(Distributed 11/21/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – With the recent seasonal temperatures, it’s truly beginning to feel like the holiday season. And the LSU AgCenter Dairy Store has the items to make it feel that much more special.

(Distributed 11/26/14) CROWLEY, La. – Disease in rice was not as big of a problem in 2014 for most growers as in previous years, according to LSU AgCenter plant pathologist Don Groth.

(Distributed 11/26/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – Students decked out in festive “ugly” Christmas sweaters gathered in the lobby of the Renewable Natural Resources building on LSU’s campus on Sunday, Nov. 23. The space was transformed into a cheerful holiday setting, with a tree lighting a dark corner, a digital fireplace roaring on a big screen and stockings hung from an aquarium with care.

(Distributed 11/26/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter has released a wheat and oat field guide that can be used to identify weeds, insect pests and diseases that affect those crops.

(Distributed 11/25/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – A group of 43 Louisiana 4-H members competed at the North American International Livestock Exposition Nov. 8-21 in Louisville, Kentucky. The students were selected at the State Fair of Louisiana in Shreveport, where they won the LSU AgCenter’s Beef and Sheep Educational Award Trip.

(Distributed 11/24/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – Louisiana 4-H’ers from across the state brought home awards from the National 4-H Poultry and Egg Conference held in Louisville, Kentucky on November 19-20, said LSU AgCenter poultry specialist Theresia Lavergne.

(Distributed 11/24/14) HAMMOND, La. – The Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season means it’s time for poinsettias.

(Distributed 11/21/14) Over the past couple years, companies have released new pansies with trailing growth habits, and fall in Louisiana is the best time to add pansies to the landscape.

(Distributed 11/28/14) HAMMOND, La. – Your landscape can include many trees and shrubs that will provide significant color in fall and winter year after year. Although decidedly less-than-spectacular this far south, early to mid-November until early December are when the leaves of some deciduous trees turn various colors as they get ready to drop.

(Distributed 11/21/14) HAMMOND, La. – It’s hard to believe, but the LSU AgCenter Louisiana Super Plants program is now 5 years old.

(Distributed 11/21/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – Winter is quickly approaching in Louisiana. In most other parts of the country, that means increased stable time, decreased riding time and significantly different nutrient requirements for our horses, said LSU AgCenter equine specialist Neely Walker.

(Distributed 11/21/14) WINNSBORO, La. – The U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act will make sweeping changes to the way food safety is handled in the United States. Congress passed the law in 2010, but the Food and Drug Administration is still writing the rules that will enforce it.

(Distributed 11/20/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – Giving your Thanksgiving turkey a good rinse before cooking is something many cooks were taught to do, but LSU AgCenter nutritionist and food safety experts say washing poultry or meat can promote cross contamination.

(Distributed 11/20/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – Louisiana consumers may need to pay close attention to sales and promotions on food items needed for Thanksgiving dinner this year.

(Distributed 11/20/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – Just about any time of year is a good time to plant vegetable seeds in Louisiana.

(Distributed 11/19/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – Children between the ages of 3 and 8 can get in the spirit of the holidays and increase their reading skills as they enjoy a book reading and related crafts at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden.

(Distributed 11/19/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter and the American Brahman Breeders Association started the national carcass evaluation project in 2001 as a way to evaluate marbling, tenderness and yield in the Brahman breed.

(Distributed 11/18/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – As the sun was setting on Nov. 17 and temperatures were beginning their steady decline on their way to freezing, Anna McEvers set out from the warm confines of a coffee shop with a group of runners. The Varsity Sports running club meets regularly throughout the week in different locations to train together and motivate each other.

(Distributed 11//18/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter will host a poinsettia show and sale from 8 a.m. to noon on Dec. 5 at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at 4560 Essen Lane near the junction of I-10 in Baton Rouge.

(Distributed 11/18/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – Sugarcane is one of Louisiana’s most valuable agricultural commodities, contributing about $771 million to the economy in 2013. However, the state’s sugar industry would be about $120 million less profitable without the use of one age-old tool – fire – according to LSU AgCenter researchers.

(Distributed 11/06/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – A plant materials conference for Louisiana nursery, landscape and garden center professionals has been set for Dec. 3 at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden in Baton Rouge.

BATON ROUGE, La. – A certain dress code comes to mind at the mention of a rodeo: cowboy hats, blue jeans and western boots. But by the time Block and Bridle rodeo contestants were fastening newly-won buckles to their belts on Friday, Nov. 14, goats were wearing clothes, too. It’s called the goat dress — one of several nontraditional events that took place alongside bull riding and barrel racing at the 77th annual student rodeo sponsored by the LSU College of Agriculture’s Block and Bridle Club.

