Family and Youth Expo Inspires Excellence
The Southern University Ag Center held its annual Family and Youth Exposition June 17-19. The event, which culminates the 2010 youth development program activities statewide, brought more than 300 youth together for a two-day education, fun-filled experience. More...

St. Helena youth attend 4-H Day at the Capitol
In the first of what police hope will become a regular series of workshops designed to end the revolving door of incarceration and crime, Opelousas Jail inmates spent time learning to control their anger from Southern University Ag Center agents Delores Johnson and Tiffany Franklin. More...

USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture Grants $1 Million to study E-Coli
Escherichia coli O157:H7, a deadly bacteria, has gathered attention as a major public health concern due to the large outbreaks and associated recalls in recent years. Cattle are often implicated as a source of this foodborne pathogen. Dr. Jaroni recently received a $1,077,639 grant from the USDA through its National Institute of Food and Agriculture - Agricultural and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program More...

Monitoring Infestation
Live Oak Midge Gall Infestation is a new problem in Louisiana. Scientists at SU Ag Center, Yadong Qi, professor of urban forestry and her doctoral graduate assistants, Vanessa Ferchaud, and Shong-sheng Li, have been monitoring the live oak midge gall infestation phenomenon in Baton Rouge since spring'09. More...

Planting Summer Gardening
Many gardeners enjoy a summer landscape planting of caladiums. These are one of the most popular plants to fill shady gardens and they thrive in heat and humidity that is common in the summer months. Modern caladiums are grouped under the name Caladium x hortulanum. More...

Ecosystem faces critical stress following oil spill
The sight of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico has put officials on high alert and many people on edge. The possible economic impact of the spill is just part of the fear. Kamran Abdollahi, a longtime professor at Southern University said the state's ecosystem could be dealt quite a blow. "The ecosystem has been experiencing multiple stressors," said Abdollahi. "It's been under stress from climatic conditions and also by the fact that we are losing our coastal wetlands." More...