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| MarketMaker will boost Louisiana agriculture, seafood industry Louisiana’s agriculture and seafood industries will have a new marketing tool in early 2010 when MarketMaker, a national Internet-driven service, is inauguratedin the state. |
| LSU AgCenter gets $518,000 for blueberry Web site The LSU AgCenter, along with a Mississippi agriculture agency and three other southern universities, has been awarded a $518,000 grant to develop an interactive, educational Web site about blueberries. |
| [Image: James Barnes and 4her's]West Carroll students use technology to improve safety Three West Carroll Parish high school students learned enough sophisticated computer technology that they were able to create digital fire district maps, which will be used to improve local services in the parish. |
| Valverde’s photo selected for virology journal The Journal of General Virology, a prestigious international journal of virus research published by the Society for General Microbiology in the United Kingdom, has selected a photo from Rodrigo Valverde, professor in the Department of Plant Pathology & Crop Physiology, for its October 2009 cover. |
| TGRx gets first $30 million contract TransGenRx (TGRx) – a biotechnology company started by licensing technology from the LSU AgCenter – has landed its first contract worth $30 million. |
| [Image: Fig 1.]Quality Control Aspects of Biodiesel: Ensuring Engine Safety Making biodiesel fuel from vegetableoil or animal fat is a simple process. Rudolph Diesel used raw vegetable oil when he invented the first diesel engine in Augsburg, Germany, in 1893. |
| [Image: photo of school garden]10 schools get started with Louisiana 4-H Seeds for Service Students at Warren Easton High School in New Orleans along with 10 other schools around the state really know what it means to get down and dirty, thanks to a $25,000 grant secured by the LSU AgCenter’s 4-H Youth Development office. |
| [Image: Louisiana Agriculture Magazine Fall 2009]Louisiana Agriculture Magazine Fall 2009 The biofuel industry has expanded tremendously over the past decade. LSU AgCenter scientists are conducting research on a wide variety of crops that can be turned into fuel. This issue of the magazine includes the latest results on use of sugarcane, sweet sorghum, switchgrass, algae, Chinese tallow and more. Please contact Linda Benedict, the editor, if you would like a back issue. |
| What's New? MarketMaker will boost Louisiana agriculture, LSU AgCenter gets $518,000 for blueberry Web site, West Carroll students use technology to improve safety, 10 schools get started with Louisiana 4-H Seeds for Service, Valverde's photo selected for virology journal, TGRx gets first $30 million contract |
| [Image: Sugarcane field]Opportunities for Louisiana in the Expanding Biofuel Industry The biofuel industry in the United States has expanded tremendously over the past decade. Consumption of biofuels has increased faster than any other energy source in recent years. |
| Hydrogen and Biofuels Hydrogen is an appealing energy carrier because of its potential for using the most plentiful resources – water and sunlight– to power one of the most environmentally clean reactions, 2H2O = 2H2 + O2 , in which two water molecules yield two hydrogen molecules and one oxygen molecule. |
| [Image: photo of 4-H car]4-H’ers Make Ethanol During 2009 National 4-H Week To help celebrate National 4-H Week in 2009, which was Oct. 4-10, Louisiana 4-H members joined millions of other 4-H’ers across the nation in participating in a science and technology project. |
| Microalgal Biodiesel: Potential and Barriers Despite successful production and use of vegetable oil-based biodiesels, the contribution of these alternative fuels (including virgin oil, used cooking oil and animal fat) to the overall transportation fuel scenario is fractional at best. Biodiesel production accounts for about 1 percent of the 50-60 billion gallons of diesel needed annually in the United States. |
| [Image: photo of trees]Hydrothermal Processing of Plant Biomass for Petrochemical and Bioenergy Products Through hydrothermal processing, plant biomass can be converted into energy and petrochemical products. Hydrothermal treatment involves a chemical reaction conducted in water, which has been heated and pressurized in the absence of dissolved oxygen. |
| [Image: photo of Hui Pan ina the lab.]Wood Liquefaction and Value-Added Products Using biomass as an alternative to petroleum-based products for fuel has attracted interest because of its biodegradable nature and renewable properties. |
