Horizon Ag Adds New Rice Breeder At LSU Rice Research Station
Horizon Ag is pleased to announce the hiring of Dr. María Guadalupe Montiel for the newly created position of Rice Breeder for the company’s independent lab located at the Louisiana State University (LSU) AgCenter Rice Research Station at Crowley.
The position was created as part of a recent partnership between Horizon Ag and the LSU AgCenter to support enhanced collaborative breeding efforts. In her new role, Dr. Montiel will have access to the AgCenter’s elite rice-breeding germplasm, and any new varieties released by Horizon Ag will be in addition to the AgCenter’s breeding activities.
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Food Preservation Camp Demystifies Canning
In a kitchen normally used to prepare meals for hungry 4-H campers, participants in a different type of camp looked on with interest and anticipation as LSU AgCenter nutrition and community health agent Breanna Staab stirred a saucepan containing a bubbling blend of pureed bell and serrano peppers, sugar and vinegar.
Staab was guiding the adult campers through the process of making and canning pepper jelly as part of an April 30 food preservation camp at the Grant Walker 4-H Educational Center in Pollock.
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LSU AgCenter Launches Online Course For Retailers Interested In Specialized Food Processes
Recent trends in the food business are driving restaurants, chefs and artisans to market their fare in new ways and blend manufacturing and retail.
Online marketplaces sell Louisiana boudin to customers all over the globe. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, restaurants and grocers are selling more packaged sushi and other foods so customers can dine at home.
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Wheat, Oat Field Day Provides Producers The Latest Crop Updates
The weather couldn’t have been better for attendees of the LSU AgCenter’s 2024 Wheat and Oat Field Day, which brought researchers together with producers from across the state to discuss a variety of topics.
The annual informational gathering, held last week at the AgCenter’s Tom H. Scott Research Station in Winnsboro, began with a discussion of Fusarium head blight, also known as scab, from AgCenter plant pathologists Trey Price and Boyd Padgett.
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Inaugural LSU AgExcellence Awards Ceremony Honors Difference Makers
The LSU AgCenter and College of Agriculture hosted the inaugural AgExcellence Awards Ceremony, led by Vice President and Dean Matt Lee and emceed by Avery Davidson from the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation. The event recognized leaders whose contributions have significantly advanced the AgCenter's mission in public policy, industry, community partnerships and academia.
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Varying Viewpoints On Roseau Cane Discussed At Wetlands Invasive Species Workshop
Scientists from multiple states convened earlier this month to collaborate and share research at the Management of Invasive Species in Wetlands workshop held on the campus of LSU.
Pramod Pantha, a postdoctoral researcher in Maheshi Dassanayake’s laboratory in the LSU Department of Biological Sciences, helped to put the event together and opened the proceedings with a discussion of genomic insights into invasive traits using Phragmites australis, or roseau cane, as a model.
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LSU's Brahman Bloodlines
Most people with even passing familiarity with LSU history know 1958 was a milestone year for the university. It was the first time the LSU Tigers claimed a national championship on the football field, a feat that wouldn’t be accomplished again for more than four decades.
Elsewhere on campus that year, another national championship was being celebrated.
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New Partnership Between The LSU AgCenter & Horizon Ag To Benefit Rice Industry
The LSU AgCenter is partnering with Horizon Ag, a seed marketing and variety development company, to initiate a new rice breeding program focused on varieties for southern rice-producing areas, which include Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas.
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"Climate Smart" Rice Field Day Scheduled
The LSU AgCenter was recently awarded a $1 million grant to focus on specific Best Management Practices in sugarcane and rice that address reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving soil health. Three rice farms in Vermillion parish are participating in this project to determine the effectiveness and impact of these practices compared with a more conventional production system.
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Southern Blight Presents Challenges for Louisiana Growers
Louisiana’s warm, humid weather provides a conducive environment for plant pathogens to quickly establish and spread. As a result, an important plant disease called southern blight has started to show up in Louisiana vegetable and ornamental production.
Southern blight is caused by the soilborne fungus Athelia rolfsii (Sclerotium rolfsii). The pathogen has a wide host range and is known to cause disease on various economically important vegetables (cucurbits, eggplants, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes) and ornamental plants.
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Tangi Volunteers Attend State Convention
On April 16, nine members from Tangipahoa Volunteers for Family and Community (TVFC) attended this year’s annual convention for Louisiana Volunteers for Family and Community (LVFC).
Tangipahoa Volunteers for Family and Community is an all-volunteer arm of LSU Agriculture Extension Service.
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Sprayer Drone Use And Utilization In Louisiana Agriculture
The Louisiana sugarcane industry has persevered for more than 225 years, even though it is a tropical crop is growing in a temperate environment. Growers regularly face a challenging climate, which includes the threat of early winter freezes before the crop is harvested. An early freeze can kill the sugarcane plant and cause the sugar (sucrose) inside of the stalk to deteriorate. Another challenge is the short seven-to-10-month growing season.
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Fighting Hunger and Disease, One Strain of Rice at a Time
The LSU AgCenter is Louisiana rice farmers’ MVP, or most valued partner, in research and crop variety development. From creating a new market for jasmine rice, to producing varieties of rice that are better for diabetics and more sustainable and resilient to changes in the environment, LSU has been critical to the Louisiana rice industry for more than 100 years. The research also has world-wide impact since one-fifth of the global population’s calories comes from rice.
More than 60 percent of the rice Louisiana farmers plant was developed by the LSU AgCenter, with a direct economic impact of $580 million.
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LSU AgCenter Intellectual Property Program Champions Innovative Solutions
Before harvested soybeans are sold, they must be graded for quality. These inspections can be inconsistent. LSU AgCenter engineer Kevin Hoffseth is working on methods to use cameras and computers to generate a more accurate analysis of soybeans.
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Soil Health Improvement From a Soil Physics Perspective
The southern United States, which includes Louisiana, is one of the nation’s leading commodity crop planting regions due to its intensive crop production systems. Soil is a complex and dynamic living system that is critical to agricultural ecosystem functions and crop productivity.
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