For those of us in South Louisiana, we sometimes wince a little whenever we see videos pop up online from out-of-town YouTubers documenting their travels to Acadiana.

Not because we don't want them down here, but mainly because we're never sure what sort of light the video will show us in.

Admittedly, for people not from here, there's a whole lot about our lifestyle and culture that some people seem to misunderstand.

It hasn’t been that long ago that the only way to irrigate rice was to build a system of levees strong enough to keep water at a prescribed depth on a field until it was ready to be drained and harvested.

Fast forward to 2024 and rice farmers now have seven, eight or possibly even nine systems, depending on how you count them, for keeping their crops watered during the long Midsouth growing season.

As U.S. rice farmers rush to finish planting their 2024 crop, one of their largest export markets is at risk because of financial restrictions placed on banks that would normally provide dollars for U.S. rice shipments to Iraq.

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Down in southwest Louisiana we know tailgating! And cooking rice dishes such as jambalaya while getting your pregame on is a tradition. But lest you think it’s only for college football, let’s set the record straight: we can and will tailgate before lots of other sports, including baseball, and rice is always a focal point of the festivities.

Friday, April 12, was Cajun Country Rice Day at the University of Louisiana – Lafayette (UL) for the first of a three-game baseball series versus Marshall University in the Sun Belt Conference. 

One step into a tour of the Kennedy Rice Mill in Mer Rouge called into question one cardinal rule of Cajun cooking for ladies of all ages during a Louisiana Women in Agriculture event.

“My grandma always said you needed to wash the dirt off the rice first, but I’m starting to reconsider,” one participant mused.

Tuesday, a coalition of rice state legislators including four Senators and eight House members, led by Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), sent a letter to the Department of the Treasury requesting a quick resolution to financing restrictions which have prevented the Government of Iraq from procuring essentials including U.S. rice.

Iraq is the second largest market for U.S. milled long grain rice. The government of Iraq provides rations, including that rice, to 41 million Iraqis with 6 million receiving additional rations because they live below the poverty line; the total population in Iraq is approximately 45 million people.

Last week, several families and rice industry representatives hosted the Nigerian Catholic Bishop Ernest Obodo and Father Francis Chiawa to south Louisiana rice country. The trip was organized by the Lounsberry Family, including Mrs. Yvonne Lounsberry and Michelle Deshotel, Gayla and Mark Popeck, and their son Conner Popeck. The trip was an initial visit to further explore the idea for the SWLA rice farming family to create a Farmer-to-Farmer Training Program to train Nigerians in the various trades associated with U.S. agriculture practices, with the goal of participants then being able to take these new skills and knowledge back to Nigeria and train others at Mary Agro Farms.