| [Image: oilseed radish]Winter Cover Crops As Alternatives for Biodiesel Biodiesel, a biofuel derived from vegetable and animal fats, burns more cleanly than conventional diesel in modern diesel engines. It also provides superior lubricity and reduces our dependenceon fossil fuels. |
| [Image: photo fo bad pecans mask]Potential for Nonmarketable Pecans for Biodiesel Production Pecans are a possible feedstock for the biodiesel industry. Pecan nuts contain a high amount of fatty acid well-suited for biodiesel production. Given their high value as a foodstuff, the nuts are too valuable to be crushed for oil. However, a significant acreage of pecans is not harvested as food because of disease and insect damage. |
| [Image: Photo of Chinese tallow]Chinese Tallow Trees As a Biodiesel Feedstock The Chinese tallow tree is perhaps the most promising oilseed crop adapted to the humid South and capable of producing a sufficient supply of feedstock to meet the needs of the U.S. biodiesel industry. The Chinese tallow tree is an introduced species that grows rapidly, spreads profusely and has become naturalized along the Gulf and southern Atlantic coasts. |
| Callegari Center’s Biodiesel Quality Control Lab The LSU AgCenter’s W.A. Callegari Environmental Center has established a well-equipped laboratory to perform biodieselquality control analyses for a nominal charge. |
| [Image: Photo of Dorin Boldor]Microwave Technology in Biodiesel Production LSU AgCenter researchers are investigating production of biodiesel, which has received worldwide attention as a renewable transportation fuel and blending agent. |
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| [Image: Chart]Perfect Pair for Biofuel: Switchgrass and Trees Switchgrass has many characteristics that make it a desirable cellulosic ethanol feedstock. Switchgrass can be grown with minimal fertilization, and it produces high yields even on marginal soils. It is highly tolerant of flooding and drought and has the potential to produce 1,000 gallons of ethanol per acre, which compares favorably with corn and sugarcane. |
| Sweet Sorghum for Biofuel Production in Louisiana The federal mandate for energy security through the development of sustainable biofuels has revived interest in sweet sorghum as a renewable energy crop. |
| Producing Biofuels Biofuels generally are defined as fuels produced from recently derived organic matter versus fossil fuels, which are derived from ancient organic matter. In either case, solar energy is the original energy source. Concerns about increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide released from burning fossilized carbon, mixed with the desire to secure national energy supplies, have driven research on alternative fuels. |
| Lignocellulose: A Source for Fuels and Chemicals Biorefinery technology is a term coined in the 1990s to describe the fabrication of fuels, solvents, chemicals and plastics from renewable materials. By 2020, the United States is aiming to have at least 25 percent of organic-carbon-based industrial chemicals and 10 percent of liquid fuels from a bio-based industry. |
| Developing a Cellulosic Ethanol Industry in Louisiana The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 is a comprehensive energy-policy law passed by Congress with the primary purpose of increasing energy efficiency and the availability of renewable energy in the United States. |
| Louisiana Milk Producers’ Refundable Tax Credits The decline in number of dairy farms in Louisiana led the state legislature to pass Act 461 in the 2007 legislative session. This act created the Louisiana Dairy Refundable Tax Credit Program (LDRTCP). |
| Basics of Biodiesel Production You can make your own fuel to run in diesel engines for a fraction of what regular petroleum diesel costs. In fact, most people making biodiesel are making it for about $1 a gallon. |
| LOST camp steers 4-H youth to science The LSU AgCenter Louisiana Outdoor Science and Technology (LOST)Camp is a 4-H program aimed at encouraging seventh and eighth grade students to consider careers in science and technology. |
| Future of Cotton Ginning in Louisiana The cotton industry in Louisiana has seen major structural changes in a short time. Total cotton production was reduced by almost 75 percent between 2005 and 2008. This article explores the future of the cotton industry. |
| Congressmen learn about biofuels research in visit to Sugar Research Station More than a dozen LSU AgCenter scientists met with two members of the U.S.House Committee on Agriculture Aug. 12 to describe their research to identify appropriate plants as sources of feedstocks to produce biofuels, as well as the technology to convert the plants into ethanol or biodiesel. |
