northeast parts of Louisiana. Only 7 percent of the cotton has been harvested in Louisiana as of Sept. 24.

(Distributed 09/24/07) With this year’s dove season in full swing, LSU AgCenter faculty hope past wildlife field days and workshops will decrease the number of citations written this year.

(Distributed 09/21/07) An additional 14 square blocks of the historic French Quarter have been added to a federal program to combat Formosan subterranean termites in this city, officials announced here on Sept. 20.

(Distributed 09/21/07) Many questions remain unanswered about a new pest that has been found in rice in Louisiana called the panicle rice mite. But work is ongoing to learn more about it. This is what officials with the LSU AgCenter, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry told more than 50 county agents and crop consultants gathered in a Vermilion Parish rice field on Sept. 19.

(Distributed 09/20/07) The LSU AgCenter will conduct an ornamental horticulture and turfgrass field day for lawn and garden professionals on Oct. 9 at Burden Center Station in Baton Rouge.

(Distributed 09/19/07) “Good plants gone bad” is how an LSU AgCenter urban forester describes plants that have invaded the Louisiana landscape and created problems for farmers, forest owners and homeowners. Hallie Dozier, an assistant professor in the School of Renewable Natural Resources, says the introduction of foreign plants often causes problems because they don’t have natural enemies to control their spread.

(Distributed 09/18/07) The LSU AgCenter’s Dean Lee Research and Extension Station in Alexandria has been awarded the 2007 Soil and Water Conservation Society of Louisiana "Good Land Use Award."

(Distributed 09/17/07) Deer food plot management is the topic of a seminar on Oct. 3 at 6:30 p.m. at the Natchitoches Art Center, 716 2nd St., according to Hubert Wilkerson, LSU AgCenter extension educator in Natchitoches and Sabine parishes.

(Distributed 09/17/07) Dr. Greg Lutz, LSU AgCenter aquaculture specialist, will present a seminar on crawfish production Oct. 16 at 6:30 p.m. at Northwestern State University’s Aquaculture Research Facility near Marco. The meeting is for current and potential producers.

(Distributed 09/17/07) Louisiana rice farmers are reporting a fair-to-good crop for the 2007 season, with most fields already harvested in South Louisiana and more than half cut in the northern parishes. Overall, the harvest has been good, and milling quality has been stable, according to Dr. Steve Linscombe, director of the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station in Crowley.