USDA Invests $22 Million in 29 Projects to Expand Conservation for Livestock Producers
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded $22 million for 29 selected projects in 36 states that expand access to conservation technical assistance for livestock producers and increases the use of conservation practices on grazing lands. USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is funding the cooperative agreements through its Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI), which empowers partners to increase availability of grazing land technical assistance for livestock producers, including historically underserved producers, as well as Native American tribal governments.
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Louisiana Agricultural Workforce Development Program
Learn about funding for ag-related internship programs
Through this grant, Louisiana businesses can establish internship programs that grow the next generation of agriculture professionals while strengthening their own businesses.
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Honey Bee Colonies Across Louisiana: August 2024
This report contains the results from the Quarterly Colony Loss surveys.Honey bee colonies for operations with five or more colonies in the Delta Region on January 1, 2024 totaled 88,000 colonies. This is up 11 percent from 79,000 colonies on January 1, 2023. On April 1, 2024, honey bee operations in the Delta Region totaled 104,500 colonies. During 2023, honey bee colonies for the Delta Region on January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1 were 79,000 colonies, 131,000 colonies, 92,500 colonies, and 101,000 colonies, respectively.
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USDA Discrimination Financial Assistance Program
Discrimination Financial Assistance Program (DFAP) decisions and awards have now been made. If you applied and haven’t received an award or denial by August 6, 2024, please call the DFAP call center at 1-800-721-0970.
Deputy USDA Secretary Xochitl Torres Small told the Voice of Louisiana Agriculture Radio Network some 77-million dollars will be distributed to just over eleven hundred farmers and ranchers in Louisiana who applied for the program.
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NASS To Review Acreage Data
In preparation for the August Crop Production report, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will review all available data, including survey data and the latest information from USDA’s Farm Service Agency and Risk Management Agency, for planted and harvested acreage for barley, corn, cotton, dry edible beans, oats, peanuts, rice, sorghum, soybeans, sugarbeets, Durum wheat, other spring wheat, and winter wheat.
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USDA Announces August 2024 Lending Rates For Agricultural Producers
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced loan interest rates for August 2024, which are effective Aug. 1, 2024. USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) loans provide important access to capital to help agricultural producers start or expand their farming operation, purchase equipment and storage structures or meet cash flow needs.
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Hurricane Preparation and Recovery Guides for Louisiana Producers
Louisiana agriculture generates approximately $3 billion in sales each year, but in most years agricultural productivity is negatively affected by hurricane damage. Louisianans are familiar with the devastation and loss of life and property that can accompany a hurricane event as the state experiences, on average, one hurricane every three years. The total economic losses from a single hurricane can reach tens of billions of dollars, while agricultural losses can exceed one billion dollars. Louisiana is a major agricultural producer for the United States, but the structures, livestock, and crops are highly exposed to extreme wind and flooding during hurricane events.
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Farm Expenditures Top $480 Billion in 2023
The USDA estimates 2023 farm production expenditures in the U.S. at $481.9 billion, up from $452.5 billion the previous year. The four largest expenditures totaled $238.7 billion and accounted for 49.6 percent of total expenditures in 2023.
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Comment Period Extended For Proposed Competition Rule
The USDA is extending the comment period for its proposed new competition rule under the Packers & Stockyards Act by 15 days.
Tanner Beymer with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association says the later deadline is welcomed news, but it’s not enough.
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Louisiana Crop Progress And Condition: July 29, 2024
According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service in Louisiana, there were 1.5 days suitable for fieldwork for the week ending Sunday, July 28, 2024. Topsoil moisture supplies were 0 percent very short, 18 percent short, 57 percent adequate, and 25 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture supplies were 0 percent very short, 17 percent short, 67 percent adequate, and 16 percent surplus.
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USDA Announces Changes to Enhanced Coverage Option Insurance Program
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced changes to the Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO) beginning with the 2025 crop year. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) is expanding coverage options to additional crops as well as increasing premium support to make the policy more affordable for producers.
“The Risk Management Agency is continually responding to producer needs and adapting our insurance coverage options to give producers more choices when it comes to managing their risks,” said RMA Administrator Marcia Bunger. “This expansion is part of RMA’s larger effort to provide more options for specialty crop producers.”
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USDA Announces $190M Grant Opportunity To Help Private Forest Landowners
Friday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is making $190 million available to help private forest landowners adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change and retain working forestlands.
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NASS Releases 2022 Census of Agriculture Watersheds Report
Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released the Watersheds report, which provides data that supplement the 2022 Census of Agriculture, Volume 1.
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Expect Different USDA if Trump Reelected
Donald Trump may return to the White House, but his old band won’t be getting back together. Former Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue says he has no interest in returning to the Executive Branch. It’s a question he gets a lot these days.
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Louisiana Tribes Restore River Cane to Preserve Their Culture and the Environment
Rose Fisher Greer and her daughter are the only basket weavers left in the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, a tribe based in Central Louisiana.
To practice her craft, Greer needs river cane. For that, she has to go into Kisatchie National Forest, and she’s the only person in her tribe willing to make the journey. At one patch just off the side of the road, a few feet into the forest, the river cane grows in clusters of green stalks several feet high.
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