(Distributed 11/14/14) This is a great time to add new trees to our landscapes. Oak trees are very popular in Louisiana landscapes, and we are familiar with the popular Southern live oak. Deciduous oaks – those that lose foliage in winter – common in Louisiana are water oak, shumard oak, southern red oak and willow oak. The one, however, with the best potential for landscape use is the nuttall oak.

(Distributed 11/14/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – As cool November temperatures arrive in Louisiana, horse owners need to make preparations to keep their horses healthy through the winter.

(Distributed 11/14/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – Proper record keeping is essential for vegetable producers to verify their compliance with new Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and Good Handling Practices (GHPs), LSU AgCenter food safety specialist Achyut Adhikari told a recent meeting of Louisiana fruit and vegetable growers.

(Distributed 11/14/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – When bovine brucellosis was eradicated in the United States, it was a triumph for animal and veterinary scientists nationwide. LSU AgCenter scientist Phil Elzer was one of the researchers who had worked for years to create a vaccine for the bacterial disease, which devastates livestock and wildlife.

(Distributed 11/14/14) HAMMOND, La. – Since the debut of a landscape horticulture research and extension program at the LSU AgCenter Hammond Research Station eight years ago, we have continued to expand the gardens supporting research. One of the largest efforts each year is evaluating new annual warm-season bedding plants and perennial flowers in the sun garden and shade garden.

(Distributed 11/13/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – Early freezing temperatures this year are causing concern among Louisiana homeowners and gardeners.

(Distributed 11/13/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – A conference to address a statewide farm-to-school initiative has recently been funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm to School Grant Program.

(Distributed 11/12/14) OPELOUSAS, La. -- It’s not too early to start preparing spring pastures by attacking weeds and addressing fertility issues, LSU AgCenter experts advised Thursday (Nov. 6) at a beef cattle producer program.

(Distributed 11/12/14) SHREVEPORT, La. – As the weather cools off and the holidays get closer, “we buy pecans” signs are cropping up at gas stations and small stores along Louisiana highways. Pecan harvest started about three weeks ago and will run through late December.

(Distributed 11/12/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – There are probably few places in the world where purple and gold ice cream is a perfectly normal thing. LSU, of course, is one of them. Tiger Bite, which is made of golden vanilla ice cream and blueberries, is just one of about 30 flavors of ice cream made by students at the LSU AgCenter Dairy Store on the LSU campus.

(Distributed 11/11/14) CROWLEY, La. – Hybrid development at the Rice Research Station continues to make progress under hybrid rice breeders Jim Oard and Weike Li.

(Distributed 11/07/14) Oaks are one of our most popular landscape trees. Almost everyone is familiar with the Southern live oak, but we have an abundance of other oak trees – largely deciduous – that are recommended for Louisiana. The willow oak (Quercus phellos) has been named a Louisiana Super Plant.

(Distributed 11/07/14) HAMMOND, La. – Whether renovating an existing landscape or starting from scratch, we need to remember that soil pH and proper bed preparation will be essential in assuring top performance of our ornamental plants.

(Distributed 11/06/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – Sharing our Southern Roots was the theme of the regional Master Gardener meeting Oct. 21-24 in Baton Rouge.

(Distributed 11/06/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – An interdisciplinary and inter-institutional program to develop novel plant traits and new varieties will provide opportunities for scientists to meet future needs in crop production, said Rogers Leonard, LSU AgCenter associate vice chancellor and program leader for plant and soil sciences.

(Distributed 11/04/14) FRANKLINTON, La. – On 832 acres that stretch over softly sloped hills, black and white dairy cows graze in the sunshine and rest in the shade beneath huge trees. Picturesque as it sounds, this isn’t a painting or a postcard.

(Distributed 11/04/14) BATON ROUGE, La – Louis Fournet was thinking of moving. He suffers from allergies and has a hard time finding relief in Louisiana’s humid climate. A visit to the LSU AgCenter LaHouse Home and Landscape Resource Center’s seasonal open house may have changed his mind.

(Distributed 11/03/14) ARNAUDVILLE, La – Louisiana sugarcane farmers in the midst of the 2014 harvest are benefitting from good weather that has made conditions easier to get their crop out of the fields, according to LSU AgCenter experts.

(Distributed 11/03/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – Laurel wilt, a devastating disease of a number of Louisiana trees in the Lauraceae family, has recently been confirmed in sassafras trees in Union Parish.

(Distributed 11/03/14) The Camelot series foxglove (Digitalis) is seed-propagated and includes four colors – Camelot Cream, Camelot White, Camelot Rose and Camelot Lavender.

(Distributed 11/03/14) HAMMOND, La. – Japanese maples have the potential to be one of the most outstanding small trees for specimen plantings and focal-point use in residential landscapes in the Southeast. And fall and winter are the best time of the year to add Japanese maples to the landscape.