Ag 101 or My First Day on the Job

April 4, 2007

I started off learning about the tomatoes at the Red River Research Station where I am housed and then crossed over to Caddo Parish to see the Pecan Station. Next stop was the Calhoun Research Station (est. 1888) where they are studying the recycling of utility poles, which will save the forests. Winnsboro was the final destination to see the Sweet Potato Farm. A yam is just a slang term for sweet potato. I had to ask the difference. I can't wait to see them be picked (scoop--a new high quality variety with good yields, color and flavor, Evangeline, is on its way). They use a cool piece of machinery with a blade that digs them up and walks them up a conveyer while shaking off dirt to a place where six people put them in bins.

I also learned what forage is yesterday. And have you ever seen a boll weevil trap?

My work files now say things like strawberries, corn, sorghum, etc. I learned about wide row/narrow row research and planting sequence to maximize returns. Some of these studies have gone on for 20 years.

I have met plant pathologists who study disease, professors, wood scientists, foresters and saw automated weather stations (www.lsuagcenter.com/weather). If you have a dispute with your insurance company, like someone did, this is a historical and current record of wind and rain and such.

I will be reading Mid-America Farmer Grower, Louisiana Farm and Research, Delta Farm Press and our very own Louisiana Agriculture. I will help the faculty edit their columns and scientific journal articles.

Hot off the press—Cotton is no longer king; acreage is down for the first time since 1975. Corn acres are up 12 million acres and soybeans are down 8 million acres. The USDA has placed corn acres in the state at 700,000 which is on the high end of what Kurt Guidry, ag economist, was expecting. It will be fun following the biofuels industry since I have stock in some of those companies.

Rice and cotton acres were both down in the U.S. with cotton falling by 3 million acres and rice falling by 194,000 acres. Cotton acres in Louisiana had the biggest drop of any commodity, down 40 percent. Rice acres are expected to be up less than 3percent in Louisiana.

In total value, forestry is the largest plant commodity. Poultry is the largest animal commodity.

I will be going to a wheat field day soon (you can watch the rice field day virtual site on the web). There will be commodity meetings, cotton forums in Delhi and Rayville, the state horse show in West Monroe, pecan grower meetings, tomato seminars, Wetlands Week, Master Gardeners shows, rebirth of our presence at the State Fair here and the other events that include Ag Alley, Ag Adventures, Ag Expo and Ag Magic. Not to mention the 4-H events.

This place does everything but sewing! It is the cleanest place I ever worked. No dust anywhere. Smells good, too. They are serious workers with their doors shut. And the housekeeper makes the coffee continually.

Come get some tomatoes between 7:30 and 4:30. $10 for five pounds. There are grown in a greenhouse without weed or disease chemicals. They are fed very well, I am told.