(Distributed 04/06/10) The Bonne Terre Garden Fair will be held May 1 at the Terrebonne Association of Retarded Citizens (TARC) facility at No. 1 McCord Road at the Houma Airbase from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

(Distributed 04/07/10) HAMMOND, La. – The LSU AgCenter will host a stroll through the gardens at the Hammond Research Station Saturday, May 8, from 9 a.m. until noon.

(Distributed 04/07/10) The latest research-based information on raising small ruminants – sheep and goats – will be presented at two consecutive events – a continuing education session for extension agents and veterinarians on April 23 and a field day for producers on April 24. The events will both be at the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine in Baton Rouge, according to Ken McMillin, LSU AgCenter professor of meat science.

(Distributed 04/06/10) Louisiana farmers started the 2010 rice-planting season with caution, worried that wet fields might require more planting in water this year. But fields dried out, temperatures have warmed and farmers responded by jumping in their tractors and drill-seeding much of their crop.

(Distributed 04/13/10) There are pros and cons in nutritive and non-nutritive sweeteners, but one thing is for sure – the American Dietetic Association says diet quality suffers when a person consumes nutritive sweeteners in excess of 25 percent of total energy.

(Distributed 04/16/10) SHREVEPORT, La. – Growing tomatoes in a greenhouse has many benefits, an LSU AgCenter researcher told people attending an adult learning series at Sci-Port Discovery Center April 15.

(Distributed 04/28/10) The 13th annual Louisiana 4-H Foundation Golf Tournament presented by Cameron Communications was held at Gray Plantation in Lake Charles April 8. Twenty-eight teams from across the state participated in the event benefiting the Louisiana 4-H program. Proceeds support youth across the state through summer camps, educational trips and scholarships.

(Distributed 04/22/10) Dr. Paul Coreil, vice chancellor of the LSU AgCenter and director of its Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service recently was honored with the Association of Southern Region Extension Directors Award for Excellence in Leadership. Coreil received the honor during the association’s meeting April 6-8 in Oklahoma City.

(Distributed 04/28/10) BATON ROUGE, La. – Current forest products along with other plants that can be used to produce plant-based alternative fuels can have a significant effect on Louisiana’s economy, according to a host of speakers at a recent two-day conference April 22-23.

(Distributed 04/27/10) POLLOCK, La. – A special overnight camp for 100 military kids using an Earth Day theme was held at Camp Grant Walker on April 17-18. This camp is one in a series of events across the state to help military families stay connected, said Kathleen Schexnayder, coordinator of the Louisiana Operation Military Kids program in the LSU AgCenter’s 4-H Youth Development Department.

(Distributed 04/29/10) The LSU AgCenter’s Hammond Research Station will hold its landscape horticulture field day for horticulture industry professionals May 13.

(Distributed 04/09/10) Research scientists in every area of oats – from plant breeding and pathology to cereal chemistry, nutrition and molecular genetics – will be in Baton Rouge to attend the American Oat Worker Conference April 17-21.

(Distributed 04/12/10) David Boethel, LSU AgCenter vice chancellor for research and director of the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station, has been awarded the 2010 Excellence in Leadership Award by the Southern Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors.

(Distributed 04/05/10) SHREVEPORT, La. – An LSU AgCenter weed specialist says managing an invasive aquatic weed known as salvinia by erecting a floating fence on a narrow point of Cross Lake may only be a short-term solution to stopping the fast-growing plant from clogging the waterway, threatening the water supply and harming fish.

(Distributed 04/15/10) The LSU AgCenter will give the public a chance to view the roles agriculture plays in their daily lives when it hosts its annual AgMagic event April 19-25 at the Parker Coliseum on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge.

(Distributed 04/23/10) BATON ROUGE, La. – Research scientists in every area of oats – from plant breeding and pathology to cereal chemistry, nutrition and molecular genetics – recently met in Baton Rouge for three days of meetings that covered all aspects of science, production, product development and marketing of oats.

(News Release 04/12/10) The South Louisiana Branch of the Quality Deer Management Association recently donated $1,500 to the LSU AgCenter to help offset the cost of annual field days.

(Distributed 04/29/10) A popular landscape plant, sago palm, can be fatal to pets, and the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine has seen an unusual number of dogs sickened after eating it.

(Distributed 04/20/10) “To repair your credit report, you’ll need to avoid overspending and cut expenses, clean up your credit file, open a bank account and try to avoid credit repair companies,” Linda Williams said at a recent money management workshop.

(Distributed 04/29/10) SHREVEPORT, La. – The LSU AgCenter Pecan Research-Extension Station will host an educational field day Thursday, May 20, from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Activities will include an orchard tour at 9:30. Topics will include weevil activity, effects of crop thinning, phylloxera and orchard sprayer calibration.

(Distributed 04/12/10) For the fourth year in a row, students in fourth through 12th grades across the state will study and celebrate Louisiana’s wetlands during Youth Wetlands Week, which this year is April 19-23.

(Distributed 04/27/10) WINNSBORO, La. – Louisiana farmers planted 150,000 acres of wheat in fall 2009 compared with 210,000 the previous year, LSU AgCenter extension agronomist Ed Twidwell told farmers and industry representatives at the annual wheat and oat field day held at the AgCenter Macon Ridge Research Station April 26.

(Distributed 04/01/10) WINNSBORO, La. – The LSU AgCenter has scheduled the annual wheat and oat field day for April 26 at the Macon Ridge Research Station here.