When Ashley Edwards joined the LSU AgCenter in December 2019 as an extension agent and coordinator of livestock programs, she was eager to hit the road and begin visiting producers, conducting workshops and helping 4-H youth with their livestock projects.
Read MoreThe owner of the property that is at the center of a cockfighting investigation in Beauregard Parish has now been arrested, according to the sheriff’s office.
Ricky Lee Ashworth, 70, was booked into the Beauregard Parish Correctional Facility for one count of cockfighting and one count of aggravated cruelty to animals. He was released on bond Wednesday evening.
Read MoreThe National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) announced strong support for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) plan to build a New World screwworm sterile fly facility at Moore Air Base in south Texas. NCBA President Buck Wehrbein and NCBA Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane joined Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins at Moore Air Base for her press announcement.
Read MoreThe McNeese State University men’s rodeo team has claimed its fourth straight championship title in the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association’s (NIRA) Southern Region. Six members of the team, and one member of the women’s team, are traveling to the 2025 College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) June 15-21 in Casper, Wyoming.
Read MoreThe U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry released legislative text for the Senate’s version of the “one big beautiful bill.” In response to the text, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) announced support for the cattle health measures in the legislation, which help protect the livelihoods of family farmers and ranchers.
Read MoreOrganizations like the Ouachita Parish 4-H Club are working to recruit more young people to take part in livestock shows.
While the number of participants is growing, 4-H leaders say there’s still a need for more youth to get involved. Bethany Corona, with the Ouachita Parish 4-H Club, says time and cost can be major barriers for some students.
Read MoreThe cattle market continues to move higher. Slaughter steer and heifers coming out of the feed yards brought $235.00 cwt. in Iowa and Nebraska, the last week in May.
Read MoreIt’s been three months since Louisiana native Zach Naegele experienced first-hand just how dangerous riding rodeo can be. It was a ride that nearly killed him, sending him on a downward spiral.
“The first month was extremely hard,” said Naegele. “I fell into depression, couldn’t eat, got extremely skinny, just not talking to nobody. Just staying at the house and seeing this every time I looked in the mirror, it was not a good feeling.”
Read MoreU.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins today announced the release of Congressionally mandated Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP) payments to cover grazing losses due to eligible drought or wildfire events in 2023 and/or 2024. Secretary Rollins committed on May 7 to release these emergency payments by May 30, and today she is delivering on that commitment ahead of schedule.
Read MoreThe National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) thanked Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins following an announcement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that the agency would quickly be sending Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP) payments to cattle producers who suffered losses from drought and wildfire.
Read MoreTo protect the U.S. from a new threat posed by an old foe, the New World Screwworm (NWS), the U.S.-Mexico border was closed on May 11 to cattle, bison, and horses from Mexico. This pest was eradicated from the U.S. in 1966 and eliminated as far south as Panama by 2000. NWS began re-emerging above the biological barrier in Panama in 2022 and has continued moving north through Central America and Mexico.
Read MoreIt’s lunchtime at Northwestern Elementary outside Baton Rouge.
The school’s kindergarteners pick out a box of milk and place it on a tray. There’s fried chicken, a roll, a vegetable of their choice, and some pineapple.
“I ate it all,” said a 5-year-old with a gap-toothed grin, pointing to his empty fruit cup.
Read MoreThe Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry’s (LDAF) Livestock Brand Commission will host its next saddle microchipping event on Friday, May 30, from 10 A.M. to 2 P.M. It will be held at the Burton Complex located at 7001 Gulf Highway in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in conjunction with the Louisiana High School Rodeo Association.
Read MoreLivestock markets and dealers strongly support recent efforts to stop the spread of the New World Screwworm (NWS) into the U.S.
The introduction of the bipartisan and bicameral Strengthening Tactics to Obstruct the Population of Screwworms (STOP Screwworms) Act, which would authorize funds for and direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to begin construction on a new sterile fly production facility to combat the growing NWS outbreak, was welcomed by livestock marketers and dealers.
Read MoreThe Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry’s (LDAF) Commissioner Mike Strain, DVM, applauds the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) decision to close the United States’ southern border to shipments of cattle, bison, and horses, due to the continued and rapid northward movement of New World Screwworm (NWS, Cochliomyia hominivorax) in Mexico.
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