USDA Provides More Than $70 Million to Protect Crops & Natural Resources
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is allocating more than $70 million to support 350 projects under the Plant Protection Act’s Section 7721 program as part of a nationwide effort to strengthen the country’s infrastructure for pest detection, surveillance, and mitigation, as well as protect the U.S. nursery system. Universities, states, federal agencies, nongovernmental organizations, nonprofits and Tribal organizations will carry out selected projects in 48 states, Guam and Puerto Rico.
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From Books to Bees, Young Beekeepers’ Go-It-Alone Approach Pays Off
When brother/sister duo Cecil and Cora Mae Gregg became entranced by beekeeping over the course of an idle summer, their parents encouraged them to get involved.
With one caveat: they had to figure it out themselves.
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Specialty Crop Considerations for the Farm Bill
The farm bill has increasingly addressed issues facing specialty crop producers in Title X. Over recent decades, more program supporting specialty crop producers have been created. As discussions ramp up for the 2023 farm bill, it is important to consider the unique market challenges facing specialty crop producers and the current farm bill provisions in place to make informed future recommendations.
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Land-Grant Universities Make Thanksgiving Dinner More Delicious
As you sit down with family and friends this Thanksgiving, you may not realize how key our nation’s Land-grant Universities are to making sure you have a bounty of food to enjoy. Since 1887, researchers at these public institutions have been conducting research to improve the nutrition and quality of the food we eat. Learn more about NIFA-funded research on foods that may be on your Thanksgiving menu.
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LDAF Commissioner Proclaims Louisiana Sweet Potato Day
Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) Commissioner Mike Strain, D.V.M., has proclaimed November 15 as Louisiana Sweet Potato Day in recognition of the 70th anniversary of the Louisiana Sweet Potato Advertising and Development Commission.
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Sweet Potato Harvest: The Good & The Bad
Louisiana faced hot, dry conditions during critical crop development periods followed by flooding rains in August. More recently, yet another drought period has set in, with most of the state receiving no significant rainfall in weeks.
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Winter Squash is November’s ‘Louisiana Harvest of the Month
Native Americans taught the Puritan settlers many things about life in America, including how to grow and prepare winter squash — a food they had never seen before but that would soon gain popularity and become a regular seasonal planting.
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Sweet Potato Harvest Declining Due to Hot, Dry Weather in Louisiana
Hot, dry weather in Louisiana has compromised the size of the sweet potato crop leading into the fall and winter seasons.
Louisiana is among the top four states in the nation that produces sweet potatoes.
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Sweet Potato Harvest Plagued by Weather Woes
With more than half of Louisiana’s sweet potato crop harvested, the verdict is in on this year’s crop. Uncooperative weather throughout the growing season has led to one of the most disappointing years ever for many growers. LSU AgCenter correspondent Craig Gautreaux has this report from West Carroll Parish.
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What's Fresh at Baton Rouge Farmers Markets in October 2022
October is a great time for local produce.
“You’ll see the market get more and more full as the month goes on,” says Darlene Rowland, executive director of BREADA, which operates the Red Stick Farmers Market. “We’ll have all sorts of greens, heirloom pumpkins, satsumas and a lot more produce that people get excited about.”
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Louisiana Sweet Potato Commission Marks 70 years of Excellence
The people at the Louisiana Sweet Potato Commission are always hard at work promoting the growers and produce professionals who provide people with delicious and nutritious sweet potatoes. But 2022 is a particularly special year for the commission as it is celebrating its 70th anniversary.
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Against the Odds: Louisiana Small Farmer Larry Freeman Continues the Legacy
Mr. Larry Freeman, born in Independence, LA, native of St. Helena Parish is a third-generation farmer who owns the same land in which he grew up on as a child. Freeman credits his grandfather for not selling the land after purchasing it six years after slavery in 1873 for $1,280. His farm roots began young, but he set up his own cattle business in the late 90s.
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Harvesting and Storing Sweet Potatoes that have been subjected to Saturated Soil Conditions
What can happen to sweet potato roots following flooding events or prolonged saturated soil conditions? Under saturated soil conditions, oxygen is excluded from the soil, creating an environment that favors the production of ethanol.
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Sweet Potato Field Day Highlights AgCenter Research
Rain is a welcome sight in northeast Louisiana these days, so when storm clouds gathered the morning of Aug. 18, sweet potato farmers who have been contending with dry conditions all summer breathed a sigh of relief.
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Thirsty Farmer
Opportunity can be a wonderful gift, and if we get it and we take a chance to see it through, we may reap benefits often only dreamed of. That opportunity may be a job offering far from home where you have no friends or family, but is the once in a lifetime opening you’ll never see again. It may be knocking on the door of someone you just can’t get out of your head to ask, “Would you like to grab a cup of coffee?” Or, as in the case of Michael and Savannah Ray, the proprietors behind the Thirsty Farmer winery, it may be taking a work trip to the West Coast in the heart of California wine country when Fortune plants the seeds of inspiration. Fortunately, for the Rays as well as for wine enthusiasts in Northeast Louisiana, and hopefully beyond, those seeds were scooped up and carried home to be sown. Through hard work, trying times, and smiles and tears alike, Thirsty Farmer stands to reap success and fellowship, friendships and laughter, spirits consumed and lifted.
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