(Distributed 09/26/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is in the process of changing rules and regulations regarding the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), which are also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or drones. These changes are of concern to the agricultural interests in Louisiana, including the LSU AgCenter, because the agriculture community has embraced this new technology and found many valuable uses for it.

(Distributed 09/15/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – Cheers erupted as a remote-controlled door on a cage closed. A small ruby-throated hummingbird was inside at a feeder. Students in the LSU College of Agriculture’s School of Renewable Natural Resources were trapping hummingbirds at a residence in Baton Rouge on Sept. 12 to help with banding them and to gather information about each bird

(Distributed 09/30/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – A group of about 20 food industry professionals from Kazakhstan visited the LSU AgCenter’s Food Incubator and Aquaculture Research Station on Sept. 30.

(Distributed 09/19/14) HAMMOND, La. – Fall is starting, and this time of year is great for gardening and planting. Some outstanding plants you can add to your landscape for this fall and future years are Louisiana Super Plants.

(Distributed 09/19/14) Garden mums are among the most-popular landscape plants in the fall. These plants are also known as chrysanthemums, and some folks in north Louisiana and other parts of the state refer to them as “pinks.”

(Distributed 09/29/14) Mesa gaillardia has been named a Louisiana Super Plant for this fall. Also called blanket flowers, it is a native perennial that can be grown as an annual or a short-lived perennial in Louisiana.

(Distributed 09/26/14) Marrero, La. – At-risk young people in the greater New Orleans area are gaining life skills from the LSU AgCenter in addition to culinary training provided by Café Hope, a farm-to-table restaurant.

(Distributed 09/26/14) HAMMOND, La. – As we enter fall, many home gardeners consider adding new plants to dress up the landscape. Two great plants for fall are celosia, which some of us also call cockscomb, and ornamental peppers.

(Distributed 09/26/14) EVERGREEN, La. – The Louisiana sweet potato harvest has gotten underway, and early indications are this year’s crop will be good for growers.

(Distributed 09/24/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – The traditional stereotype for cattle with high Brahman influence has been that the meat is too tough. But with improved genetics, that seems to be changing.

(Distributed 09/23/14) MANGHAM, La. – Cattle producers drove as far as 100 miles to get the latest research-based information that included pharmaceutical best management practices, buying and retaining replacement heifers and pasture weed control at the second annual northeast Louisiana beef and forage field day at the Goldmine Plantation.

(Distributed 09/19/14) NEW ORLEANS – Jolie Bensen Hamilton and Sarah Elizabeth Dewey teamed up four years ago to start their own wholesale apparel design company, Jolie and Elizabeth. Yesterday evening (Sept. 18) the two marked the occasion of manufacturing their 10,000th dress, each one designed and made in New Orleans.

(Distributed 09/18/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – Enrollment in Louisiana 4-H Clubs continues to grow, with a total of 46,232 youth participating in state 4-H Clubs this year. Club membership included more than 45,100 students last year and 42,960 in 2012.

(Distributed 09/17/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – Changing people’s perceptions of how foods taste – or even how foods feel in the mouth – can help direct them to more healthful food choices, said Witoon Prinyawiwatkul, a researcher in the LSU AgCenter School of Nutrition and Food Sciences.

(Distributed 09/16/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – Most cases of foodborne illness can be prevented if foods are carefully cooked and stored. Still, it is relatively easy to spread bacteria like salmonella that can cause food poisoning.

(Distributed 09/15/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter's ties with other countries could be instrumental as LSU seeks to increase international involvement and better prepare students for a global workforce, according to LSU Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Stuart Bell. He was among the featured speakers at the AgCenter's Sept. 9 Global Agriculture Hour, which is a new monthly event that highlights the significance of international activities to Louisiana agriculture.

(Distributed 09/15/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter Dairy Store is now open from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays. Gary Hay, director of the School of Animal Sciences, said the store extended its hours to better serve its customers.

(Distributed 09/15/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – Growing interest in making fresher, more healthful food available in Louisiana communities has led the LSU AgCenter to implement the Louisiana Harvest of the Month pilot program in three Louisiana schools – Dufrocq Elementary School in Baton Rouge, Andrew H. Wilson Charter School in New Orleans and North Bayou Rapides Elementary School in Alexandria.

(Distributed 09/15/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter LaHouse Home and Landscape Resource Center will host its seasonal Saturday open house on Nov. 1 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

(Distributed 09/12/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – Agricultural producers, beekeepers and pesticide applicators are working together in an effort to minimize the damage chemicals may have on honeybee populations in Louisiana.

(Distributed 09/12/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU Board of Supervisors authorized creation of the Department of Agricultural and Extension Education and Evaluation at its Sept. 12 meeting in Baton Rouge. The new unit will merge the LSU AgCenter’s Organization Development and Evaluation office and the College of Agriculture’s agricultural and extension education program

(Distributed 09/12/14) Of all the perennial verbenas on the market today, the outstanding variety continues to be Homestead Purple. And this Verbena canadensis is truly perennial.