| Camp goers immerse themselves in marsh Zachary Cecil, a 4-H’er from Vernon Parish, rode on the side of a boat one morning during Marsh Maneuvers camp at Avery Island, La. |
| Summer-breeding birds View more photos of birds that are summer breeders in Louisiana. |
| Migrating View more photos of birds that migrate through Louisiana on their way northward. |
| West Nile Virus and Louisiana Birds photo gallery Photos of more birds used in the study in the article "West Nile Virus and Louisiana Birds." |
| Winter residents View more photos of birds that are winter residents of Louisiana. |
| Year-round residents View more photos of the birds that are year-round residents of Louisiana. |
| West Nile Virus and Louisiana Birds West Nile virus is a mosquito-transmitted virus that cycles in nature primarily between mosquitoes and birds. It was first detected in the United States in 1999 and in Louisiana in 2001. This article looks at the birds that carry the disease. |
| Myth Busted: Crawfish Tail Curl and Food Safety Few things symbolize Louisiana culture and cuisine like a festive crawfish boil. Wild crawfish are harvested each year from the vast Atchafalaya River Basin, and approximately 184,000 acresof culture ponds in Louisiana are used to produce more than 100 million pounds of live crawfish annually. |
| Hole-plugging Technology Creates New Business, Jobs for Louisiana A new technology developed by an LSU AgCenter researcher has serendipitously found its way into the oil industry, resulting in a new company and the re-invigoration of an existing company in Louisiana. |
| Developing New Varieties of Rice Development of rice varieties helps guarantee continued rice production in Louisiana and in the United States. Release of improved varieties by public breeding programs in Louisiana,Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi and California, in conjunction with advancements in rice production technology, has provided a continuous increase in rice production and quality. |
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| Managing Weeds in Louisiana Sweet Potatoes Weeds compete with sweet potato plants for nutrients, water and sunlight and impair crop yield and quality, making effective weed management a critical aspect to successful production. |
| New weed science building at Rice Station Eric Webster, LSU AgCenter weed scientist, works at the new weed science building on the South Farm of the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station near Crowley. |
| What's New? News articles in the summer 2009 issue of Louisiana Agriculture. |
| Tarnished Plant Bugs in Cotton: Where Are They and Where Do They Go? Understanding basic biological characteristics of economically important insect pests is essential for developing integrated pest management (IPM) programs. The tarnished plant bug is one of these pests. |
| Jazzman: A new jasmine-type rice variety The first U.S.-bred Jasmine-type aromatic rice variety named Jazzman has been developed at the LSU AgCenter’s Rice Research Station and released in 2009. |
| Complementary Contributions to Coastal Restoration in Louisiana and Mexico Louisiana shares attributes with other states and countries that border the Gulf of Mexico, including Mexico. Louisiana’s coastal landscape has been uniquely shaped by the Mississippi River over millennia. |
| Foliar-applied Fungicides in Corn: Does It Pay? Fungicides are used to manage diseases in many field crops grown in Louisiana.Until recently, this practice has not been evaluated on corn produced in the state. |
| Resistant Starch and the Sweet Potato Finding new uses for sweet potato components, such as starch, would increasethe demand for sweet potatoes and save processors money by finding a use for the waste produced during cutting and canning. |
| Pea Leaf Weevil: A New Pest of Louisiana Soybean During 2007, significant foliage loss and stem injury on soybean seedlings were observed in research trials and production fields within Franklin Parish. The cause was an insect confirmed as the pea leaf weevil. |
| Sweet Leaf Tea Extract Shows Real Promise in Preventing Cancer Recurrence While the pharmaceutical industry searches for single-entity drugs that target angiogenesis, many efforts have also been made to search for anti-angiogenic agents from botanical sources based on their medicinal-use records. LSU AgCenter researchers have identified a number of such botanical agents. One that has shown great promise is Chinese sweet leaf tea. |
