Southern University Ag Center and College of Agriculture: January 2019

Tuesday, January 29

Three Urban Forestry students have been awarded the Rockefeller State Wildlife Scholarship

Undergraduate student Asija Rice and graduate students Wilbert Thomas and Simbrey Majors have been awarded the Rockefeller State Wildlife Scholarship. (Photo courtesy of the Southern University Baton Rouge campus website.)

Baton Rouge, La. – Southern University Urban Forestry students Asija Rice, Simbrey Majors and Wilbert Thomas have been awarded the Rockefeller State Wildlife Scholarship.

The scholarship is awarded to students pursuing a degree in forestry, wildlife or marine science at a Louisiana public college or university. Undergraduate students receive $2,000 annually; graduate students receive $3,000 annually.

2019 marks the first time in several years that Southern University students have received the scholarship.

Click here to read the full article.

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Monday, January 28

SU Ag Center set to host 76th Annual Livestock Show

Schools invited to guided tours, Meat purchases are available

Event Flyer

Baton Rouge, La. – Nearly 100 young farmers from throughout the state will converge on the Maurice A. Edmond Livestock Arena with hopes of having their prized winning animals named champion during the Southern University Ag Center’s 76^th Annual Livestock and Poultry Show.

The event, which will be held from February 28 – March 2, provides an opportunity for youth to showcase their hard work in raising and caring for various breeds of cattle, hogs, sheep, lamb, goats and poultry. Winners will receive premiums, ribbons, rosettes and trophy belt buckles.

The Livestock Show Office is inviting local schools to come to the show on March 1 to participate in guided tours. The tour will include a mini petting zoo, hands-on plant, tobacco free living and nutrition exhibits.

Pre-orders of non-processed choice meats from various livestock are currently being accept by the Livestock Show Office. All proceeds from meat sales go directly to participating youth as a reward for their hard work and financial investment. The following meat choices and quantities are available:

One whole beef $2,000
One half beef $1,000
One-fourth beef $500
One whole pork $225
One whole lamb $200
One whole goat is $175

There is a processing fee that is not included in the original cost of the meat. All purchases must be paid by money order or check and made payable to the Southern University Ag Center Livestock Show, prior to being picked up from the slaughter house.

Those who don’t pre-order their meat are invited to make a purchase during the show’s ‘Junior Auction Sale’ on Saturday, March 2 beginning at 9 a.m. at the Maurice A. Edmond Livestock Arena.

The office will deliver the meat to either Cutrer’s Slaughter House in Kentwood (985) 229-2478 or Rouchers in Plaquemine (225) 687-4258.

Donations to the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank are also welcome.

Since 1943, Southern University has continued the tradition of providing an opportunity for youth throughout the state to gain valuable knowledge and skills at the Annual State Livestock and Poultry Show. The Livestock Show provides a venue for youth to showcase their animals, develop entrepreneurship skills, build character and receive leadership training.

For more information on the SU Ag Center’s Livestock Show, how to purchase meat or register a school for a guided tour, visit http://www.suagcenter.com/page/livestock-show-2019, call 225.771.6208 or email decobea_butler@suagcenter.com.

The Southern University Ag Center and the College of Agricultural, Family and Consumer Sciences together are called the Southern University Agricultural Land-Grant Campus.

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Friday, January 25

SARDI set to host its Community Spring Garden Workshop on February 15

Event Flyer

Baton Rouge, La. – The Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development Institute (SARDI) will host its Community Spring Garden Workshop from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. on Friday, February 15, 2019. The event will be held at SARDI’s office, located at 1209 Diesi Street, in Opelousas, La.

Sessions covered during the workshop will include:

· Soil Preparation Tips

· Seedling Preparation

· Greenhouse Maintenance

· Transplanting Seedling to the Field

· Hoop Houses and Raised Beds

SARDI is a satellite campus of the Southern University Ag Center housed in Opelousas, La. The Institute focuses on improving the socioeconomic well-being of citizens in rural communities within a ten-parish region of St. Landry, Acadia, Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Evangeline, Lafayette, Pointe Coupee, St. Martin and Vermillion.

