(Distributed 08/09/10) HOMER, La. – The LSU AgCenter has started receiving birds in two commercial-sized broiler demonstration houses at the Hill Farm Research Station.

(Distributed 08/05/10) Lee Southern, the Doyle Chambers Distinguished Professor in Animal Sciences at the LSU AgCenter, recently was presented the poultry nutrition research award by the American Society of Animal Science.

(Distributed 08/16/10) Louisiana citrus growers need to be on the lookout for sweet orange scab of citrus caused by the fungus Elsinoë australis. The disease recently was found on a satsuma tree in Orange, Texas, about 3.5 miles west of the Louisiana border, according to an expert with the LSU AgCenter.

(Distributed 08/24/10) Sweet orange scab, a citrus disease recently discovered in Texas, has made its way to Louisiana, according to officials.

(Distributed 08/23/10) The recent salmonella outbreak associated with the two Iowa egg farms has raised concern about the safety of consuming eggs. However, consumers can be confident that U.S. eggs are safe, according to LSU AgCenter experts.

(Distributed 08/25/10) Louisiana’s team in the 31st annual National 4-H Forestry Invitational had only a short time to prepare for the event in which it placed first among 15 state teams.

(Distributed 08/04/10) Louisiana placed first among the 15 state teams that participated in the 31st annual National 4-H Forestry Invitational from July 25-29.

(Distributed 08/26/10) HAMMOND, La. – The LSU AgCenter’s landscape horticulture research program at its Hammond Research Station is receiving regional attention, according to Regina Bracy, resident coordinator at the station.

(Distributed 08/13/10) NEW ORLEANS – 4-H’ers from across the state showed off their culinary skills at the Louisiana 4-H Seafood Cook-off on August 9.

(Distributed 8/5/10) Syngenta Crop Protection Corporation has donated $25,000 to the LSU AgCenter’s Coastal Plant Development Program to help in the recovery of marsh grasses that serve as Louisiana’s first line of defense against hurricanes.

(Distributed 08/25/10) The Student Clubs in the LSU AgCenter’s School of Renewable Natural Resources have established a donation account to help defray the medical expenses of the LSU doctoral student who survived an alligator attack while conducting her research.

(Distributed 08/26/10) With sweet potato consumption rising and a shift in the industry toward more processed products, the LSU AgCenter’s Sweet Potato Research Station showed growers how to optimize production at a field day held at the station Aug. 24. The latest research was presented to help growers learn how to produce a high-yielding, predictable, profitable crop.

(Distributed 08/30/10) With substantially increased prices for wheat, Louisiana farmers are expected to plant a lot more of that commodity this fall.

(Distributed 08/23/10) Occasional food recalls because of contamination may create concerns about food safety, but these worries are often overstated, say two LSU AgCenter researchers who focus on food safety.

(Distributed 08/06/10) The LSU AgCenter Pecan Research and Extension Station in Shreveport is again threatened by the proposed alignment of Interstate 69 in southern Caddo Parish.

(Distributed 08/03/10) LSU AgCenter agents will present a Living Well Expo Tuesday, Sept. 14, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Bossier Civic Center.

ALEXANDRIA, La. – Herbicide-resistant weeds have been causing havoc in soybean fields across the South, and they appear to be “just an eyelash away” from being confirmed as a problem in Louisiana, said Daniel Stephenson, an LSU AgCenter weed scientist.

(Distributed 08/17/10) With the capping of the Deepwater Horizon and the ending of new oil washing into Louisiana’s coastal wetlands and marshes, observers are reporting plants sprouting in areas that had been denuded by the oil spill. And that shouldn’t be a surprise, according to Gary Breitenbeck, a plant scientist with the LSU AgCenter.

(Distributed 08/26/10) MOREAUVILLE, La. – Besides saying cheese, visitors can taste it at WesMar Farms, a self-proclaimed agricultural respite owned by West and Marguerite Constantine.

(Distributed 08/20/10) Fall army worms are on the march in Louisiana, and heavy populations can cause significant damage to pastures, hay fields and lawns, according to LSU AgCenter entomologist Jack Baldwin.

(Distributed 08/20/10) MANSURA, La. – A dozen new members of the Louisiana 4-H Hall of Fame were recognized at a ceremony Aug. 11 at the Louisiana 4-H Museum here for their years of service to 4-H clubs across the state.

(Distributed 08/18/10) Wayne Kramer’s phone hasn’t been ringing incessantly yet this year. The LSU AgCenter mosquito expert said that’s one unscientific indication the state’s mosquito population is down.

(Distributed 08/11/10) A hot and wetter-than-normal summer has lead to an increase in the major disease problem on crape myrtles in south Louisiana, says LSU AgCenter horticulturist Allen Owings.

(Distributed 08/10/10) The LSU AgCenter will unveil the first of a series of Louisiana Super Plants in October, according to Regina Bracy, resident coordinator at the AgCenter’s Hammond Research Station.

(Distributed 08/18/10) MONTEREY, La. – Soybeans are dying in some areas of Louisiana because the amount of salts in the irrigation water is too high.

(Distributed 08/26/10) Thomas E. “Gene” Reagan, LSU AgCenter professor of entomology, has been selected as the Entomological Society of America’s 2010 Subject Matter Expert. This new award is presented to a person who has gained national and international recognition as an authority on insect pest management. This person then serves as the society’s liaison to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Pesticide Programs.