| Fall Armyworm and Bt Corn: New Technology for Old Pest The fall armyworm is a common insect pest of field corn in Louisiana and other states across the South. Conventional chemical control strategies used to manage the fall armyworm in corn generally provide inconsistent results because the larvae feed within the whorls of vegetative-stage plants or on immature grain in corn ears. |
| Department of Agricultural Chemistry Helps Keep Food Safe From poultry feed to pesticides and from fertilizer to food, the Department of Agricultural Chemistry, which is a joint effort between the LSU AgCenter and the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, provides analytical support for regulatory activities, research and agricultural extension work. |
| Temporary Structures for Grain Storage In the past four years Louisiana farmers have planted and harvested record-breaking amounts of corn, soybeans and sorghum – so much that the state’s storage capacity could not handle it all. |
| Plants Prompt Search for Cancer Prevention For more than 15 years, Zhijun Liu with the School of Renewable Natural Resources has been investigating plants for medicinal properties. He started by looking at plants that traditionally have been used as folk remedies to treat diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and cancer. |
| McMillin Receives National Meat Science Award Ken McMillin, professor of animal sciences and food science at the LSU AgCenter and at LSU, has been awarded the 2009 American Meat Science Association Signal Service Award. |
| Influence of Irrigation, Row Configuration and Seeding Rate on Grain Sorghum Yield on Alluvial Clay Production practices influence grain sorghum yield, and research has found a consistent sorghum yield response to row widths narrower than 40 inches, particularly on alluvial soils – those created by sediment deposited by flowing water. |
| LSU AgCenter Master Horseman program serves as national model What do a police officer, an Olympianand a fighter pilot have in common?In this case, they’re all master horsemen.In March 2009, nearly 20 horse enthusiasts,including a National Guard pilot, alocal police officer and a former Olympicequestrian gathered at Farr Horse Park inBaton Rouge for a three-hour session –the last of their eight-class course in horsetraining. |
| Rice Research Station starts second century The LSU AgCenter’s Rice Research Station in Crowley, La., is celebrating a century of operation in 2009, making it the oldest facility of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. |
| LSU AgCenter research station helps lure ConAgra Lamb Weston’s new sweet potato processing plant to northeast Louisiana LSU AgCenter scientists played a key role in helping to entice ConAgra Foods to locate a new sweet potato processing plant to northeast Louisiana. |
| Louisiana Agriculture Magazine Summer 2009 Louisiana Agriculture Magazine Summer 2009 (in PDF form) |
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| Individual Shrink-wrapping of Sweet Potatoes: An Emerging Value-added Marketing Technique The majority of sweet potatoes consumedin the United States are purchased through retail fresh market outlets. They have traditionally been marketed in the form of individual roots stacked in bulk displays and priced per pound. |
| Sweet Potato Scientist: Chris Clark devotes career to better production, higher yields There was a time in Chris Clark’s life that sweet potatoes made a one-time annual appearance – the Thanksgiving table. Little did he know that this delicious, nutritious menu item would help define his career. |
| Commercialization of Intellectual Property at the LSU AgCenter The LSU AgCenter has the most successful record of commercialization of intellectualproperty within the LSU System and, in fact, within higher education in Louisiana. Since 2000, nine new companies have been started based on licensing technology from the AgCenter. |
| GIS/GPS Techniques help evaluate soil insect and nematode pest control strategies in sweet potatoes Managing crops on the loess soils of the Midsouth is difficult because they contain little organic matter and erode easily. Generally, these fields are small compared to delta alluvial fields; however, they often have considerable variability in soil texture. The variability is often created by land-leveling for irrigation and drainage. Variability presents producers with an opportunity to manage these problems in a site-specific manner. |