For additional information or to register for the Community Spring Garden Workshop, call 337-943-2410.

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Budding designers display elegant newspaper wedding dresses in Southern’s Library

Newspaper wedding dresses designed by students in the Apparel Merchandising and Textiles concentration will be displayed in the lobby of Southern University's John B. Cade Library until March 2019.

Baton Rouge, La. – Southern University Apparel Merchandising and Textiles (AMTX) students have designed beautiful wedding dresses with newspaper as the fabric.

The floor length dresses, along with newspaper headpieces, were a part of a project in the Sustainability in Design class. The project was meant to “stretch the students’ talent, skills and abilities as a designer,” according to the project assignment provided to the students.

The newspaper wedding gowns are currently displayed in the lobby of Southern University’s John B. Cade Library. The exhibit will run until March.

AMTX is one of three concentrations offered in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences within the College of Agricultural, Family and Consumer Sciences. For more information about the department, visit http://www.subr.edu/subhome/42.

Click here to view photos of the newspaper wedding dresses.

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Wednesday, January 23

SU Land-Grant Campus concludes Food Safety Certification Training in Alexandria

Participants received certificates of completion at the conclusion of the SU Land-Grant Campus' Food Safety Certification Program in Alexandria, La. on December 17, 2018. The training was held inside the Campus' Mobile Education Unit.

Baton Rouge, La. – The Southern University Land-Grant Campus concluded the final session of its Food Safety Certification Program in Alexandria, La. on December 17, 2018.

The five-session training, which was conducted by SU Land-Grant Campus employees Dr. Fatemeh Malekian, L’Asia George, Emily King and William Augustine, consisted of Food Handling and a Cooking Demonstration.

The demonstration provided participants with a visual concept of the five chapters presented during the food handler trainings. Research Assistant L’Asia George prepared a Fajita Chicken Garden Salad in the well-equipped Southern University Agricultural Mobile Education Unit’s cooking station. She cleaned and sanitized all the counter tops and used the handwashing sink to wash her hands between tasks. Ms. George then utilized the three compartment sinks to wash the utensils, salad bowls and other containers. The microwave was used to heat the pre-cooked fajita chicken strips.

The food demonstration showed the participants the proper way of implementing food safety practices while preparing a meal. At the end of the demonstration, every participant requested and signed up to take the SU Land-Grant Campus’ ServSafe Certification course to continue learning more about food safety.

The participant also received a certificate of completion at the end of the training.

Funding for the training is provided through a grant from the Louisiana Office of Community Services titled, “Enhancing Capacity of Louisiana Small Farms and Businesses.”

In addition to the Food and Farm Safety Certification Program, the SU Land-Grant Campus also offers certifications in Sustainable Urban Agriculture, Master Small Ruminant and Small Business Development.

For additional information on our four certification programs, visit http://www.suagcenter.com/page/food-safety-certification-program.

The Southern University Ag Center and the College of Agricultural, Family and Consumer Sciences together are called the Southern University Land-Grant Campus.

Click here to view photos from the training.

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Tuesday, January 22

Louisiana Industrial Hemp Alliance holds inaugural meeting at the SU Ag Center

Members of the Louisiana Industrial Hemp Alliance (LIHA) held their inaugural meeting at the Southern University Agricultural Land-Grant Campus on January 14, 2019. Seated from left are, Curtis L. Willis, Ph.D.; Joyce James and Bobby R. Phills, Ph,D., Chancellor-Dean of the SU Land-Grant Campus. Standing, from left, are Joe Lavigne; Arthur Walker, LIHA Chair; Odis Hill, SU Ag Center Assistant Area Agent; Winston L. Brumfield; Versa O. Clark; Andra Johnson, Ph.D., SU Ag Center Vice Chancellor for Research and C. Reuben Walker, Ph.D., SU Land-Grant Campus Associate Vice Chancellor for Auxiliary and External Engagement.

Baton Rouge, La. – The Southern University Land-Grant Campus hosted the inaugural meeting of the Louisiana Industrial Hemp Alliance (LIHA) on Monday, January 14, 2019.

The meeting, which was held in Fisher Hall on Southern University’s Campus, was convened to address new legislation regarding Industrial Hemp.

