(TV News 03/30/09) Louisiana’s poultry industry suffered a blow when Pilgrim’s Pride announced plans to close it’s northeast Louisiana processing facility. The state is working on a deal to ensure the facility continues operating. LSU AgCenter correspondent Tobie Blanchard talked with a grower who is raising his last flock of birds for Pilgrim’s Pride. (Runtime: 1 minute, 16 seconds)

(TV News 03/16/09) Our society is always plugged in, and a price for being plugged in is wasted energy. LSU AgCenter correspondent Tobie Blanchard looks at some ways we can cut energy consumption and reduce the size of our carbon footprints. (Runtime: 1 minute, 48 seconds)

(Radio News 03/02/09) Showing livestock helps youngsters develop valuable skills, but at the heart of it is the enjoyment participants get out of the experience. Cobey Hendry says working with his Brahman bull is hard work, but he also says he's having fun. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Radio News 03/02/09) If you’ve taken a tour of a pumpkin patch or visited a working dairy farm, you have participated in agritourism. LSU AgCenter community rural development agent Dora Ann Hatch explains. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Radio News 03/02/09) Need help preparing your tax return? Many resources are available to taxpayers. LSU AgCenter family economist Dr. Jeanette Tucker says the IRS is a good place to start. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Radio News 03/02/09) In the last minute rush to get tax returns completed, taxpayers often make mistakes. LSU AgCenter family economist Dr. Jeanette Tucker warns about mistakes to avoid. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Radio News 03/09/09 LSU AgCenter's Delta Rural Development Center in Oak Grove, La., is working to change conditions in northeast Louisiana. Louisiana Delta Initiative joins the development center with other organizations hoping to improve the economic conditions of the Delta region. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Radio News 03/09/09) The LSU AgCenter piloted a 12-hour leadership training course in Tensas Parish. Lead Louisiana attracted elected officials, community volunteers and emerging community leaders. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Radio News 03/09/09) The Delta Rural Development Center is offering classes on how to do business over the Internet. These classes promote expanded entrepreneurship in the 12-parish Delta region. LSU AgCenter agent Dora Ann Hatch teaches part of the class. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Radio News 03/16/09) Agricultural producers will have to make decisions based on new federal legislation. The 2008 farm bill offers an alternative to traditional farm subsidy programs. The Average Crop Revenue Election program, or ACRE, will require farmers that enroll in the program to give up 20 percent of their direct payments but will grant them a 30 percent lower loan rate. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Radio News 03/16/09) The economic stimulus package brings changes to the 2008 farm bill’s disaster assistance program. Under the supplemental revenue assistance or SURE program, agricultural producers would have a revenue guaranty for their commodities based on level of crop insurance. LSU AgCenter economist Dr. Kurt Guidry explains. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Radio News 03/16/09) Congress recently passed an economic stimulus package that includes a $50 million aquaculture block grant. The money is to assist aquaculture producers with the high cost of feed in 2008. LSU AgCenter economist Dr. Kurt Guidry says while Louisiana has an important aquaculture industry, it is unclear whether crawfish will receive much money from this grant. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Radio News 03/16/09) The economic stimulus package includes several provisions for farmers and rural America. LSU AgCenter economist Dr. Kurt Guidry explains. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Radio News 03/16/09) Agriculture revenue has grown in the past five years, according to an economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation. Dr. Robert Young says in 2002, the agriculture industry recorded $250 billion in sales. Last year industry sales totaled more than $360 billion. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Radio News 03/23/09) Americans leave a large carbon footprint on the Earth. Making small changes can reduce the size of that footprint and help conserve natural resources. LSU AgCenter area housing agent Stephen Picou says a good place to start is by replacing incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents, which use 60 percent less energy. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Radio News 03/23/09) Sweet potato breeders recently released a new variety that could rival the long-dominant variety Beauregard. The variety Evangeline was grown commercially last year, and experts say that while it doesn't rival Beauregard's resistance to plant diseases it does excel in taste. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Radio News 03/23/09) New varieties can revolutionize a crop’s industry. Beauregard is the leading variety of sweet potatoes in Louisiana. After the variety became available in the late 1980s, the state’s sweet potato industry grew, says LSU AgCenter sweet potato researcher Chris Clark. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Radio News 03/23/09) It is not unusual to see Natalie Hummel in a skirt and heels carrying a bicycle helmet. On many days Hummel bikes to work. Hummel, an LSU AgCenter entomologist, says riding her bike allows her to conveniently fit in 40 minutes of exercise a day. She moved to Baton Rouge from Texas where she was driving close to 100 miles a day. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Radio News 03/23/09) Have you considered where your food comes from? Not just from farmers and farms -- but where those farms are located and how the food got to you? Emily Neustrom works with the LSU AgCenter’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program and talks about the importance of buying local. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Radio News 03/30/09) The poultry industry is vital to north Louisiana’s economy, but nearly 200 poultry producers in the area may find themselves with empty chicken houses for a while. Pilgrim’s Pride plans to stop operating its poultry processing facility in Farmerville in May, and the plant could see some down time as it transitions to new owners. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Radio News 03/30/09) Hurricane Ike took some rice fields out of production in southwest Louisiana, but acreage is likely to go up in other parts of the state thanks to renewed interest in the crop brought by decreasing production costs. Experts say the state's overall rice acreage probably will hold steady at around 400,000 acres in production. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Radio News 03/30/09) The water that surged into Vermilion Parish during Hurricane Ike has long since retreated, but that water left the soil it flowed over contaminated with salt. LSU AgCenter county agent Stuart Gauthier has been sampling sites around the parish. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Radio News 03/30/09) Louisiana rice acreage likely will see a slight shift in varieties being grown this season. Australia is a major producer of medium-grain rice, but several years of drought has reduced the amount of rice that country is growing. California also has reduced its medium-grain acreage, according to LSU AgCenter rice specialist Dr. Johnny Saichuk, who says those circumstances present opportunities for Louisiana farmers. (Runtime: 60 seconds)

(Radio News 03/30/09) Tod Hibbard figures he has grown nearly 10 million chickens in the 16 years he has been a poultry producer. Hibbard has eight chicken houses on rolling land in Jackson Parish. He said business was good initially but has had ups and downs over the years. (Runtime: 60 seconds)