Posts in LDAF
LDAF Encourages Preparation for Freezing Temperatures

With temperatures dipping near or below freezing in parts of the state beginning early next week, Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) Commissioner Mike Strain, D.V.M., urges livestock and pet owners to take necessary precautions to protect their animals. This is also the time to protect plants, pipes, and, of course, people.

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LDAFAvery Davidson
Louisiana HLB Quarantine Area Expanded

Federal agriculture officials, in cooperation with Louisiana agriculture officials, have established a federal quarantine area for huanglongbing (HLB; citrus greening), caused by Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, in all of Saint Charles Parish in Louisiana.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) took the action in cooperation with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF).

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Louisiana's Battle Against Wildfires Sparks Plea for $43 Million Boost in Funding

The months-long battle against hundreds of wildfires across Louisiana has made clear that the state is ill-prepared for hotter, drier summers producing multiple simultaneous blazes that ravage forests, imperil communities and stretch the state’s firefighting capabilities beyond the limit.

That’s the message state Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain is sending to lawmakers as he lobbies for a substantial boost in funding for Louisiana’s largest wildfire fighting agency.

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LDAFAvery Davidson
Here's How Much Thanksgiving Dinner Will Cost You in Louisiana This Year

As Thanksgiving approaches, Louisiana residents may be in for a bit of a surprise when they check their grocery bills. Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry, Mike Strain, is urging people to consider incorporating more locally sourced items into their holiday feasts.

"We want you to certify your celebration," Strain emphasizes. "Look for certified Louisiana products. Think about some pecans, Louisiana sweet potatoes – Yam right. And of course, it's got to be Louisiana rice."

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LDAFAvery Davidson
Louisiana is the First and Only State to Compete 2023 Soybean Harvest So Far

Louisiana was the first state to wrap up soybean harvest for the week ending Oct. 29, and remains the only state to have finished harvesting soybeans for the week ending Nov. 5, USDA reports.

Mike Strain, commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, says that heat and drought resulted in some poor yields for the state’s first batch of soybeans, averaging 10 to 12 bushels per acre (bpa).

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LDAF, USDA, SoybeansAvery Davidson
Ag Chief Talks About Challenges, Opportunity

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.

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LDAFAvery Davidson
Explosive Wildfire Season Exposes Vast Training Gaps Among Louisiana Firefighters

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.”

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LDAFAvery Davidson