By 2050, global fish consumption will increase nearly 80%, while the total weight of the world’s fish harvest may only double, according to a 2021 Stanford-led study.
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The National Black Farmers Association has filed a lawsuit against USDA, claiming the Agriculture Department failed to keep promises it made to farmers of color that it would help socially disadvantaged producers pay off delinquent farm loans.
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LSU AgCenter’s cotton, corn and grain sorghum specialist Matt Foster will be a featured speaker at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Outlook Forum on Feb. 23-24 in Washington, D.C.
Foster will provide an overview of cotton research and production in Louisiana, and focus on advances in biotechnology, which are enhancing cotton production.
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At NACD’s 77th Annual Meeting, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the availability of Inflation Reduction Act funding to support oversubscribed voluntary conservation programs.
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Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) Commissioner Mike Strain, D.V.M., encourages senior citizens 60 years old and older who meet certain income requirements to apply for Louisiana’s Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP). The program, which LDAF administers through a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant, provides food benefits to qualified low-income senior citizens to buy locally grown fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs, and honey sold at approved farmers’ markets and roadside stands.
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On Tuesday, February 14, Agriculture Secretary will travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he will join Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, Congressman Troy Carter and Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) at a press conference. During the press conference, they will underline investments and initiatives under the direction of President Biden that expand economic opportunity and prosperity in the area and throughout the state of Louisiana, including for small and underserved producers and businesses. These actions will help create jobs, invest in and develop a competitive, well-trained workforce, close the racial wealth gap, and more.
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Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the U.S. Department of Agriculture is making 19.5 billion in funding available for agricultural producers and forest landowners nationwide to participate in voluntary conservation programs and adopt “climate-smart” practices.
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U.S. cotton producers intend to plant 11.4 million cotton acres this spring, down 17.0 percent from 2022, according to the National Cotton Council’s 42nd Annual Early Season Planting Intentions Survey.
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2022 was a record year for U.S. agricultural trade, topping $196 billion. Despite an 11% increase from 2021, it wasn't all good news for America's farmers and ranchers. While export values increased, overall export volume decreased by 6%. Imports of agricultural goods also increased by $28 billion, creating a trade deficit for 2022. American Farm Bureau Federation economists analyzed the trade numbers in their latest Market Intel report.
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Louisiana’s largest medical marijuana producer is doubling its growing space in 2023, citing projections for higher demand and new laws it believes have streamlined regulations, USA Today Network reports.
Good Day Farm, the private partner of the LSU AgCenter, is adding 40,000 square feet of cultivation capacity at its 225,000-square-foot facility in Ruston.
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The attached February Crop Market Update for Corn, Soybeans, Rice, and Cotton contains a discussion on USDA-reported supply and demand dynamics, export sales, and farm price implications for the 2022/23 marketing year.
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January began a reset across the nitrogen complex with anhydrous ammonia, urea and UAN fertilizer prices falling sharply to open 2023, a fall attributed mostly to a lack of demand across all products as well as further reductions in European natural gas prices last month.
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It's a lot of hard work.
"It's very challenging, especially with cows. You have to get up early in the morning, late nights, rain or shine. So there's always struggles to something," said Camille Sonnier, a Louisiana 4-H Ambassador.
These kids have been putting in hard labor for years, raising their own animals, in exchange for the grand prize.
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In November, John Williams, the top beer lobbyist in Louisiana, sent out a mass email to legislators with an alarming subject line: “Recreational THC is now legal in Louisiana.”
He distributed pictures of gas stations and smoke shops advertising products full of THC -- the psychoactive chemical found in marijuana – many of which hit the shelves after House Speaker Clay Schexnayder ushered through legislation to set up a legal hemp industry in the state. In a followup email, Williams, who opposed the hemp legislation, said the businesses selling the THC-laden products play by a looser set of rules than alcohol retailers.
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