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The Louisiana Master Farmer Program started in response to the specter of federal regulations threatening to impose unworkable requirements on agricultural operations across the state.
This special issue of Louisiana Agriculture is one of the ways the LSU AgCenter is celebrating the 100th birthday of the Cooperative Extension Service in Louisiana. The articles call attention to some of the major programs and major players in our history. 44 pages.
Louisiana Agriculture Magazine
Seaman Knapp’s legacy goes far beyond the building named after him on LSU’s campus. Through demonstration farms he set up in southwestern Louisiana, Knapp pioneered a system for teaching farmers about modern, research-based techniques, laying the groundwork for Cooperative Extension as it is known today.
Back in the day, maybe even just a few years ago, it was common for most farms to have at least a few head of cattle. Paul Coreil, retired LSU AgCenter vice chancellor for extension, recalled that on farms similar to the one where he grew up in Evangeline Parish, rice farmers routinely kept cattle to rotate pasture with rice fields.
In her 1960 book “Silent Spring,” Rachel Carson shook agriculture to its core with a stinging indictment of heavy pesticide use and its effects on the environment.
Panama official seeks stronger ties with business and agriculture. Zamorano scholars gain experience.
LSU has recruited students and athletes who have eventually become famous, but few know about Mary Mims – a pioneering woman recruited by LSU Agricultural Extension in 1925 – who would become one of the world’s foremost community organizers.
Volunteers are vital to Cooperative Extension and to 4-H. They have been integral to the development, delivery and success of programs since beginning. Extension professionals engage volunteers by involving them in a variety of roles that provides leadership and support to programs and events.
Leodrey Williams, chancellor of the Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center, has worked in extension for nearly 50 years
In a state home to diverse flavors as well as a history of poverty, many Louisianans struggle to make healthy, affordable eating choices. Because agriculture’s foremost goal is to feed people, nutrition has always been a central part of the LSU AgCenter’s extension efforts.
In the early part of the 20th century, the majority of Americans lived on the farm, and many made their living from what their farms produced. In those early days, the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service was known as an organization that worked with farmers and farm families.
In the mid-1980s, Pete deGravelles of the American Sugar Cane League approached Rouse Caffey, then chancellor of the LSU AgCenter, with the idea of an agricultural leadership program.
Forestry management has a long heritage in the United States, and the earliest focus of extension in Louisiana was on regenerating forestlands.
The early fisheries agents hired by the LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant recall that when they started working back in the 1970s, they had an unenviable challenge of proving themselves as government employees who wanted to help local fishing communities.
Scientist turns home recipes into food products. Researcher tries to make sugarcane resistant to brown rust disease. Louisiana wheat crop does well despite cold. Girl Scouts learn about wetlands.
Schuster to lead fundraising for agriculture. Poultry Judging Team sweeps competition. Students learn food FUNdamentals.
Surrounded by 4-H’ers and show cattle, LSU AgCenter county agent Mike Hebert directed youngsters and their animals moving in and out of the LSU AgCenter’s Livestock Show ring.
Every year, the LSU AgCenter publishes “Louisiana Summary of Agriculture and Natural Resources,” which tabulates the value of agricultural commodities produced in Louisiana. A unique resource, the summary has captured the history of Louisiana agriculture for the past 35 years and provides researchers, extension agents and farmers the information they need to make decisions.
Since its beginning in 1914, Louisiana Cooperative Extension has had 11 directors. The current director, Bill Richardson, is also the LSU vice president for agriculture. Following are brief biographies of these leaders.
4-H, the nation’s largest youth organization, had a humble beginning in the corn fields of central Louisiana and was apart of the vision of agricultural pioneer, Seaman A. Knapp,credited with helping to engineer the beginnings of both 4-Hand the Cooperative Extension Service.
Located in Mansura just up the road from the birthplace of 4-H in Louisiana in Moreauville, the Louisiana 4-H Museum offers visitors a unique perspective of the role 4-H has played in people’s lives for more than 100 years.
Imagine life without cell phones, the Internet or even electricity. You are responsible for sewing most of the family’s clothes, raising and preserving their food and even making the mattresses the family sleeps on.
In September 2005, Hurricane Rita’s storm surge inundated coastal southwest Louisiana. In the storm’s aftermath, Vermilion Parish county agent Andrew Granger was organizing efforts to save cattle affected by the storm.
During World War II, Louisiana Cooperative Extension played a major role in improving the homeland, while providing valuable support for the military.
Good nutrition is key to living a happy, healthy life. For the 903,000 low-income Louisiana residents who get help paying for food through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), knowing how to make good eating choices on a limited budget can be difficult.
For more than 100 years agricultural agents have brought research results to Louisiana farmers through demonstration programs.
Louisiana Extension used trains to teach rural residents the latest information about agriculture and nutrition through the 1940s.
During a 15-year period, from 1994 to 2009, the LSU AgCenter conducted 29 classes in the Community Leadership and Economic Development program with more than 1,000 graduates.
