(Distributed 04/30/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – The state’s first conference dedicated to the Farm to School initiative will be hosted by the LSU AgCenter at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center on May 27 with a focus to promote farm to school activities, networking and increase awareness.

BATON ROUGE, La – Three faculty members and two graduate students in the LSU AgCenter and College of Agriculture have received financial awards to carry out research.

(Distributed 04/30/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – Fresh food, hayride tours and children’s water slides will be featured at the annual Garden Fest at Burden on June 20 at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens in Baton Rouge.

(Distributed 04/29/15) POLLOCK, La. – Louisiana 4-H’ers received a real-world entrepreneurial experience while attending the 2015 Co-op Leadership Conference at Grant Walker 4-H Educational Center April 24-26.

BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU College of Agriculture Alumni Association recognized outstanding alumni, faculty and students at a ceremony on Friday, April 24, at The Club at Union Square on the LSU campus.

(Distributed 04/29/15) HOMER, La. – The LSU AgCenter Hill Farm Research Station will host a poultry field day on June 16.The event begins with registration at 9 a.m. followed by a walking tour at 9:30.

(Distributed 04/29/15) POLLOCK, La. – Thousands of students from across the state participated in Wetlands Week April 20-24 to celebrate one of Louisiana’s most valuable treasures.

(Distributed 04/28/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – Many college students like to spend spring break somewhere tropical. That is what a group of LSU College of Agriculture students did on their recent spring break. But this group wasn’t lounging on beaches. The students were visiting farms, working with local children and helping struggling communities.

(Distributed 04/28/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – Before the first garment will walk the runway, students in the Fashion Association at LSU will have worked all semester to prepare for their annual fashion show.

(Distributed 04/24/15) VIOLET, La. – Three thousand New Orleans area school children will learn how agriculture affects their lives when the exhibit AgMagic on the River returns to Docville Farms in Violet on May 13-16.

(Distributed 04/27/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter has received a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Innovative Uses of Wood program.

(Distributed 04/27/15) CLINTON, La. – Owners of high-fence deer facilities and others interested in the business attended the high fence deer management field day at the LSU AgCenter Bob R. Jones Wildlife Institute on April 22.

(Distributed 04/24/15) WINNSBORO, La. – Dozens of university wheat and oat varieties from university research and commercial companies were on display at the annual wheat and oat field day at the LSU AgCenter Macon Ridge Research Station Wednesday (April 22).

(Distributed 04/24/15) Pennisetum is an ornamental grass commonly known as purple fountain grass. And Fireworks is a new red-foliaged variety addition to this group of grasses.

(Distributed 04/24/15) HAMMOND, La. – Home gardeners have long enjoyed zinnias, one of our most popular warm-season bedding plants. New zinnia varieties have been introduced regularly over the past few years.

(Distributed 04/23/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – As Louisiana moves through spring, the state’s horticulture industry is shifting into high gear.

(Distributed 04/23/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – The chirping of baby chicks rang through a poultry lab on LSU’s campus. LSU AgCenter poultry specialist Theresia Lavergne had a research associate and graduate and undergraduate students helping her sort, weigh and band the birds for a research project.

(Distributed 04/23/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – Different types of vegetable seeds and the produce that comes from them can be confusing, LSU AgCenter horticulturists say.

(Distributed 04/21/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – Two LSU AgCenter scientists are studying the effects of the BP oil spill on a horse fly species, using it as a bellwether to provide clues to the health of the marsh after the ecological disaster that occurred five years ago.

(Distributed 04/21/15) LAFAYETTE, La. – Judy Morgan, fourth-grade teacher at Charles Burke Elementary School in Lafayette Parish, has been honored by the Louisiana Farm Bureau as Ag in the Classroom Teacher of the Year for her school garden project.

(Distributed 04/21/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – Two LSU AgCenter scientists have been using small baitfish to study a new material that could help with oil spill cleanups. Their work began as the result of research started after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico five years ago.

