(Distributed 06/28/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Knowing what is causing yield loss in soybeans ranks right up there with how much loss is occurring, according to LSU AgCenter plant pathologist Clayton Hollier.

(Distributed 06/25/13) ST. JOSEPH, La. – Conventional wisdom says the more ears of corn to the acre, the greater the yield will be. While this is true to a certain extent, too many corn plants to the acre can cause problems, says Rick Mascagni, an LSU AgCenter agronomist at the Northeast Research Station.

(Distributed 06/11/13) BATON ROUGE, La – Cristina Sabliov was charged with finding a way to apply nanotechnology to agriculture. Sabliov, a scientist in the LSU AgCenter Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, uses nanotechnology to develop better delivery systems for antioxidants and nutraceuticals.

(Distributed 06/28/13) WINNSBORO, La. – Soybean acreage in Louisiana has been trending higher, fueled by higher demand and increasing prices paid to growers. For producers to make the most of the current situation, they must harvest their beans in a timely manner to avoid damage and penalties for poor quality, said LSU AgCenter agronomist Josh Lofton.

(Distributed 062813) HAMMOND, La. – The early spring months of March and April were not kind to spring growth on crape myrtles this year. But we are seeing very nice blooms on these great summer-flowering landscape trees as we reach their peak performance time of late June through July.

(Distributed 06/27/13) CROWLEY, La. – The new LSU systems president, F. King Alexander, attended the Rice Research Station field day on June 26 and pledged his support for the LSU AgCenter. “We’re here to support you in agricultural research,” Alexander said.

(Distributed 06/27/13) OAK GROVE, La. – Louisiana and Arkansas farmers along with representatives from a variety of agencies met recently to discuss the Boeuf-Tensas Water Project, which would divert water from the Arkansas River into southeast Arkansas and northeast Louisiana.

(Distributed 06/26/13) POLLOCK, La. – State and local officials gathered at the 4-H Camp Grant-Walker on June 25 to show their gratitude for a $500,000 gift by RoyOMartin, a forest products and forestland management company based here.

(Distributed 06/26/13) CROWLEY, La. – A smartphone application to help rice farmers with their crop has been released by the LSU AgCenter at the annual Rice Research Station Field Day on June 26.

(Distributed 06/26/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU AgCenter entomologists have confirmed the arrival of the kudzu bug in a soybean field in Madison Parish.

(Distributed 06/26/13) The LSU AgCenter’s 31st Annual Sugarcane Field Day will be held July 17 at the Sugar Research Station near St. Gabriel, beginning with registration at 8:00 a.m.

(Distributed 06/26/13) The LSU AgCenter Dean Lee Research and Extension Center will host a field day on July 18. The event will feature presentations on cotton, corn, cattle, soybeans, and insect and weed management.

(Distributed 06/26/13) St. JOSEPH, La. – With more people looking for locally grown, fresh fruits and vegetables, the LSU AgCenter has begun a program to help small farms market their products more effectively.

(Distributed 06/24/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – More than 1,400 young people from across Louisiana participated in LSU AgCenter’s 4-H University on the LSU campus June 18-20. The week was highlighted by the election of new officers, the selection of executive board members for the 2013-14 school year and the naming of 49 state contests winners.

(Distributed 06/24/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Louisiana corn growers are waiting for confirmation that Goss’s wilt disease has been found in some corn fields in Madison Parish.

(Distributed 06/21/13) HAMMOND, La. – The LSU AgCenter held an industry open house for nursery, landscape and garden center professionals in late May at the Hammond Research Station.

(Distributed 06/21/13) ST. JOSEPH, La. – More than 150 farmers, agriculture consultants and industry representatives heard about the latest research on corn, soybeans, rice and cotton at the annual field day on June 19 at the LSU AgCenter Northeast Research Station.

(Distributed 06/19/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter announced that Lane Foil has been named to the Pennington Chair for Wildlife Research at the Bob R. Jones-Idlewild Research Station in Clinton.

(Distributed 06/18/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – More than 1,000 people braved the heat and humidity of a Louisiana June day to attend the Garden Fest at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden on June 15.

