(Distributed 05/26/11) Louisiana farmers are waiting for rain, and planting is a little behind normal because of drought throughout the state, according to experts with the LSU AgCenter.

(Distributed 05/31/11) COUSHATTA, La. – A $10,000 donation toward funding a community garden is a welcome addition for local residents through a donation given to the LSU AgCenter from Encana Oil and Gas (USA) Inc.

(Distributed 05/31/11) LAKE CHARLES, La. – The Mexican rice borer continues its eastward migration from Texas, with monitoring traps detecting adults near Lake Charles, according to LSU AgCenter entomologists.

(Distributed 05/31/11) SHREVEPORT, La. – You’ve heard of horse whisperers. But what about horse dentists? Members of the Caddo Parish 4-H Livestock Club met at the LSU AgCenter office May 24 to learn about caring for horses’ teeth.

(Distributed 05/30/11) BATON ROUGE, La. – On Ella King’s hand sat a monarch butterfly that had recently emerged from its chrysalis. The first-grader stood perfectly still while other students looked on in awe.

(Distributed 05/27/11) Temple-Inland’s Bogalusa Paper Mill recently donated $5,000 to the Washington Parish office of the LSU AgCenter to help fund its programs.

(Distributed 05/27/11) MAMOU, La. – New Clearfield lines of rice are being tested that show promising results, LSU AgCenter rice breeders told Evangeline Parish farmers at a field day Tuesday (May 24).

(Distributed 05/27/11) LAKE ARTHUR, La. – An informational meeting on the increasing problem of saltwater spreading into marshes and irrigation canals will be held at 9 a.m.-noon, June 3 by the LSU AgCenter.

(Distributed 05/27/11) FENTON, La. – The LSU AgCenter Southwest Louisiana Rice Tour will be held June 1 starting at the Fenton Cooperative.

(Distributed 05/26/11) FRANKLINTON, La. – Drought conditions around the state were on the minds of most participants at the pasture renovation field day May 18 at the LSU AgCenter Southeast Research.

(Distributed 05/26/11) LSU AgCenter mapping websites with localized flood and wind hazard information became inundated with inquiries from the public concerned about their vulnerability of their property to rising water as the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers strain the levees.

(Distributed 05/26/11) The warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico produce nearly 30 percent of domestic seafood in the United States. Due to its diet of phytoplankton, our wild-caught seafood is more heart-healthy than farm-raised warm-water seafood from other parts of the world, said LSU AgCenter seafood specialist Lucina Lampila.

(Distributed 05/25/11) The Louisiana Master Gardener program, a service organization of the LSU AgCenter, continues a wide array of volunteer activities around the state.

(Distributed 05/25/11) Approximately 1,500 4-H members from across the state will participate in 43 contests and 12 Clover College tracks during the annual 4-H University June 21-24 on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge.

(Distributed 05/24/11) Nearly 1,200 4-H’ers and volunteer leaders plan to be in Baton Rouge at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, June 1, to take part in 4-H Day at the Capitol. The event will give 4-H’ers an opportunity to visit with their legislators and see up close how state government conducts its business while the legislature is in session.

(Distributed 05/24/11) SHREVEPORT, La. – The LSU AgCenter Pecan Research and Extension Station will host a field day June 16, starting at 8 a.m., featuring the latest research-based information about pecan production.

(Distributed 05/20/11) Thomas Hymel, LSU AgCenter extension agent, will discuss the success of the Delcambre Direct online seafood marketing project as part of a seminar in Washington, D.C., May 31-June 1.

(Distributed 05/19/11) Much of Louisiana’s wheat acreage sat in the path of flood waters, but farmers were able to harvest the state’s wheat crop ahead of schedule this year.

(Distributed 05/18/11) MAMOU, La. – The Evangeline Parish Rice Field Day will be May 24 at Bieber Farms with experts from the LSU AgCenter discussing fertilization, new varieties, insect control, herbicides, diseases and the rice market. The event starts at 7:30 a.m. and continues until 11 a.m.

(Distributed 05/17/11) CROWLEY, La. – Grain storage managers from across the South learned the appropriate measures for controlling insect pests in stored grain at a May 10 workshop at the LSU AgCenter Acadia Parish Extension Office.

(Distributed 05/18/11) Earlier in May, corn and soybeans planted in the Morganza floodway sat parched. Farmers were anxious for a rain. Today, water covers these same crops, drowned by the opening of the spillway.

(Distributed 05/18/11) Horse owners should be alert for equine herpes myeloencephalopathy – or EHV-1 – in their horses, according to veterinarians with the LSU AgCenter and the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine.

(Distributed 05/16/11) RUSTON, La. – The Louisiana Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences presented awards and installed officers at its annual convention May 4.

(Distributed 05/16/11) The Louisiana 4-H Hall of Fame induction ceremony, originally set for May 21 at the 4-H Museum in Mansura, has been postponed. Paul Coreil, LSU AgCenter vice chancellor for extension, said the event will be rescheduled after the flooding situation in the state is over.

(Distributed 05/10/11) If you’re thinking about taking steps to protect your home from floodwater or evacuating in the face of rising rivers, the LSU AgCenter website is a source of information you can use.

(Distributed 05/14/11) The historic flood stages that are approaching Louisiana along the cresting Mississippi River is having a big impact on both the wildlife and wildlife habitat in Louisiana.

(Distributed 05/13/11) The U.S. catfish industry is facing new rules and regulations in animal health and product safety as a result of legislation included in the 2008 Farm Bill.

(Distributed 05/12/11) The LSU AgCenter’s Burden Center in Baton Rouge will hold its annual garden festival with hayrides to the demonstration plots beginning at 8 a.m. and ending at noon June 18.

(Distributed 05/11/11) CROWLEY, La. – A representatives of north Louisiana rice farmers told the Rice Growers Association Board of Directors on Wednesday (May 4) that the flooding threat from the Mississippi River has producers worried that their crops could be in harm’s way.

(Distributed 05/10/11) GRAND CANE, La. – Louisiana 4-H’ers tested their skills, decision making and endurance on the shooting range from April 29-May 1 at the state shooting sports competition at the Long-Range Alley Gun Club.

(Distributed 05/09/11) HOMER, La. – Three hundred sixth-graders from seven Claiborne Parish schools heard how certain practices can conserve water at the ninth annual Water Fest held May 5-6 at Lake Claiborne State Park.

(Distributed 05/06/11) Preparing land for productive hunting was the focus of the LSU AgCenter’s wildlife field day at the Bob R. Jones Idlewild Research Station in Clinton on April 30.

(Distributed 05/06/11) Mother’s Day is the day of the year when termites really start to swarm in south Louisiana, according to Dennis Ring, LSU AgCenter entomologist.

(Distributed 05/05/11) Two consecutive cold winters along with biological control using weevils have helped ease the giant salvinia problem on Lake Bistineau east of Bossier City. And more weevils are ready for distribution in a few months to areas in south Louisiana where this invasive, aquatic weed is continuing to be a problem, according to LSU AgCenter experts.

(Distributed 05/14/11) Farmers across Louisiana have planted much of the state’s cotton crop a little earlier than normal. LSU AgCenter cotton specialist John Kruse said a warm, dry spring made it possible.

(Distributed 05/03/11) This is the time of the year when a tiny black fly known as the turkey gnat appears and becomes a nuisance to poultry, especially caged or cooped poultry. These gnats can cause death of poultry and other captive birds because of the toxins in the saliva of the feeding gnats, according to Theresia Lavergne, LSU AgCenter poultry specialist.