While speaking at the American Farm Bureau Federation annual convention, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced a new partnership between the Natural Resources Conservation Service with Farmers For Soil Health, an initiative of the United Soybean Board, National Corn Growers Association and National Pork Board.
Read MoreFarmers and landowners in eight north-central Louisiana parishes are now eligible to apply for the Open Pine Landscape Restoration Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). This program focuses on improving wildlife habitat, fire management practices and addressing water quality concerns.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture announced up to $225 million in available funding for conservation partners through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). RCPP is a partner-driven program that leverages collective resources to find solutions to address natural resource challenges on agricultural land.
Read MoreAcadia Parish U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) has announced that Ross Thibodeaux of Midland will represent his local administrative area LAA 1 on the Acadia County Committee.
Read MoreLouisiana rough rice stocks in all positions on December 1, 2021, totaled 14.0 million hundredweight (cwt), down 2 percent from December 1, 2020. Stocks held on farms totaled 6.80 million cwt, up 5 percent from a year ago. Off farm stocks totaled 7.24 million cwt, down 8 percent from last year.
Read MoreLouisiana corn area harvested is 565,000, up 16 percent from 2020. The average yield is estimated at 183 bushels per acre, up 2 bushels from last year. Production totaled 103 million bushels, up 18 percent from 2020.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $50 million in 118 partnerships to expand access to conservation assistance for climate-smart agriculture and forestry. The Equity Conservation Cooperative Agreements, administered by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will fund two-year projects to expand the delivery of conservation assistance to farmers who are new to farming, low income, socially disadvantaged or military veterans. Projects will support USDA’s broader effort to address climate change and equitable access to programs.
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 MoreSpeaking at a White House event focused on competition in agriculture, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Attorney General Merrick B. Garland expressed their shared commitment to effectively enforcing federal competition laws that protect farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural producers and growers from unfair and anticompetitive practices, including the antitrust laws and the Packers and Stockyards Act.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is leveraging its authorities under the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) to bring in new types of partners and ultimately expand opportunities in voluntary conservation for the Nation’s agricultural producers and private landowners. In direct response to feedback from state agencies, Tribes, non-profits and other groups, USDA has updated CREP’s rule regarding matching fund requirements, and invested in additional staff to work directly with partners for streamlined, partner-driven conservation efforts.
Read MoreUSDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) developed a unique approach to using satellite imagery to predict cattle weight gain on rangelands. By fusing multiple images over a period of time, scientists were able to monitor how forage quality changes over space and time in rangelands within the shortgrass steppe, and how this relates to the weight gain of free-ranging cattle throughout the summer grazing season.
Read MoreThe USDA says there were more cattle placed into feedlots in November 2021 than November 2020.
Placements were 4% above a year ago at 1.971 million head, with a wide range of estimates heading into the report because of increased marketing rates due to drought conditions in some of the major U.S. feeding areas. Most of the cattle placed weighed less than 800 pounds, heading to market next spring and early next summer.
Spending on USDA's food and nutrition assistance programs jumped 30 percent in fiscal year (FY) 2020 to an inflation-adjusted record of $122.1 billion, abruptly reversing a six-year decline. This increase reflects the expanded need for food assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent Federal response to meet that need.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) announced today that it does not expect to purchase and sell sugar under the Feedstock Flexibility Program for crop year 2021, which runs from Oct. 1, 2021, to Sept. 30, 2022.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service is conducting the 2021 Farm Producer Study to improve knowledge and understanding of agricultural producers and help USDA improve services to them. A brief questionnaire will mail this month to approximately 75,000 U.S. agricultural producers across the country.
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