Red River Station focuses on cotton, soybeans, greenhouse tomatoes, wetlands

Blair Buckley, a scientist at the Red River Research Station, conducts research on soybean and southern pea breeding. (Photo by Mary Ann Van Osdell)

The Red River Research Station leads in greenhouse tomato research. This research enables this industry to thrive not only in Louisiana but in surrounding states. (Photo by Jere McBride)

This distinctive facility at the Red River Research Station is a landmark in northwest Louisiana. The station is just outside of Bossier City.

The LSU AgCenter’s Red River Research Station in Bossier City focuses on agronomic and horticultural crops. Among the commodities and disciplines involved are greenhouse tomatoes, cotton, entomological and plant pathology, soybean variety performance trials, soybean and southern pea breeding, beef cattle and environmental research including a constructed wetland project.

Attend the Red River Station field day Sept. 6, beginning at 9 a.m.

Agronomic Crop Research

Variety Evaluations. Cotton performance trials are conducted annually by LSU AgCenter scientists to evaluate lint yield, fiber quality and agronomic performance of cotton varieties and strains. Varieties submitted for testing are divided into two groups based on maturity classification.

Fiber quality (micronaire, length, uniformity, strength and elongation) is determined by the Cotton Fiber Testing Laboratory using HVI (High Volume Instrumentation) equipment. HVI testing provides the cotton researcher, grower and textile manufacturer valuable information to use in improving cotton quality and has allowed more efficient grading of cotton bales.

Soybean Breeding, Variety Evaluations

The most economically effective method to manage diseases and environmental stresses of a crop is to grow resistant varieties. Though sources of resistance exist for many of the disease and environmental stress problems of soybeans, the resistance often is not present in recommended commercial varieties adapted to Louisiana. Public soybean varieties, germplasm lines and other material with desired resistance traits are being used as parents in crosses to incorporate resistance into high-yielding soybeans adapted to Louisiana.

Cotton Pest Management Research

Entomology Research. The entomology program provides, through research activities, the basic entomological biological and ecological knowledge required for insect pest management in cotton.

Commercial and experimental insecticides are evaluated for control of the major and secondary insect pests of cotton, the integration of both new and existing chemistries for insect control into the overall pest management system in cotton, the evaluation of new transgenic cotton varieties and their integration into cotton productions systems, and the development of basic biological and population data for the insect pests of cotton through the use of pheromone traps and other means.

Pathology Research. The plant pathologist evaluates fungicides and other management practices for seedling diseases of cotton. Management strategies are developed for Fusarium wilt, root-knot nematode and the Fusarium wilt/root-knot nematode complex and their individual and collective effect on cotton productivity. The pathologist also monitors the progress of new and emerging disease problems such as Asian soybean rust.

Data from the varieties evaluations and pest management trials are used to develop a list of recommended and promising cotton varieties for the state. Selection of a cotton variety or varieties for maximum economic return is one of the first management decisions a cotton producer makes each season.

Environmental Research

The Constructed Wetland Project is a research effort to evaluate the effectiveness of natural biological and chemical processes on reducing water pollution. The goal of this project is to show how using natural resources, such as a wetland, can improve the water quality of runoff coming from agricultural land.

The constructed wetland consists of a shallow pond and a deep pond. The 3-foot-deep shallow pool is a swamp with vegetation that enables sediment to pull fertilizers and pesticides out of the water. The 9-foot-deep pond further reduces the level of impurities in a created environment where anaerobic bacteria break down the impurities.

Agricultural crops need fertilizers and pesticides to grow and produce successfully. After it rains, some of these chemicals can run off into nearby water bodies and enhance the growth of algae. As algae grow, they take oxygen out of the water that fish need to survive and thrive. This research project will help determine if a constructed wetland can prevent these chemicals from getting into the nearby Flat River, which runs into the Red River, and improve the conditions of one of Louisiana’s most valuable resources.

Beef Cattle Research

The Red River Research Station maintains a herd of cross-bred beef cattle that serves as a test herd for evaluation of pasture management systems and fly control strategies.

Greenhouse Tomato Research

The greenhouse tomato project features four 2,800-square-foot greenhouses. Research is directed toward the development of production systems and the evaluation of greenhouse tomato varieties. Currently, production systems research focuses on moisture (humidity) control, heating and cooling, pest control and selecting and recycling planting media.

An annual greenhouse tomato seminar held in February includes two hours of classroom presentations and two hours of hands-on demonstrations in the greenhouses.

Other Features

The Red River Research Station is a 572-acre facility established by an act of the 1946 Louisiana Legislature. The station has an electronic weather data collecting system, is a distance-learning site for the LSU AgCenter and is headquarters of the Northwest Region. The station is at 262 Research Station Drive, Bossier City.