News Release Distributed 05/30/12
CROWLEY, La. – The LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station will hold its annual field day June 28 with a variety of speakers and presentations.
The program will be of particular interest to farmers, but it will offer a wide variety of subjects, said Steve Linscombe, the facility’s director.
“This is our opportunity to tell the public about our research projects and how the work is relevant to production agriculture,” Linscombe said. “We also will have visiting presenters from other universities who collaborate with our researchers here at the station.”
Field tours will begin at 7:15 a.m. with the last tour leaving at 9 a.m. Speakers will include Linscombe and Mississippi State University agronomist Tim Walker, who will talk about rice variety development.
LSU AgCenter weed scientist Eric Webster and molecular biologist Herry Utomo will make presentations on weed control and the use of DNA marker-assisted selection.
Rice disease control will be the topic for LSU AgCenter plant pathologist Don Groth and Mississippi State University plant pathologist Tom Allen.
LSU AgCenter entomologist Mike Stout and Texas A&M entomologist Mo Way will talk about insect control in rice.
The rice hybrid program at the station will be discussed by LSU AgCenter rice breeder Xueyan Sha and rice geneticist Jim Oard.
LSU AgCenter agronomist Dustin Harrell and soil scientist David Weindorf will talk about agronomic practices and rice soil classification.
In addition to the field tours, poster sessions will be presented from 7:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m.
An indoor program will begin at 10:45 a.m. with a recap of the Louisiana Rice Research Board activities by Jackie Loewer, board chairman, and LSU AgCenter economist Mike Salassi will give an update on the current farm bill deliberations.
Retired LSU AgCenter climatologist Jay Grymes will discuss the possibilities for long-range forecasting of weather trends.
Sammy King, leader of the U.S. Geological Survey Louisiana Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, will detail an ongoing project to reintroduce the whooping crane to southwest Louisiana.
The program will end with remarks by Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry Mike Strain, LSU AgCenter Chancellor Bill Richardson, LSU AgCenter vice chancellor for research John Russin and LSU AgCenter vice chancellor for extension Paul Coreil.
Bruce Schultz