LSU AgCenter receives USDA grant for wood-based bioenergy

[July 2010] The LSU AgCenter has been named as a recipient of one of 22 U.S. Department of Agriculture grants supporting agricultural market research and demonstration projects.

The AgCenter award will be used to identify high-potential, wood-based bioenergy business options that can be integrated into business models of forest landowners and wood product manufacturers and distributors in Louisiana, said Richard Vlosky, who will head the Louisiana program.

In addition to Vlosky, who is director of the LSU AgCenter’s Louisiana Forest Products Development Center, the project will include Ramesh Kolluru and Mark Smith with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette-Center for Business and Information Technologies and Charles D’Agostino with the LSU Louisiana Business and Technology Center.

USDA awarded 22 matching grants totaling more than $1.3 million to 18 states under the Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program. The projects will explore new and innovative approaches to marketing U.S. food and agricultural products and to improve the efficiency and performance of the marketing system.

The grants focus on developing agricultural marketing strategies for an array of projects including eight local/regional food projects, two bioenergy projects, a farm-to-school project and a food safety for direct marketers project.

The grant program funds a wide range of applied research projects that address barriers, challenges and opportunities in marketing, transporting and distributing U.S. food and agricultural products domestically and internationally, according to USDA officials.

LSU AgCenter Wood Testing Lab Gains Accreditation

Louisiana companies that produce and market wood products now have an accredited testing facility available to them in the state.

The LSU AgCenter’s Wood Durability Laboratory, part of the Louisiana Forest Products Development Center (LFPDC), recently received accreditation from three organizations that establish standards for testing wood products, according to the Dr. Todd Shupe who will be directing the lab.

“We passed a number of test standards,” said Shupe, a professor in the LFPDC in the School of Renewable Natural Resources.

The lab now is accredited by the International Organization for Standardization, the world's largest developer and publisher of International Standards. The LSU AgCenter facility can now perform 13 ISO-certified tests recognized by the American Wood Protection Association, ASTM International and the Window and Door Manufacturers Association.

“Developing effective management approaches for termites has been a major goal of the Department of Entomology and in the Louisiana Forest Products Development Center,” said Dr. David Boethel, vice chancellor of the LSU AgCenter. Dr. Richard Vlosky, Director of the LFPDC said “This accreditation resulted from the hard work and perseverance of Dr. Shupe and Dr. Qinglin Wu, another researcher at the LFPDC.”

The laboratory personnel include members from the faculty in the LSU AgCenter’s Department of Entomology and School of Renewable Natural Resources.

“We promote team approaches to problem-solving in the LSU AgCenter,” Boethel said. “We applaud those efforts and the efforts of our scientists to achieve ISO accreditation.”

Manufacturers use the test results from independent ISO labs to verify the efficacy of their products and to meet requirements for building-code approval, Shupe said.

The LFPDC has been providing testing for Louisiana wood products manufacturers for many years, but the results of those tests were not certified.

“This accreditation allows the AgCenter to provide a service to Louisiana manufacturers to help them design and market products that meet building codes,” Shupe said.

The ISO accreditation process included a complete audit of the laboratory facility to assure testing meets rigorous standards, he added.

“Now, Louisiana companies can be certain their data are of the highest quality possible,” Shupe said.

The accreditation followed a visit by inspectors who were shown how tests are conducted, how operators are trained and how record keeping and security are maintained.

“Chain of custody of materials and data is extremely important,” Shupe said. “These things have to be handled in a precise manner to assure efficacy of the process and avoid miscommunication.”

The accreditation is subject to annual review, and inspectors look for constant improvement, Shupe said.

Shupe said the most important aspect of the accreditation process was developing a quality manual that “identifies who you are and how you operate.”

Shupe said the Wood Durability Laboratory has long been the leading facility in the country for testing for termite resistance in wood products.

The basic test involves putting termites and wood in a jar of sand. After 28 days, researchers measure how much mass the wood lost, assign a visual rating and determine how many termites have died. The results indicate how effective a particular wood species or wood treatment is in repelling termites.

“No one in the country has run more of these tests than we have,” Shupe said.

Shupe said the laboratory tests all sorts of wood products, including various species of solid wood as well as a variety of engineered wood products. In addition to termite resistance, the laboratory also tests wood for strength and for resistance to molds, fungus, corrosion and decay.

“We’ve had a lot of interest in mold testing,” he said.

“This is a Louisiana lab that’s doing something for Louisiana companies to find better products to fight termites,” Shupe said.

For more information, Contact: Todd Shupe at (225) 578-6432 or tshupe@agcenter.lsu.edu