(Distributed 04/17/15) Torenia, also called wishbone flower, is an alternative bedding plant to consider instead of impatiens for the shade.

(Distributed 04/17/15) HAMMOND, La. – Every few years, a new variety of bedding plant comes along that takes the country by storm. Greenhouse growers instantly fall in love; retailers cannot sell enough once they get it on the shelves; and home gardeners go crazy when they truly realize how great of a new plant it is.

(Distributed 04/16/15) JEANERETTE, La. – Farmers were urged to be more mindful of protecting themselves from harm on the job at an LSU AgCenter farm safety meeting held Wednesday (April 15).

(Distributed 04/16/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – Mimicking the growing population of East Baton Rouge Parish, the number of Formosan subterranean termites found in traps across the area is also increasing.

(Distributed 04/15/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – With breeding season underway, it is important for horse owners to pay attention to lameness in foals — a potential sign of a bacterial infection that causes joint ill.

(Distributed 04/15/1/5) BATON ROUGE, La. – The Margie Jenkins Azalea Garden Horticulture Lecture Series and Industry Open House will be held at the Hammond Research Station from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 15.

(Distributed 04/14/15) RUDDOCK, La. – With Lake Maurepas standing in for their classroom, LSU College of Agriculture students in the School of Renewable Natural Resources boarded a boat equipped with a generator and anodes. The anodes send electrical currents through the water to temporarily stun fish.

(Distributed 04/13/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – After four years of helping college athletes stay healthy, Jamie Meeks is going pro. The registered dietitian and alumna of the LSU College of Agriculture’s School of Nutrition and Food Sciences has been named the director of sports nutrition for the New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans.

(Distributed 04/13/15) BATON ROUGE, La. — Two new classes for contractors and code verifiers to help homes achieve provisions of Louisiana’s new residential building energy code will be offered April 28-30 at the LSU AgCenter’s LaHouse Resource Center.

(Distributed 04/13/15) Angelonia is a great bedding plant for the warm season.

(Distributed 04/10/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – Many Louisiana ponds experience partial fish die-offs during the spring due to a combination of disease and low oxygen stress, according to LSU AgCenter aquaculture specialist Greg Lutz.

(Distributed 04/10/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – Each year, the LSU AgCenter and the Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center give an annual report to the East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President and members of the Metro Council. This year’s event was held on April 8.

(Distributed 04/10/15) HAMMOND, La. – It may be hard to believe, but the LSU AgCenter Louisiana Super Plants program is now 5 years old. With the announcement of our first 2015 selection – Henna coleus – we now have 29 Louisiana Super Plants. This list will grow to 32 outstanding plants by the end of 2015.

(Distributed 04/09/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – The long, hot, humid summers in the Deep South can cause electric bills to skyrocket as people turn on their air conditioners for relief. LSU AgCenter housing specialist Claudette Reichel offers several ways to reduce costs.

(Distributed 04/06/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – Louisiana agriculture as a whole contributed $12.7 billion to the state’s economy in 2014, as reported in the 2014 Ag Summary from the LSU AgCenter, which was released today online. Net value for all sectors was up 7.6 percent, or $900 million, from 2013, said AgCenter economist John Westra.

(Distributed 04/02/15) Two new plants are joining the list of Louisiana Super Plants this spring. Henna coleus is the first.

(Distributed 04/02/15) HAMMOND, La. – Early April is here, and that signifies the peak flowering season for azaleas across the state. Some years, flowering is earlier; some years, flowers come later.

(Distributed 04/02/15) CROWLEY, La. – Rice farmers in south Louisiana have been taking advantage of favorable weather to start their growing season with estimates of more than half the acreage planted.

(Distributed 04/02/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – Five Armenian farmers and food processors are visiting Louisiana this week (March 30-April 3) as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cochran Fellowship Program, which provides short-term training to agriculture professionals from middle-income countries.

(Distributed 04/01/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana Master Farmer Program was honored by the Louisiana Wildlife Federation at the Governor’s State Conservation Achievement Award Banquet on March 28.