Agriculture

Deputies with the Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Office are investigating three separate home burglaries which occurred on April 17 in the northern portion of Acadia Parish.
Victims residing on Fournerat Road, the Eunice-Iota Highway and Schultz Road, returned home to find that their homes had been forcefully entered. While inside these residences, suspects rummaged through various areas of the homes stealing jewelry, electronics and guns.

Recent stretches of dry weather have allowed Louisiana rice farmers to get in the field and plant their 2018 crop on schedule.
“In the last two weeks, we’ve made tremendous progress,” said Don Groth, resident coordinator of the LSU AgCenter H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station in Crowley. “All in all, it’s starting out to be a good year.”
Dustin Harrell, AgCenter rice specialist, said south Louisiana farmers are more than 80 percent finished with planting. He estimated this year’s rice planted acreage will total approximately 415,000, compared to about 400,000 last year.

The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry and the LSU AgCenter are joining efforts on a project to fight citrus canker disease.
Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain, D.V.M., said the goal is to identify citrus canker tolerant satsuma cultivars.
Citrus canker is a bacterial disease of citrus trees. The first Louisiana detection was in June 2013 at City Park in New Orleans. Since the initial detection, citrus has been monitored by the agricultural department, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and LSU AgCenter to mitigate spread of the disease.