A team of LSU AgCenter researchers gave an update to sweet potato growers at the recent annual meeting of the Louisiana Sweet Potato Association.Topics included ongoing developments within the industry including variety development, diseases and ways to combat pests such as weeds and nematodes.
Read MoreSeveral U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) national program deadlines are approaching.
Read MoreTemperatures got down to the low-to-mid 20s in southeast Louisiana this weekend where strawberries are produced. But Tangipahoa Parish Associate Extension Agent Mary Helen Ferguson says producers were prepared for below-freezing temps.
Read MoreGardens in the area are struggling during the drastic weather changes.
With all types of gardens in the area, from ornamental to vegetable gardens, some homeowners might not know what will sustain delicate plants in the extreme weather changes.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will conduct the 2021 Commercial Floriculture Survey with approximately 70 producers in Louisiana.
Read MoreStrawberries, Louisiana’s state fruit is planted in early fall. Strawberry farmers anticipate harvesting in the spring.
William Fletcher is one of three strawberry farmers left in Ponchatoula, Louisiana.
“It is a difficult industry to be in. There are more stable paychecks to be had outside of farming,” Fletcher said. “And, to be quite honest with you, land is worth a whole lot in certain areas of the state.”
Farms in Louisiana have dropped 9% according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service census. Expensive land sold to developers turns into subdivisions and shopping malls.
Read MoreThis time of year, south Louisiana locavores usually begin shopping for local citrus to use in everything from brunch mimosas to sweet potato soufflé tucked in orange halves. But the lingering impacts of Hurricane Ida are going to make it harder to source those juicy naval oranges and grapefruits this fall, say agriculture experts.
Last month, the LSU AgCenter reported the loss of an estimated $584 million within the state’s collective agriculture industry due to Ida, a Category 4 storm that made landfall near Port Fouchon on Aug. 29. Louisiana citrus groves, some of which had already been damaged from Hurricane Zeta in 2020, saw significant damage from Ida’s continuing onslaught of wind and salt water intrusion, as well as from a thick layer of mud and sludge left after the storm.
Read MoreFor more than 30 years, sweet potato farmers have turned to chlorpyrifos, or Lorsban, to control wireworms, but with the Aug. 18 decision by the Environmental Protection Agency that essentially bans the use of Lorsban from now on. Growers will need to look for new ways to control the pest.
Read MoreIn 2022, the Louisiana Sweet Potato Commission will celebrate its 70th year representing sweet potato growers, shippers, processors and bankers by educating consumers on the yam’s many nutritional attributes and versatility.
“The alluvium soils of Louisiana produce a high-quality product and our growers have been doing it a long time,” said Rene Simon, director of the Louisiana Sweet Potato Commission. “We also have the added benefit of the LSU Ag Center Sweet Potato Research Station, which is dedicated fully to sweet potatoes. Our growers have that knowledge available to them.”
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it will soon publish Requests for Applications (RFAs) for new grant programs - the Pandemic Response and Safety (PRS) Grant program and the Seafood Processors Pandemic Response and Safety Block Grant program - to support agricultural stakeholders who haven’t yet received substantial federal financial assistance in responding to the COVID-19 crisis.
Read MoreRodrigo Valverde, a professor in the LSU AgCenter Department of Plant Pathology and Crop Physiology, has been elected a fellow of the American Phytopathological Society.
The society honored Valverde for his research in describing and characterizing many newly recognized viruses that cause disease in beans, citrus, pepper, sweet potato, tomatoes and ornamentals.
Read MoreThe online workshop will be held virtually June 23 at 4 pm.
These mini-workshops are designed to provide entrepreneurial farmers with the essential skills and training needed to manage a sustainable farming business.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced the availability of more than $330 million to help agricultural producers and organizations in the food supply chain recover from the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding announced today is part of USDA’s Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative launched in March, and includes $169.9 million for the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP), the availability of $75 million for Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program [GusNIP; formerly known as Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI)] grantees and approximately $80 million in payments to domestic users of upland and extra-long staple cotton.
Read MoreLouisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry Mike Strain, D.V.M., said the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is offering more assistance to ag producers and organizations recovering from financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read MoreTangipahoa Parish’s name reflects its agriculture heritage. The Acolapissa word “Tangipahoa” translates as “ear of corn” or “those who gather corn.”
While corn may have been a primary crop for the earliest inhabitants, not many generations ago, Tangipahoa was known as the “strawberries and cream parish” because of its proliferation of strawberry fields and dairy farms.
Read More
