Planting season for area crops has been “hit and miss” due to uncooperative weather, said Carol Pinnell-Alison, LSU County Extension agent.
With corn planting season complete, farmers are busy fertilizing and performing weed control between rain showers on the crop.
Area farmers planted some 98,000 acres of corn last season, up from the previous year’s total of 72,000, according to Farm Service Agency (FSA) certified acreage numbers.
Read MoreMark your calendars for the 2nd Annual “Party at the Red Barn”, presented by the Vermilion Parish Farm Bureau YF&R Committee to be held on Saturday, May 8, 2021 benefiting the Vermilion Parish Dwayne Zaunbrecher Scholarship, the Louisiana Farm Bureau Foundation Linda and Wayne Zaunbrecher Scholarship, Louisiana Ag In the Classroom Foundation and the Vermilion Parish YF&R Committee. Louisiana Farm Bureau’s Ag in the Classroom and scholarship programs are the most vital agricultural resources available to our youth.
Read MoreIt seems like every few days I hear of someone still picking up the pieces from last year’s record hurricane events, or, more frequently, rebuilding structures lost in the more recent winter storms.
Meanwhile, Louisiana Farm Bureau is continuing to look to federal programming as a potential safety net for our farmers and ranchers in times like these. I am afraid that net is proving to have some holes in it, unfortunately.
Read MoreLaunched last March to assure consumers that farmers and ranchers take very seriously their commitment to fill grocery store shelves with safe, affordable food, #StillFarming has reached more than 100 million people in all 50 states and more than 90 countries.
Whether they were prepping the soil for spring planting, tending to newly sprouted crops, harvesting those crops at just the right time, feeding and milking their dairy cows or looking after their cattle, chickens and pigs, farmers and ranchers carried on, day-in and day-out, while much of the world came to a standstill.
Read MorePatients who've been through the difficult experience of fighting COVID-19 have various accounts of the symptoms and struggles they've faced.
While some say they felt as though they had a bad case of the flu, others faced extensive hospital stays marked by a series of life-threatening health complications.
Ronnie Anderson, the former head of the Louisiana Farm Bureau and member of the LSU Board of Supervisors, was one such patient who WBRZ followed last year.
Read MoreAll graders working at grain elevators in Louisiana will be tested and certified for the 2021 harvest season following an announcement from the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF).
Those graders will be trained, tested and certified by LDAF to uphold the standards set through the U.S. Grain Standards Act. The goal is to provide consistent and professional grain inspection and weighing services for producers, handlers processors, exporters, importers and end-users.
Read MoreThe Louisiana Agriculture Hall of Distinction inducted three new members during a ceremony March 4 at the L’Auberge Hotel in Baton Rouge.
The new inductees are former Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation President Ronnie Anderson, of Ethel; sugar cane farmer John Gay, of Plaquemine; and Paul “Jackie” Loewer, of Branch, a rice farmer who has been a strong advocate for the rice industry in state and national organizations.
Read MoreIt’s that time of year again, but unfortunately, I’m not talking about the excitement of planting season. We’ve got to talk tax season. As I mentioned last month, Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation will be defending agriculture’s state sales tax exemptions this legislative session and we encourage you to contact your state legislators to defend them as well.
Read MoreThe Louisiana Agriculture Hall of Distinction inducted three new members during a ceremony March 4 at the L’Auberge Hotel in Baton Rouge.
The new inductees are former Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation President Ronnie Anderson, of Ethel; sugarcane farmer John Gay, of Plaquemine; and Paul “Jackie” Loewer, of Branch, a rice farmer who has been a strong advocate for the rice industry in state and national organizations.
Read MoreDue to the COVID - 19 virus, the 2021 Mid South Agricultural Labor Seminar will be conducted this year as a Zoom Virtual Seminar on Tuesday, March 9, 2021 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. There is no registration fee to attend. This year, with new employer responsibilities due to the COVID virus, this year’s topics will focus on important current issues such as COVID pay, OSHA Regulations and Reporting Requirements and Housing.
Read MoreThe Louisiana Agriculture Hall of Distinction inducted three new members during a ceremony March 4 at the L’Auberge Hotel in Baton Rouge.
The new inductees are former Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation President Ronnie Anderson, of Ethel; sugarcane farmer John Gay, of Plaquemine; and Paul “Jackie” Loewer, of Branch, a rice farmer who has been a strong advocate for the rice industry in state and national organizations.
Read MoreThe organizers of the Louisiana Farm Bureau Sporting Clays Shootout regretfully announced that the event scheduled for March 19, 2021 would be postponed until a later date.
Read MoreFarm Bureaus across the nation are preparing for Agricultural Safety Awareness Program Week, Feb. 28 – March 6. U.S. Agricultural Safety and Health Centers will join Farm Bureau in promoting ag safety this week with the theme “Driving Safety Home.”
Read MoreAfter nearly a week of freezing temperatures, farmers in Mississippi and Louisiana have suffered big losses in livestock and crops, and some of the worst damage won't be known for weeks.
"We just don't know how bad this freeze could have affected the crawfish, the strawberries and the sugarcane industries," said Jim Harper, president of the Louisiana Farmer Bureau Federation. "We could be talking in the millions of dollars, though, statewide."
Read MoreFarmers and ranchers across a large swathe of the country are anxiously awaiting a warm-up after temperatures plummeted to record lows and whole states – many much more accustomed to moderate winter weather at worst – were covered in ice and snow.
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