June 25 Field Day Will Showcase AgCenter Rice Research

OLIVIA MCCLURE

 CROWLEY, LOUISIANA

The LSU AgCenter H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station will open its doors to visitors June 25 for its 115th annual field day, where research projects aimed at developing new rice varieties, managing pests and improving other aspects of production will be showcased.

The event will include tours of research plots along with a scientific poster session, trade show, indoor presentations and lunch. Field tours will start at 7 a.m., with the last wagon departing no later than 8:30 a.m.

AgCenter experts will discuss their work during the outdoor portion of the program. Topics to be covered are variety breeding, disease and insect issues, weed control, drones, agronomy and extension programs.

The event will move indoors at 10:30 a.m. and will feature comments from leaders of the AgCenter, Louisiana Rice Research Board, Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation and USA Rice Federation.

The station, located at 1373 Caffey Road near Crowley, encompasses 1,000 acres devoted to research on one of Louisiana’s most valuable agricultural commodities. Rice is farmed on more than 405,000 acres in the state, and the industry has an annual economic impact of $581.4 million, according to the latest AgCenter statistics.

For more information, contact Kurt Guidry, assistant resident coordinator of the station, at 337-788-7531 or KMGuidry@agcenter.lsu.edu.  ∆

OLIVIA MCCLURE: LSU AgCenter