With the Mid-South's acreage rising, the LSU AgCenter is hosting a series of meetings for rice farmers in south and north Louisiana over the next couple of months.

Topics for the series of events, which will begin May 24 and continue through the middle of the summer, will include variety development updates; control of weeds, insects and diseases; fertilization; as well as soybean production.

On May 24, the Vermilion Rice Field Tour will be held off La. 14 at the Kent Lounsberry farm a mile west of the Mermentau River bridge. The tour starts at 3:30 p.m., and supper will be served afterward at the Klondike Community Center.

On May 25, the Southwest Louisiana Rice Tour will start at the Fenton Co-op at 8 a.m. with breakfast, and the program will begin at 8:30. The event will move to the Jimmy Hoppe farm to hear LSU AgCenter scientists talk about their research.

On June 9, the Evangeline Parish rice and soybean field day will start at 8 a.m. at research plots on land farmed by Kenneth LaHaye west of Mamou. From La. 10, drive 4.4 miles west on Bieber Road, then turn right on Daugeraux Road and drive for a half mile, then turn left at a water well onto a field road. The next stop will be at the Kody Bieber Farm on Bieber Road.

On June 15, the Acadia Parish rice and soybean field day will be at the South Farm of the LSU AgCenter H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station in Crowley starting at 8:30 a.m.

On June 29, the LSU AgCenter H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station will hold its annual field day. Field tours will start at 7:30 a.m., and the program begins at 10:45 a.m. A lunch will be served.

A rice and soybean field day for St. Landry Parish will be held July 6 at the Charlie Fontenot farm near Palmetto at 8 a.m. Signs to the field day location will be posted starting at Veazey oad in Palmetto off La. 10.

On July 13 starting at 9 a.m., the Northeast Louisiana Rice Field Day will be held at the farm of Vic Jordan near Oak Ridge. Drive east from Oak Ridge on La. 134 for 2.5 miles, the turn south on Tower Drive, which ends at the location. After the field tour, the event will continue at the Rayville Civic Center at noon with lunch.

For more information on the LSU AgCenter, visit www.agcenter.lsu.edu.