(Distributed 09/04/14) LAKE ARTHUR, La. – With good moisture and light pest pressure, this year’s Louisiana soybean crop has the potential for another record-breaking year, according to LSU AgCenter soybean specialist Ron Levy.

(Distributed 09/12/14) HAMMOND, La. – American beautyberry is a great Louisiana native shrub that deserves o increased use. Plants have abundant fruit production in the fall, and with their wildlife benefit, they fit well into a woodland garden setting.

(Distributed 09/11/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – 4-H, the nation’s largest youth organization, will celebrate National 4-H Week Oct. 5-11 by sponsoring in a variety of activities focusing on science, community enhancement and a healthy lifestyle.

(Distributed 09/11/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – Pregnant women between the ages of 18 and 35 may be eligible to participate in the Louisiana Moms and Babies Study (LAMBS), which is examining nutrition and infant growth.

(Distributed 09/11/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – Preparing 300 farm workers to do their job safely in two days requires planning and patience, but when those workers don’t speak English, it takes much more.

(Distributed 09/10/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – Four years ago, as nearly 5 million barrels of oil flowed into the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, desperate cleanup crews applied dispersants to break up the oil that people worried would have profoundly negative effects on coastal wetlands and wildlife.

(Distributed 09/10/14) DELCAMBRE, La. – A new boat dock, fishing pier, boat launch and farmer’s market pavilion, which was dedicated on Sept. 6, was the culmination of a project begun after hurricanes Ike and Rita devastated this coastal town. The dedication was during the first Seafood and Farmer’s Market of the shrimp season, and attendance hit 4,000 people.

(Distributed 09/09/14) HAMMOND, La. – Louisiana homeowners should be on the alert for a small insect called chilli thrips that feeds on the young, tender parts of many plants, according to Yan Chen, an entomologist at the LSU AgCenter Hammond Research Station.

(Distributed 09/08/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – School is back in session, and student athletes are returning to the playing fields. While temperatures are likely to begin dropping this month, it is still very hot outside. Denise Holston-West, a registered dietitian with the LSU AgCenter, said staying properly hydrated is important for student athletes.

(Distributed 09/05/14) Cassia, now more commonly called by the scientific name of Senna, is a great fall-flowering large shrub-like plant for Louisiana.

(Distributed 09/05/14) OAK GROVE, La. – Landowners in Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi can learn how to earn additional income from their agricultural lands, recreational property or timberland during an outdoor business workshop on Oct. 16

(Distributed 09/05/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – With annual damage estimates at nearly $1.5 billion nationally, and with a population of over 400,000 in Louisiana, wild hogs drew wide interest at a natural resource symposium on Aug. 29.

(Distributed 09/05/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – Louisiana horse owners need to inspect alfalfa hay bales for blister beetles, which are tiny, toxic and potentially fatal, said LSU AgCenter equine specialist Neely Walker. As few as 25 ingested beetles can be toxic to an average-sized horse, and poisoned animals can die within 72 hours.

(Distributed 09/05/14) HAMMOND, La. – Perennials are plants that live for three or more years and often require two or more years from seed to flower. Gardeners are showing renewed interest in non-woody, herbaceous perennials because they often need less maintenance, less water and fewer pesticides than annual bedding plants.

(Distributed 09/04/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter is offering Master Horseman classes in three locations across the state starting Sept. 8 and 22, according to Neely Walker, extension equine specialist.

(Distributed 09/04/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – Beginning in the fall of 2011, Raj Singh, the LSU AgCenter’s “plant doctor,” began seeing an increase in the number of calls about damage to boxwoods.

(Distributed 09/03/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – An exhibit commemorating 100 years of the Cooperative Extension Service in Louisiana will open at the LSU Hill Memorial Library on Sept. 22.

(Distributed 09/03/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – When people notice lichens on their trees, shrubs and other plants, they become concerned that they have problems. But they shouldn’t worry, said LSU AgCenter plant scientist Raj Singh.

(Distributed 09/13/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter Food Incubator has received a $25,000 grant from the Louisiana Economic Development Business Incubation Support Program. The funds were awarded through the Louisiana Business Incubator Association in August and will be used to purchase faster, more efficient processing equipment.

(Distributed 09/03/14) HAMMOND, La. – The LSU AgCenter Hammond Research Station will hold its annual landscape horticulture field day for nursery, landscape and garden center professionals on Oct. 9.

(Distributed 09/03/14) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter LaHouse Resource Center will conduct a mold control and remediation training course on Oct. 21-23 at LaHouse in Baton Rouge. It will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. each day.