Congress hasn’t passed a new farm bill since 2018, and the ag community shouldn’t expect a new one any time soon.
“We need a farm bill, (and) we needed it done yesterday,” Andy Brown, Louisiana Farm Bureau’s commodity and public policy director, said in a recent interview.
Read MoreThe return to school for Fall 2024 marks the official implementation of action plans developed by four Louisiana school districts as part of the first cohort of the Louisiana Farm to School (F2S) Institute sponsored by Seeds to Success: The Louisiana Farm to School Program and the LSU AgCenter.
The Louisiana Farm to School Institute is a unique, year-long professional development program designed to support selected schools that are expanding and implementing effective farm to school (F2S) programs throughout their districts.
Read MoreCongressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. (D-LA) and Congressman Mike Flood (R-NE) introduced the bipartisan Sustainable Aviation Fuel Information Act. This bill directs the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA) to include Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) on their weekly and monthly reports, consistent with other fuel types that the agency regularly tracks.
Read MoreA bipartisan group of lawmakers is introducing a bill that would require the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) to provide more weekly and monthly reports on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production.
Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., and Rep. Troy Carter, D-La., introduced the bill Sustainable Aviation Fuel Information Act with four other co-sponsors. The bill would require the more SAF weekly and monthly reports consistent with other reports published by the EIA.
Read MoreThe schedule shows Congress will be in town for 13 days between now and the week after the Nov. 5 congressional and presidential elections.
Judging from the amount of work left, such as passing an annual federal government budget, most remaining legislation will be shunted aside, including the $1.25 trillion Farm Bill, the shorthand for H.R. 8467, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024.
Read MoreA lot has changed in agriculture since Richard Fontenot began farming with his grandfather and father in Evangeline Parish. New technology like drones and data collection systems give farmers more details than ever about field performance. Recent weather extremes ranging from droughts to floods have prompted farmers to adapt accordingly. And, challenges like finding enough labor and overall rising costs mean that farmers must be creative and flexible as they work to produce the crops that feed families across the country.
Read MoreDonald Louis Zaunbrecher passed away peacefully on July 26, 2024 at 81 years old.
Born the youngest of 10 children to Joseph and Annie Dischler Zaunbrecher on September 7, 1942, he spent his childhood in Mowata with his family.
A farmer is who he was.
There is currently an interesting contrast between the "union busting" efforts in conservative Republican states and the anti-labor movement in America. While many conservative states have been working to dismantle union-related processes through legislation and the courts, the recent speech by Sean O'Brien, the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, at the Republican National Convention has created a dichotomy between these states and the national trend.
Read MoreLate last week, a group of Louisiana’s agricultural leaders sat down for a genuine conversation about the current state of agriculture in Louisiana and across the country with U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and John Boozman (R-AR), ranking member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, at the Louisiana Farm Bureau (LFBF) office in Baton Rouge.
Read MoreU.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy spent this past Friday afternoon traversing the rich soil of Liuzza Produce Farm in Independence, hearing concerns from owner Joey Liuzza whose family has owned the business for several generations.
Cassidy, along with Arkansas Sen. John Boozman, a fellow Republican, spent much of the day visiting with farmers and state agricultural leaders, being provided a firsthand account of the challenges farmers are facing in a changing landscape.
Read MoreYou’ve probably heard of grass-fed cattle, but what about donut-fed cattle?
Louisiana Farm Bureau 2024 Young Farmers and Ranchers Outstanding Young Farm Woman of the Year Amanda Duhon is making sure everyone in her family, including her cattle, enjoy a sweet treat through the help of donuts.
Read MoreAs a first-generation sugar cane farmer and a fourth-generation cattle producer, Amanda Duhon has intimate knowledge of how the nation's meat, grains and produce make their way to grocery shelves and homes.
The food that her family farms on their 800 acres, spread between Lafayette and Maurice, is worked daily by Amanda and her husband, Kelsi Duhon. Often she's working with a baby strapped to her chest, or caring for the Duhon's three sons while her husband is out late during planting season.
Read MoreU.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) met with farmers and others in Louisiana’s agricultural industry with U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR), the highest-ranking Republican member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. They participated in discussions and tours regarding Louisiana’s agricultural needs, in anticipation of a future Farm Bill.
The senators went to the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation’s Baton Rouge headquarters to meet with officials with the Farm Bureau and various agricultural associations, including the American Sugarcane League, the Louisiana Cotton and Grain Association, Louisiana Rice Growers, the Louisiana Forestry Association, the Louisiana Loggers Association and the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation.
Read MoreMembers of the DeSoto, Caddo, Bossier and Claiborne Parish Farm Bureaus will deliver fencing materials to ranchers who suffered damage during Monday’s tornadoes as Tropical Storm Beryl made its way across Texas into Arkansas.
The Shreveport office of the National Weather Service issued 67 tornado warnings on July 8. NWS officials later confirmed 19 tornadoes touched down in the area, including at least one in DeSoto Parish.
Read MoreWhat a wild ride Beryl was for parts of Louisiana. The National Weather Service in Shreveport and Lake Charles issued a combined 93 tornado warnings over their Parish/County warning areas. Those weren’t all in Louisiana, but at least 12 tornado tracks have been verified across Louisiana. Rainfall totals were manageable, and in most cases, beneficial across the state. And now, it’s right back to summer in Louisiana.
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