Two North Louisiana men have pleaded guilty in a scheme to defraud their employer, Raeford Farms of Louisiana.
William Ross Hickman, 48, of Arcadia and Brian K. Whiteman, 47, of Haughton were charged with conspiracy to commit fraud in interstate commerce, costing their employer almost $2.2 million.
Read MoreA Louisiana State Representative filed two pre-filed bills for legislative consideration to decriminalize and regulate cannabis throughout the state.
Louisiana State Representative Candace Newell submitted HB17, providing definitions for marijuana cultivation, processing, manufacturing, and licensing cannabis products. All regulations of HB17, if passed, would be under the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry.
Read MoreUSA Rice and all seven state rice organizations joined 400 other farm and agricultural groups in a letter to the leadership of the House and Senate Budget Committees on Tuesday calling for additional funding for Congress to write the 2023 Farm Bill.
The USA Rice Farmers, the leading national organization representing rice farmers in all rice producing states, adopted policy this past December in favor of additional Farm Bill resources. Particular areas where funding is needed are the commodity title to improve the farm safety net and the trade title to increase funding for critical international promotion programs.
“USA Rice strongly supports additional funding for the Farm Bill as Congress begins its work on the 2023 Farm Bill,” said Curtis Berry, a Mississippi rice farmer and chair of the USA Rice Farmers. “Having an adequate farm safety net in the Price Loss Coverage program is the key priority for USA Rice and the additional Farm Bill funding would be instrumental to ensuring the program’s improvement.”
Read MoreThe broad impact of high prices of fertilizer and crop input shortages experienced in the last two years by many farmers is documented by the 2023 Farmer Speaks survey sponsored by
J.L. Farmakis, Inc. While farmers reported record high satisfaction with the results after the 2022 harvest, they also indicated their intent to stockpile critical crop inputs such as fertilizer, seeds, and chemicals like never before.
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing an effort to expedite protections on some high-risk uses of four organophosphate pesticides. The Agency is releasing the updated occupational and non-occupational spray drift exposure risk assessments for these four pesticides – diazinon, ethoprop, tribufos and phosmet – several years ahead of the scheduled completion of EPA’s work on these chemicals in order to seek early mitigation prior to completing the standard registration review process.
Read MoreWilliam Tate, President of LSU, toured The A and L Lawson crawfish and rice farm in Crowley Wednesday and said the tour is really important to all Louisiana communities.
According to Tate, the state legislature will be funding the investment.
The goal of the tour is to learn more about some of the state’s key industries to ensure alignment with LSU’s priorities.
Tate said the agenda prioritizes agriculture, biomedical, energy, defenses, and coastal resilience.
Read MoreA suspect was arrested following the theft of livestock in Allen Parish.
The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) says Bobbie. G Smith, 65, stole 70 heads of livestock three times during November and December 2022. Smith, from Thayer, Missouri, is also accused of failing to provide acceptable payment to a livestock vendor.
Read MoreGray’s Creek Elementary students enjoyed a visit from Red Barn Farm Tours on Monday and Tuesday, March 13-14.
Founded by Russell and Jolene Roy of Amite, Red Barn Farm Tours travels to schools, churches, community gatherings, and parties across southeast Louisiana to give young children a chance to learn about farm animals through a hands-on experience.
Read MoreFor over 200 years in the United States, sugar cane field burning has been a tool that farmers use in the pre-harvest season to remove the tops of the sugar cane plant. However, the smoke from that burning can cause fog in the air, which leads to low visibility along roads and highways. This has been enough of a problem to cause road accidents, and in Louisiana, it has even caused some fatalities.
Read MoreLaunched in 2020, the Trust Protocol was designed to set a new standard in making U.S. cotton more sustainably grown. However, producers enrolled in the Trust Protocol can realize another benefit — they are eligible to participate in the Climate Smart Cotton Program, which will provide technical and financial assistance to 1,650 U.S. cotton producers with acres available for Climate Smart practice changes.
Read MoreWith cotton planting just around the corner, now is a great time to review a few, key recommendations to ensure the 2023 season gets off to a great start. In Louisiana, cotton is generally planted mid-April to mid-May, but planting decisions should be based on soil temperature and not the calendar. Early planting is a key component of successful cotton production; however, if planted too early, yield potential can be reduced. Before deciding to plant, it is important to consider factors such as soil temperature and heat units (DD60s).
Read MoreLSU researchers are conducting a first-of-its-kind study exploring carbon transport in the Mississippi River that may lead to global applications.
For the past 10 years, LSU hydrologist Yi-Jun Xu has been studying dissolved carbon transport along the Mississippi River system to the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the emission of carbon into the atmosphere.
Read MoreThe 2023 rice crop is off to a promising start across southern regions in the U.S.
In Louisiana, ideal weather over the last few weeks gave growers the opportunity to be in the field with minimal interruptions. Some early rice was water seeded but a majority of acres have been dry seeded, with some fields already beginning to show emergence, or “marking lines.”
Read MoreThe race for ingredients to make green diesel and sustainable jet fuel is bringing Canada’s namesake crop into the American Deep South.
Chevron Corp. is teaming up with grains handler Bunge Ltd. and seed company Corteva Inc. to plant as many as 10 million additional acres of canola in the southern US.
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