Three bills aimed at leveling the playing field for Louisiana landowners facing carbon capture pipelines and underground injection plans made it out of a legislative committee on Wednesday, but they may face a tough road ahead.
A fourth bill that would direct revenues from those projects to a limited group of parish governments also made it out of the House committee.
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Hurricane season begins June 1, but the National Weather Service face serious staffing challenges. Since the start of President Trump’s second term, nearly 1000 employees have left, leaving key offices in cities like Lake Charles, Houston, and Tampa understaffed. LSU Public Health Climatologist Barry Keim warns that this could delay critical weather alerts or spread inaccurate information.
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Louisiana’s state income tax was lowered to three percent at the beginning of the year and House Republicans would like to lower it again. The lower chamber has approved a proposed constitutional amendment that seeks to lower the state income tax from 3-percent to 2.75 percent beginning January 1st, 2027.
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U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins today held the inaugural Farmers First roundtable at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Secretary Rollins hosted Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, the Board of Directors for the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA), and over 20 farmers and ranchers from 11 states who run smaller-scale, independent, family-owned operations. These operations are at the heart of American agriculture and their continued success is critical for the economic viability of the industry.
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The Secretary of Agriculture says it’s a new day for trade negotiations in America.
USDA’s Brooke Rollins says members of the Trump administration have been working around the clock to finalize new trade deals. “What normally would take 2 years to reach a trade agreement, we’re doing in the course of 30, 60, and 90 days,” she says.
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Today, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) announced support for President Donald Trump’s trade agreement-in-principle with the United Kingdom (U.K.). Most importantly, the agreement includes market access for beef. This announcement follows years of NCBA’s hard work building the foundation for a trade deal with the U.K., including numerous meetings with British industry stakeholders, Members of Parliament, the British Embassy, the U.K. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and other top British authorities.
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The American Farm Bureau Federation’s 2025 Communications Award winners named at this year’s Communications Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, include 16 standout states. The competition recognizes state Farm Bureau professionals from across the country for their exceptional work in communications.
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American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall commented today on the announced trade deal between the United States and the United Kingdom.
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Sen. John Kennedy (R-La), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today reintroduced the Crawfish Recovery Assistance from Weather Disasters and Droughts (CRAWDAD) Act. The bill would support Louisiana crawfish jobs when severe weather puts strain on the industry.
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Policy decisions in Washington, D.C., at on the state level affect everyone, but maybe agriculture more than most. From major efforts like the farm bill to more niche topics such as nutrition assistance, conservation, and rural development, policies play a huge role in agriculture and on the way our food system operates.
It’s incredibly important that ag has a presence in the making of these decisions. We need to have a seat at the table, not just spend our time producing food for the table.
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While 56% of farmers say they believe the ongoing trade disputes with China and other countries will hurt them financially this year, 70% say they believe the U.S. and agriculture specifically will benefit in the long-term. Willing to endure short-term pain for long-term gain might best describe U.S. farmers’ current sentiment regarding ongoing trade and tariff troubles with China and other countries.
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Louisiana would be among the states hardest hit by the indefinite pause of funding from the National Science Foundation, with higher education leaders warning of catastrophic impacts to students and the economy.
According to an internal memo exclusively reported by Nature, the National Science Foundation, one of the top federal funders of scientific research at Louisiana universities, is pausing funding of all existing grants and will stop awarding new grants. The agency announced it will also slash its indirect cost rate to 15%, joining the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy in doing so. Those cuts will result in tens of millions of dollars in loss for Louisiana universities.
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Louisiana lawmakers are asking Congress to bring back a $1 billion federal program that allows schools, child care programs, and food banks to purchase locally grown produce and protein.
The Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program and Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, both administered through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, were axed in March as part of the Trump administration’s move to reduce federal government spending.
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The month of April is known for rainfall, but 2025 has been a record-breaking year. Between April 2 and April 5 at least three months of rainfall dumped across the Delta, as reported by the National Weather Service in Little Rock, Ark. and Memphis, Tenn.
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