“Industrial HEMP has been around for millennia,” said Arthur Walker, Chair of the LIHA. “It is a grain in the family of Cannabis Sativa L. The difference between it and other versions of the cannabis plant is in the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels. It has a level of .3% and below. Marijuana, its cousin, has THC levels of 5 and above,” he add.

THC is the psychotropic component of the plant that can cause individuals to experience a “high.” Making it virtually impossible to get high from the Industrial Hemp plant.

However, it was still classified as a schedule I drug, along with marijuana, by the Nixon administration in the 70’s. Making it illegal to be grown in the United States, but, the purchase of imported raw materials to manufacture products from the plant was legal.

Many of these products include clothes, soap, fiberboard and insulation.

“For a number of years the US has spent over $150 million per year on importing Industrial Hemp products just from China alone,” said Joe Lavigne, LIHA member. “We feel that Louisiana is the perfect safe space to take a fraction of that market and really drive the Industrial Hemp economy.”

“The small farmers and the small business owners of Louisiana need that infusion of opportunity,” expressed Walker.

The 2018 Farm Bill officially removed Industrial Hemp from the schedule I classification. Industrial Hemp is now classified as a commercial commodity like corn, sugarcane, and rice.

“Now farmers can get crop insurance and receive financing opportunities from the federal government to start growing Industrial Hemp,” said Walker. “The whole commodity designation and moving Industrial Hemp from the Department of Justice, where it was a schedule I drug, to the control of the Department of Agriculture is a game changer.”

As of the end of December 2018, 40 states had passed legislation that allowed their farmers and business owners to get involved with Industrial Hemp. Louisiana is among the last 10 states to have no legislation for the commodity.

“With the passage of the Farm Bill, those 40 states that have passed legislation are now ready to go to commercialization, as long as their laws are modified to fit under the federal umbrella,” said Walker. “Louisiana has to have something established from ground zero.”

The Alliance hopes to influence legislation in the state of Louisiana to allow the state’s small farmers and business owners to involve themselves in the commercial end of Industrial Hemp.

If legislation is passed, the Southern University Land-Grant Campus plans to assist small farmers in the propagation of the crop.

“Part of the Southern University Land-Grant Campus’s mission is to work with small, limited resource farmers throughout the state. We will assist the LIHA in helping to teach small farmers how to grow, cultivate and prepare this commodity as a value-added crop that can be exported throughout the world,” said Bobby R. Phills, Ph.D., Chancellor-Dean of the Southern University Land-Grant Campus. “It is our hope that this crop will enable small farmers to remain on their farms and be able to earn a decent living by growing Industrial Hemp.”

The Louisiana Industrial Hemp Alliance’s mission is to aid in the acceptance of the free marketing of Industrial Hemp as an agricultural crop in Louisiana. The organization is dedicated to a free market of Industrial Hemp, Low-THC varieties of Cannabis, and to change current laws to allow Louisiana farmers to grow this crop and Louisiana processors to process this crop on a commercial scale.

The Southern University Ag Center and the College of Agricultural, Family and Consumer Sciences together are called the Southern University Land-Grant Campus.

For additional information about the Louisiana Industrial Hemp Alliance, contact Arthur Walker at artw@communicationsone.com.

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Thursday, January 17

Faculty and Staff Gear Up for the Spring Semester with Convocation

Faculty and staff from the Southern University Land-Grant Campus attend convocation on January 10, 2019. The event was held in Fisher Hall on the Southern University campus.

Baton Rouge, La. – Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center staff and faculty members from the College of Agricultural, Family and Consumer Sciences held their Spring 2019 Convocation on January 10, 2019.

During the meeting faculty and staff members were provided with information from the three academic departments and the Ag Center's Extension and Research Programs.

A representative from the human resources department Southern University and A&M College - Baton Rouge, LA was also on hand to provide information on retirement.

Photos from the event are available here.

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Wednesday, January 9

SU Land-Grant Campus, USDA Bastrop Listening Session has been Postponed

Event Flyer

Baton Rouge, La. – The Southern University Agricultural Land-Grant Campus and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s January 17 Listening Session has been postponed to a later date.

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