| Besh tells Master Gardeners to encourage local food production Although he may be known to the culinary world as a leading New Orleans chef, John Besh also is a leading proponent of serving locally grown foods in his four restaurants. |
| Allay children’s fears about flu With flu in the news, it’s a good idea to reassure your children you’re going to keep them as safe as possible. This is advice from two LSU AgCenter family life specialists, Diane Sasser and Becky White |
| Morrison receives regional award David Morrison, LSU AgCenter assistantvice chancellor for research, received the Southern Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors Excellence in Leadership Award in mid-April during the association’s meeting in Puerto Rico. |
| Ornamental sweet potato options continue to expand Ornamental sweet potatoes have gained considerable interest among land¬scape industry professionals and home gardeners over the past 10 years. Varieties include plants that are chartreuse-lime green (Margarita), blackish purple (Blackie) and tricolored (Pink Frost). |
| Interstate 69 realigned to avoid Pecan Station The LSU AgCenter Pecan Research-ExtensionStation in Shreveport will not be affectedby the alignment of Interstate 69 in southern Caddo Parish after all, according to the Louisiana Department of Transportationand Development (DOTD). |
| ‘Or you can call me Yam. . .’ In the 1970s, actor Bill Saluga used the line: “You can call me Ray, or you can call me Jay. . .” When talking about Louisiana sweet potatoes or yams, there seems to be a similar confusion. |
| New LSU AgCenter rice varieties may be on tap this year Two new long-grain rice varieties could be released by the LSU AgCenter this year if they continue to show solid results, according to Steve Linscombe, LSU AgCenter rice breeder. |
| LeBlanc named ag chemistry head The LSU AgCenter announced the appointment of Mark LeBlanc as head of the Department of AgriculturalChemistry effective April 1, 2009. |
| Harvesting Sweet Potatoes Commercially produced sweet potatoes in Louisiana are most often harvested using a two-row mechanical chain harvester,more commonly known as a two-row sweet potato digger.With this method, roots are exposed and then conveyed along a chain, where workers on each side of the equipment sort the roots into various grades |
| Nitrogen Management: New Insights and Opportunities Sustainable and profitable commercial sweet potato productionrequires optimum nitrogen fertilizer. Although sweet potatoes can be grown in marginal production environments, a certain amount of nitrogen is necessary for normal shoot development and photosynthetic activity required for storage-root growth. |
| Season-long Management of the Banded Cucumber Beetle in Louisiana Sweet Potatoes Several insects feed on the foliage and roots of sweet potatoes throughout the growing season. The sweet potato root can be injured by several soil insects,including sweetpotato weevils, rootworms, sugarcane beetles, wireworms,whitefringed beetles, white grubs and flea beetles. |
| Nutraceutical Compounds and Antioxidant Content of Sweet Potatoes Sweet potatoes are regarded as one of the most nutritious vegetable crops. They are known to be an excellent source of vitamin A (orange-flesh types) and dietary fiber and contain significant amounts of vitamin C, vitamin E, vitaminB9 (folate) and various minerals. |
| Managing Rhizopus Soft Rot on Sweet Potatoes Sweet potatoes are susceptible to Rhizopus soft rot, a disease caused by a common fungus that can destroy sweet potatoes after they are removed from storage and washed but before they arrive at the market. |
| Sweet potatoes get grades Sweet potatoes, like many commodities, are marketedin a variety of ways, and not all sweet potatoes are identical. |
| Virus-tested foundation seed works A sweet potato crop is vegetatively propagated, which means it is grown by bedding storage roots and subsequently transplanting vine cuttings into productionfields from the resulting sprouts. |
| A really SWEET sweet potato – that’s Evangeline Why do people eat sweet potatoes? Because they are sweet! A new variety, Evangeline, just released by the LSU AgCenter, will satisfy those who want a really sweet sweet potato. |
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| Breeding High-yielding, Delicious Sweet Potatoes The development of high-yielding and delicious sweet potato varieties beganright here in Louisiana more than 70 years ago. The late Julian C. Miller and others at the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station discovered how to induce flowering and seed set by trellisingsweet potato vines onto fences. |
