(Distributed 03/10/10) TALLULAH, La. – More north Louisiana farmers are switching to rice instead of corn, soybeans and cotton. Garrett Marsh of Tallulah grew his first rice crop last year. “I was here to get a refresher,” he said of a rice growing clinic here on March 4 sponsored by the LSU AgCenter.

(Distributed 03/09/10) Tuesday, March 23, is American Diabetes Alert Day, an annual event sponsored by the American Diabetes Association to call attention to the risk of developing this disease. Beth Reames, LSU AgCenter extension nutritionist, wants to call people’s attention to their eating habits and how they can affect the chance for developing diabetes.

(Distributed 03/08/10) SHREVEPORT, La. – A panel of small business managers at the LSU AgCenter’s Market Gardening Seminar on March 6 said their customers like to buy locally grown produce and flowers and would welcome more local suppliers.

(Distributed 03/08/10) A goal of sustainable landscaping is to reduce the amount of maintenance our landscapes require. But reduce does not mean eliminate. You can make choices, however, that will reduce the amount of work it takes to maintain your landscape.

(Distributed 03/08/10)This year’s Southwest Louisiana Garden Festival will be March 27-28 in the Burton Coliseum on the corner of Gauthier Road and Gulf Hwy. in Lake Charles.

(Distributed 03/05/10)The Eighth Annual Baton Rouge Spring Garden Show will be March 27-28 at Parker Coliseum on Highland Road on the LSU campus from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. each day.

(Distributed 03/04/10) The LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Master Gardeners of St. Tammany Parish are in final preparation mode for the two-day spring garden show that will be held March 20-21 at the St. Tammany Parish Fairgrounds in Covington.

(Distributed 03/03/10) After extended periods of low temperatures this year, many Louisianians are concerned freezes may have killed the palm trees in their landscapes. But they’ll have to wait a while to know for sure, according to an LSU AgCenter horticulturist.

(Distributed 03/03/10) CROWLEY, La. – Controlling insects that prey on rice crops was the focus of an LSU AgCenter workshop Monday (March 1).

(Distributed 03/03/10) BOSSIER CITY, La. – Growing tomatoes in a greenhouse requires attention to detail, said Dr. H.Y. Hanna, a researcher in charge of the greenhouse tomato project at the LSU AgCenter Red River Research Station. A record crowd of 94 attended Hanna’s 14th annual four-hour Greenhouse Tomato Seminar on Feb. 26.