The sugarcane crop development in Louisiana shows improving crop ratings for this time of year. The percentage of the Louisiana sugarcane crop that is rated good or excellent was falling closer to the bottom of the five-year range but has rebounded quickly over the past several weeks (Figure 6). However, summer is the critical period for both crops in terms of putting on sugar content.
A new partnership with the Fuzzy’s Taco Shop chain to promote National Rice Month (NRM) throughout September will increase consumer exposure to U.S.-grown rice and highlight the U.S.-grown difference to the restaurant’s customers.
Chinese importers kept up a hectic pace of Argentine soybean purchases after the South American supplier's move to abolish export taxes temporarily made its prices competitive, traders said on Wednesday.
As grinding season starts, the American Sugar Cane League and all of our mills continue to work closely with Louisiana State Police (LSP) on proactive safety initiatives.
Deer depredation is not a new challenge for farmers across the Mississippi Delta. In 1958, the Tensas deer herd across Madison, Tensas and Franklin parishes in Louisiana experienced an “eruptive” explosion. Does outnumbered bucks by a nearly 3-1 ratio, and the population increased by 40% year over year.
The September 2025 issue of the Louisiana Crops Newsletter by the LSU AgCenter is now available online.
There have been several cases of green stem reported in mature (R8) soybean fields. A Science for Success factsheet (Understanding Green Stem in Soybeans) explains that green stem is a disorder where the stems of a soybean plant stay green after the pods have fully matured. The exact cause of green stem is unknown. However, it is generally associated with any factor that reduces pod and seed development. This is because the developing seeds are the "sinks" that draw nutrients from the plant's "sources" like the leaves and stems.
In the USDA Crop Progress report released on Sept. 15, 11 states reported soybean harvest. Harvest progress across those states was 5%, which is 2 percentage points ahead of the five-year average. Here’s a closer look at the states reporting soybean harvest.
As Hurricane Katrina dominated national headlines in the late summer of 2005, another storm, just as fierce, carved its path through the Gulf, leaving devastation that would be largely overshadowed in public memory. For many in Louisiana’s Vermilion Parish, the name Hurricane Rita evokes pain, loss, and resilience.
The day began in prayer before a convoy of combines rolled into the rice fields here in West Carroll Parish.
These farmers left their own work behind at the peak of harvest, not just to pray for Josh Ward, but also to show compassion and get his crop out of the field.
Purdue Extension farm safety specialist Bill Field shares alarming facts about grain bin entrapment risks. Learn essential safety tips to protect yourself and others.
The sugarcane harvest season is underway across Louisiana, and in St. Martinville, the Louisiana Sugarcane Cooperative is already grinding cane around the clock. John Hebert, agricultural manager with the cooperative, said this year’s crop is shaping up in line with 2024, even as some differences are already showing in the fields.
Close to half of all U.S. corn, soybeans and wheat exports move through the Mississippi River system, making it one of the most important export corridors in the world. Over the past five years, an average of 65 million metric tons of bulk agricultural product traveled by barge to terminals near New Orleans, where shipments were loaded onto ocean vessels bound for global customers. This inland waterway remains the most cost-effective way to connect Midwestern farms to foreign markets, ensuring U.S. agriculture can compete on price and reliability.
Hurricane Gabrielle is still a 'major' hurricane (Category 3), tracking from west-to-east across the subtropicval Atlantic. While Gabrielle is expected to weaken over the coming days, the NHC forecast has Gabrielle reaching the Azores late Thursday or Friday as a hurricane.
It looks like Louisiana has one decent chance of rain in the next week, and that will come today. It may linger into Thursday for south Louisiana, but if you need significant rain, I hope you get enough to last you by close of business Thursday.
Louisiana’s early teal season opened on September 20, and it was a hot one. Despite a couple of early cool fronts, the weather over the last few weeks has been hot and dry, and the pattern continued into opening day.
Due to below-average blue-winged teal numbers last spring, the season was shortened from the usual 16 to only nine days this year. The additional days were chopped from the first half of the season, which closes on September 28.
It seems that restaurants in the Monroe and Ruston areas need a little work in telling diners about the source of their shrimp. SeaD Consulting went to 24 restaurants, and Founder David Williams said none of them said anything about the possibility of their shrimp being imported, as required by law.
The nation’s state secretaries, commissioners, and directors of agriculture gathered here last week for their annual conference and against the backdrop of a frightening ag economy, history was made.
For the first time since at least the 1990s, China hasn’t bought any U.S. soybeans at the start of the export season, a sign that Beijing is once again using agriculture as leverage in its trade fight with Washington.
Growers can optimize nearly everything in the production process, including cultural practices, herbicide and insecticide treatments, and fertilization regimes, said Brayden Blanchard, who grew up on a sugarcane farm before becoming a geneticist working on plant breeding at the LSU AgCenter Sugar Research Station in St. Gabriel.
The years when the transition from summer to fall meant harvest time in the sugar industry are a thing of the past for much of Louisiana, but there are some notable exceptions.
Iberville is one such parish.
Researchers at the University of South Florida want to reimagine the way we categorize hurricanes. Currently, they’re rated on a scale of one to five based solely on wind speed. But Jennifer Collins, a professor of geosciences at USF, says there are two other factors that need to be considered that may be even more important.
U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) have introduced the India Shrimp Tariff Act, aimed at protecting Louisiana’s shrimp and catfish industries from unfair competition.
An Oberlin man is facing charges after officials say he set several fires in Allen Parish.
On Sept. 15, Bradley Montou, 67, was arrested on ten counts of simple arson.
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