Home > Our Offices > Research Stations > Sugar Research Station > News > Agriculture Research Begins with the Sugar Experiment Station in 1885 [Image: William Carter Stubbs] The Louisiana Sugar Planters Association hired William Carter Stubbs away from Alabama in 1885 to director a Sugar Experiment Station, which was the beginning of agricultural research in Louisiana. Research Boosts Sugarcane Business [Image: Photoperiod house] When the Jesuit priests first brought sugarcane to Louisiana in 1751, little did they know that they were laying the foundation for an industry that now contributes $2 billion to the state's economy. The industry could not be sustained, however, without the research of the LSU AgCenter.