Louisiana's 'Berry Belt' Shrinking as Aging Strawberry Farmers Leave the Land

By Caroline Grueskin, The Advocate, Baton Rouge

Ponchatoula still holds the title of Louisiana's strawberry capital, but the sweet fruit's future here looks less than rosy. Farmers in Livingston and Tangipahoa parishes are growing fewer acres of the crop than ever, as an aging group of growers and an increasingly risky business is shuttering family farms.