Distributed 06/18/13) WINNSBORO, La. – Louisiana has the lowest cotton acreage in recorded history, with the state’s farmers planting an estimated 125,000 acres this year, according to LSU AgCenter cotton specialist and entomologist David Kerns.

(Distributed 06/17/13) CROWLEY, La. – The short height of this year’s rice crop doesn’t mean it is necessarily late in development. Johnny Saichuk, LSU AgCenter rice specialist, said many rice fields are already at the green ring stage, even though they don’t look tall enough to be that developed.

(Distributed 06/17/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – With the 2013 hurricane season officially underway, the LSU AgCenter’s LaHouse Home and Landscape Resource Center will showcase hurricane and flood-hardy features for both new and existing homes on July 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

(Distributed 06/13/13) HAMMOND, La. – The use of palms in home landscapes has gained considerable interest in the last few years. Several reasons have brought about this resurgence. For one, many new, exotic palm species and varieties are more readily available; however, our cold temperatures the past couple of winters have damaged some of the species, and people are searching for the most reliable palms for landscape use.

(Distributed 06/13/13) WINNSBORO, La. – One of the latest research projects funded by the Louisiana Soybean and Grain Research and Promotion Board will look at the effect of nitrogen loss on corn growth.

(Distributed 06/12/13) WINNSBORO, La. – Portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry is normally a process used by those in the metal industry, but a study funded by the Louisiana Soybean and Grain Research and Promotion Board is using the equipment to look at fertility issues in corn and soybeans.

ZWOLLE, La. – A workshop for landowners interested in starting an outdoor recreational business on their property will be held July 23 at the Wildwood Resort in Sabine Parish.

POLLOCK, La – Charles and Nelda Hutchins have been making mayhaw jelly in their Grant Fruit Processing facility for 12 years. The couple buys mayhaw berries from growers in Louisiana and neighboring states, but they have never seen a mayhaw season this bad.

(Distributed 06/07/13) CROWLEY, La. – Five remaining LSU AgCenter field days for rice farmers will be held in Louisiana. They include the Acadia Parish Rice Field Day, June 14, at the South Farm of the Rice Research Station, starting at 8:30 a.m.

(Distributed 06/07/13) WINNSBORO, La. – The old cliché that says “timing is everything” is especially true when growing soybeans in northeast Louisiana, according to Josh Lofton, LSU AgCenter researcher at the Macon Ridge Research Station near Winnsboro.

(Distributed 06/07/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Gina Eubanks, vice chancellor for extension at the Southern University Agricultural Center, has been named program leader for food and nutrition at the LSU AgCenter. Her joint appointment was approved by the LSU Board of Supervisors on June 7.

(Distributed 06/07/13) HAMMOND, La. – June is here, and that means summer will officially start in a couple of weeks. In reality, Louisiana typically experiences summer-type growing conditions from early to mid-May to as late as late September or early October.

(Distributed 06/06/13) ALEXANDRIA, La. – RoyOMartin, a forest-products and forestland-management company based here, has announced that it will make a $500,000 donation to the LSU AgCenter’s Grant Walker Educational Center near Pollock, La. The donation will nearly fulfill the fundraising commitment for a second phase of the new multipurpose building at the center.

(Distributed 06/05/13) ALEXANDRIA, La. – LSU AgCenter extension agents got a better understanding of the cattle market on June 4 using a computer simulator that replicates selling cattle at the feedlot.

(Distributed 06/05/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Jeff Davis, LSU AgCenter entomologist, is finding stink bugs in agricultural fields earlier this year than expected. More alarming, though, is his finding of redbanded stink bug nymphs on June 3 on soybeans only 8 inches tall, and adult redbanded stink bugs in 12-inch-high soybean plots.

(DIstributed 06/04/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The public will have a chance to cast their vote in the contest for the American Garden Award at the annual Garden Fest at Burden on June 15 at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens in Baton Rouge.

(Distributed 06/03/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter’s wheat breeding program has begun using molecular makers – small fragments of DNA – to help with disease and herbicide resistance.