Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain talked to a St. Mary Chamber luncheon audience Wednesday about one state department. But he might have taken a line from “A Tale of Two Cities.”

For Louisiana farmers and the Agricultural and Forestry Department, this can be the best of times and the worst of times.

When firefighters rushed from across the state to battle a massive wildfire in Beauregard Parish, a firefighter from Texas noticed something unsettling about his Louisiana colleagues: most of them had no idea what they were doing.

“They’d say ‘we’re just going to go hit it,’ and want to rush in,” said Taylor Lott, a volunteer firefighter in Beauregard who trained in wildland firefighting in his home state. “No, in the conditions we’re having and the fires we’re having, you can’t do that. There’s just a lot they didn’t understand.”

On Wednesday, October 25, 2023, starting at 8 AM, a burn ban will be in effect in Jackson Parish. The burn ban will prohibit all outdoor burning and will last until it is determined that the weather conditions are safe enough to lift the burn ban.

Violators of the burn ban may receive a $500 fine or face six months in jail. This ordinance does not apply to prescribed burns by the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, by those trained and certified by the Department of Agriculture and Forestry.

The State Fire Marshal’s Office has reported a brush fire in the Alexandria area that has caused at least one death.

SFM said the brush fire was reported to authorities around 1:30 p.m. in the 6100 block of LA 488, or the Twin Bridges Road area.

The Louisiana open primary election, also known as a “jungle primary,” on Saturday [October 14], made it official - Mike Strain will serve a fifth term as Louisiana’s Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner. His reelection was already a foregone conclusion since he ran unopposed. Strain delivered an assessment, of sorts, on the challenges of 2023, while speaking before the Baton Rouge Press Club on Monday [October 16].