To find inspiration for his interior design of LSU’s latest University House, Kenneth Brown had to put down his pencil and put on his sneakers.

“When I finally said yes to this project, I just walked the lakes,” says Brown, an LSU alumnus whose design portfolio includes high-profile jobs both in Hollywood and here in his Baton Rouge hometown.

The home’s social calendar is packed many months out. Recent events have included a 50-person seated dinner, a breakfast meeting, and a luncheon for an LSU Foundation Board of Directors member who received an honorary degree. For a dinner held in conjunction with Louisiana Farm Bureau, the menu included biscuits made with LSU-grown sweet potatoes and a sweet potato cheesecake for dessert.

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.

The Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Task Force officially named its members Thursday, Sept. 4.

The task force was created during the 2025 Louisiana Legislative Regular Session to study and recommend best practices for managing and mitigating CWD in the state.

The 21-member panel includes a state senator, a state representative, a Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries commissioner, officials from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), a veterinarian from the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, and representatives from the Louisiana Landowner Association, Natural Resource Management Association, Louisiana Forest Association, Louisiana Wildlife Federation, Louisiana Farm Bureau, private industry, and landowners.

In August, the U.S. Grains & BioProducts Council (USGBC) welcomed a team of 11 Mexican grain importers to New Orleans to offer a better understanding of U.S. grain export procedures, regulatory frameworks, logistics and operations in maritime shipping

I hope you all need some dry weather, because it looks like a pretty tame couple of weeks on the way as long as we can keep the tropics quiet. As it stands now, I don't think they'll be a major issue. It also looks like an actual cold front will roll through early next week! Let's take a look.

We are very pleased to introduce our 2025 Cattlewoman of the Year, Amelia Kent!

Amelia Kent is a fourth-generation farmer who started her own farm immediately after graduating from Wellesley College. Amelia, her husband, Russell, and their daughter Avery, raise cattle through Kent Farms LLC, located in Clinton, Louisiana.

I hope the weather has been treating you well! It looks like we've had enough rain to escape any sort of major droughts in the state, though this recent string of dry days probably has some of you wanting some rain. It looks like we will get plenty in the Friday to Sunday timeframe. Yes that's right, right on the long, Labor Day weekend. 

When more than 140 Louisiana 4-H members, leaders and parents boarded planes bound for Dublin, they were stepping into more than a ten-day international tour—they were embarking on a journey that would shape their agricultural knowledge, life skills and friendships.

The trip, organized through Louisiana 4-H, included stops at dairy farms, beef operations, vegetable farms, an apple orchard, oyster farms and even the famed Irish National Stud horse farm. Each visit offered a chance for students to see how Irish farmers operate in a climate where lush green pastures thrive nearly year-round.

The Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation applauds today’s announcement of a fully federally funded domestic production facility for sterile New World Screwworm (NWS) flies to be constructed at Moore Air Base in Texas. This critical investment represents a monumental step forward in protecting American agriculture, livestock health, and rural economies from one of the most devastating livestock pests in history.

It’s time to take a look at what’s going on in the world of weather! Spoiler alert, it looks pretty much like typical summer weather. That means highs generally in the 90s, lows in the 70s, and scattered storms each day. No need to dress that up too much. I do think we will see higher rain chances through Thursday, and then things become a bit more isolated into the weekend. 

The 2026–2030 Louisiana waterfowl zone and split structure will remain unchanged.

At their monthly meeting on Thursday, Aug. 7, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission voted to keep the current configuration in place.

Immigration changes and labor reforms have created a moving target for farms utilizing H-2A temporary farm labor in 2025, especially for those located in isolated areas or growing specialty crops. 

To maintain legal labor and stay steps ahead of evolving policies, labor consultant Katie Ramagos Nunez shared the practices she and her clients follow on the farm to simplify paperwork and stay audit-ready. 

A new wage rate rule for agricultural guestworkers takes a much-needed step towards reforming regulations that have put labor out of reach for many of America’s farmers. The Department of Labor announced its new Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) Methodology for the Temporary Employment of H-2A Nonimmigrants in Non-Range Occupations in the United States. The new rule revises agriculture wage rates for all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

The American Farm Bureau Federation announced the opening of general registration today for the 2026 American Farm Bureau Convention. The convention will be held Jan. 9-14, 2026, in Anaheim, California.

The theme of the 107th consecutive American Farm Bureau Convention is “Imagine. Grow. Lead.” It will empower attendees with forward-thinking perspectives and policy insights to navigate the future of agriculture.

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall commented on an EPA proposal to reallocate renewable fuel production that will be lost to small refinery exemptions.

Fertilizer costs are having a bigger and bigger impact on farm budgets. In the lead-up to the 2022 crop year, fertilizer prices surged to record highs, driven by tight global supplies, energy shocks and trade disruptions. That period became a turning point in how farmers and policymakers thought about farm input risks. Fertilizer prices eased somewhat in 2023 and 2024 as energy markets stabilized and supply chains recovered, but price volatility is at the forefront once again.

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall commented today on a Bureau of Land Management proposal to rescind the 2024 Conservation and Landscape Health Rule which threatened the future of ranching in the U.S. by destabilizing a decades-old tradition of grazing on federal lands.

Four start-up companies offering agricultural innovations have advanced to compete for a top prize of $100,000 in the 2026 Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge. The American Farm Bureau Federation, in partnership with Farm Credit, continues to elevate the importance of entrepreneurship in agriculture through the contest.

When people are asked what a “small farm” is, they may base their answer on the number of acres or number of animals a farm has – and they often assume that there aren’t many of them. However, small, family-owned farms continue to dominate the makeup of American farms and ranches across the country.

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall commented today on the Make America Healthy Again Commission’s “Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy.”

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall commented Friday on a federal court decision that vacates a burdensome and unfair disaggregation labor rule, which is part of the 2023 Adverse Effect Wage Rate Rule.

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall commented today on the Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement regarding small refinery exemptions, which impact renewable fuel production.

“Renewable fuels have been a tremendous success story for the country and the rural economy. The Renewable Fuel Standard has reduced our country’s dependence on foreign oil, reduced air pollution, increased farm income, and provided good-paying jobs in rural America.”

The president of the American Farm Bureau Federation says farmers might need more federal assistance to make it through 2026.  

Zippy Duvall tells Brownfield “I’m beginning to hear in the last few weeks, especially in the southeast part of the country starting with the Bootheel of Missouri south, it’s time for the USDA and President Trump to start talking about that.”

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall commented today on the Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement that it will revise Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) guidelines for manufacturers of heavy trucks and off-road equipment. Manufacturers will be directed to update software in equipment that uses DEF to prevent them from losing power.