(Distributed 06/28012) CROWLEY, La. – The Louisiana Master Farmer Program is being fine-tuned with changes to enable more agricultural producers to achieve certification with completion of the program’s three phases.

(Distributed 06/28/12) July is Smart Irrigation Month across the country. This is an effort of the Irrigation Association to educate industry professionals and homeowners on proper irrigation in the landscape. In order for an irrigation system to be effective, it needs to be designed right, installed right and water right. What does all this mean?

(Distributed 06/26/12) Theo Udeigwe, LSU AgCenter agronomist, is in his first year of studying the effects of different wheat residue and stubble management techniques on soil quality and soybean yield in a wheat-soybean double crop system.

(Radio News 06/26/12) The outlook is optimistic for Louisiana’s corn crop. The mild winter allowed for early planting, which has benefited the crop, says LSU AgCenter corn specialist John Kruse. (Runtime: 1:15)

(Distributed 06/25/12) BATON ROUGE, La. – Members of 4-H clubs from across Louisiana were named state contest winners on June 21 at the closing session of the LSU AgCenter’s 4-H University.

(Distributed 06/25/12) July 4 is the biggest hot dog holiday of the year, with Americans downing an estimated 155 million wieners. Although Americans enjoy hot dogs all year long, we eat an estimated seven billion between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

(Distributed 06/25/12) The recent outbreak of foodborne illness in several southern states, including the death of a young girl in New Orleans, calls attention to the need for individuals to follow food safety practices, says LSU AgCenter nutritionist Beth Reames.

(Radio News 06/25/12) The Senate passed its version of the farm bill, and it includes only one commodity subsidy program. The crop insurance program in the Senate’s version of the bill offers agriculture risk coverage. This protects farmers who may have crop failures, but lacks adequate support for growers of certain crops that are important to Louisiana’s economy. (Runtime: 1:35)

(Distributed 06/22/12) Many coreopsis are available for our landscapes in Louisiana. Coreopsis, sometimes called tickseed, are herbaceous perennial flowers. Sometimes we treat these as annuals in Louisiana, and sometimes we treat them as perennials.

(Distributed 06/22/12) ALEXANDRIA, La. – The LSU AgCenter Dean Lee Research and Extension field day on July 19 will feature presentations on biofuels, cotton, corn, soybeans and cattle.