FFA members from across Louisiana gathered at the Central Louisiana Technical Community College in Alexandria for the annual State Leadership Development Events (LDEs), which focus on student leadership development.
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Agents with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry’s (LDAF) Forestry Enforcement Division are asking for the public’s assistance in locating logging equipment stolen in St. Helena Parish.
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The U.S. Senate has passed a $1.7 trillion year-end spending package, referred to as an omnibus bill, that funds the Federal government for the remainder of the 2023 fiscal year. In addition to keeping the government funded, the bill also includes a number of other legislative initiatives, including $250 million for U.S. rice farmers to help offset major losses in a year with flat prices and record high input costs.
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Louisiana inventory of all hogs and pigs on December 1, 2022, totaled 5,000 head, was down 17 Percent from December 1, 2021; breeding hog inventory, at 1,000 head, was down 50 percent from previous year; and market hog inventory, at 4,000 head, was unchanged from the previous year.
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Over the past two months, students at six primary schools in Ascension Parish Public Schools participated in the Seed Survivor Mobile Classroom, a program that educates students in grades 3-5 about the importance of agriculture.
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Merry Christmas! We have continued to work with our delegation and other key members of Congress to secure assistance for 2022 for Louisiana farmers and ranchers. I am pleased to report that two pieces of farmer assistance, and a third industry assistance piece are proposed to be included in this week’s Omnibus appropriations legislation. We have asked Congress to support these measures and would encourage you to reach out to your member asking for support too.
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With temperatures dipping near or below freezing in parts of the state over the next several days, Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) Commissioner Mike Strain, D.V.M., urges livestock and pet owners to take necessary precautions to protect their animals. This is also the time to protect plants, pipes, and, of course, people.
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The 2021 crop growing season presented many challenges for Louisiana producers, but none as remarkable as the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) infestations that occurred beginning in late June and extending through August. Although the fall armyworm has been a major pest of maize and other crops across North and South America for many years, problems with this pest were more severe and widespread in 2021 than almost any other year in memory.
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A botulism outbreak in quarter horses in Vermilion Parish has left 12 of 15 infected horses dead.
Botulism is a disease caused by toxic bacteria attacking the nervous system which can cause death. In horses, this can cause paralysis resulting in a horse not being able to move, eat or breathe
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A severe freeze is forecasted beginning on December 23, 2022, and for a series of nights afterwards. At the time of the December 23rd freeze, the industry will be about 83% harvested. All sugarcane remaining in the industry will be damaged to some extent. Every freeze event is different and forecasting the extent that harvest can be completed is impossible. Deterioration following a freeze is temperature dependent – higher temperatures will increase deterioration and lower temperatures will reduce deterioration.
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Forty-eight-year-old James Travis Johnson of Travis Johnson Logging was arrested by the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry’s (LDAF) Forestry Enforcement Agents for failing to pay for $24,000 of timber in Vernon Parish. Johnson was charged one count of Harvest of Forest Products/Failure to Remit Payment.
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American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall commented today on the unveiling of the 2023 omnibus bill, which contains several pieces of legislation that will help farmers and ranchers meet sustainability goals.
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The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) reminds deer hunters of regulations for the Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Control Area in northeast Louisiana, which includes all of Tensas Parish and portions of Madison and Franklin parishes.
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For decades, farmers have endured a shortage of rural veterinarians, but the problem is now at an all-time high.
One night last spring, Andy Berry, a livestock farmer in Mississippi, was working the phone. One of his cows was experiencing a life-threatening breech birth and his regular veterinarian, 40 minutes away, was unavailable.
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In preparation for National Ag Day 2023 on March 21, the Agriculture Council of America (ACA) is hosting an essay contest. The theme for this year is Growing a Climate for Tomorrow: How American agriculture does it every day.
This essay contest is divided into two categories of competition: written essay and video essay. Both are national competitions. Both winners will receive $1,000.
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