| Happy 60th Birthday: Sweet Potato Research Station and Foundation Seed Program, 1949-2009 The LSU AgCenter Sweet Potato Research Station is the only research stationin the United States devoted solely to sweet potato research and development. |
| The Sky’s the Limit: Change in the Sweet Potato Industry Change is going on in the sweet potato industry. The variety Beauregard, released by the AgCenter in 1987 and hailed as one of the best and most popularsweet potatoes, is being replaced in part by two new varieties – Evangeline, released by the LSU AgCenter in 2007, and Covington, a 2005 release from North Carolina. |
| Research Verification Program for Louisiana Sweet Potato Production In 2007, the LSU AgCenter started a verification program for sweet potatoes, similar to the programs for rice, soybean and corn. These verification programs are conducted in collaboration with growers to test AgCenter recommendations. |
| Louisiana Agriculture spring 2009 Louisiana Agriculture spring 2009 |
| Soybean industry honors Boethel David Boethel, vice chancellor of the LSU AgCenter, received the Distinguished Service Award at the Tri-State Soybean Forum held in January 2009 in Oak Grove. |
| Scientist Develops Way to Recycle Used Motor Oil Containers As more than 3 billion quart-size, high-density polyethylene motor oil containers head for U.S. landfills each year, LSU AgCenter researchers are looking for ways to keep them out. |
| Evaluation of Stubble Height on Ratoon Growth in Rice The growing season in southwest Louisiana is long enough to produce two rice crops. The second rice crop is known by several names including stubble and ratoon. |
| Herbicide Drift Affects Louisiana Rice Production Roundup Ready soybeans, resistant to the herbicide glyphosate, and Clearfield rice, resisant to the herbicides imazethapyr (Newpath) and imazamox (Beyond), are often grown adjacent to fields of rice varieties susceptible to the herbicides used in these cropping systems. This creates a great potential for damage to rice from the off-target movement of these herbicides. |
| New Law Helps Dairy Industry The Louisiana Legislature created the Dairy Producers’ Refundable Tax Credit Program in 2007. |
| Louisiana Agriculture Magazine winter 2009 Louisiana Agriculture winter 2009 web.pdf |
| Weighing Lysimeters Measure Crop Water Use Irrigation is an important part of many crop production systems in northeast Louisiana.The amount of irrigation a crop requires is affected by the rate at which that crop uses water. |
| Development of a Mycoplasma Mastitis Control Program in Louisiana Mycoplasma mastitis is a unique form of mastitis, which is an inflammation of a cow’s udder. Mycoplasma species differ from the majority of bacteria that cause mastitis by having unique growth requirements and physical characteristics that make them difficult to detect and treat once detected. |
| Management Strategies for Roundup Ready Flex Cotton Predicted trends in the early 1990s indicated weed control would shift to genetically altered plants with high levels of tolerance to key herbicides. These predictions proved valid, and the vast majority of Louisiana cotton acreage today is devoted to glyphosate-resistant technology. |
| Leonard Named to Louisiana Agriculture Hall of Fame B. Rogers Leonard, the Jack Hamilton Chair of Cotton Production at the LSU AgCenter’s Macon Ridge Research Station in Winnsboro, has been chosen for the Louisiana Agriculture Hall of Fame. |
| Creeping Rivergrass in Louisiana Another Menace to Rice Creeping rivergrass is an aquatic perennial grass that affects approximately 10,000 acres of rice in Acadian, Vermilion and Jefferson Davis parishes in south Louisiana. |
| Pre-flood Nitrogen Applications in Rice One of the most important practices in drill-seeded, delayed-flood rice production is the timely application of the pre-flood nitrogen fertilizer. |
| Scientists Explore Silica and Rice Growth Silicon, a common element in our daily lives, generally exists in nature as silicon dioxide – or silica. Silicon is a major constituent of glass, ceramics and computer chips. It is also something that can affect the growth of rice. |
| Dairy Success Requires Team Mastitis – an infection and inflammation of a cow’s udder – is one of the most common and costly diseases in the dairy industry. Therefore, mastitis control should be a continuous process in all dairy herds. |
| Mastitis in Dairy Cattle Mastitis is one of the most common and most expensive diseases of dairy cattle in the world. One-third of all dairy cows are estimated to have mastitis. |
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