The LSU AgCenter is developing a new center to better understand and control invasive species as they continue to damage both the state’s economy and ecosystem.
The Center of Research Excellence for the Study of Invasive Species was approved by the Louisiana Board of Regents on Sept. 20. Its objective: Find solutions to the problems associated with invasive species in the South.
Read MoreThis past weekend, the International Rice Festival held its 86th Annual Queen and Honoree’s Ball to kick off the week of the festival and honor those in the local rice industry presiding over this year’s festivities.
Audrey Spencer, a lifelong educator and resident of Crowley, will serve as the Children’s Parade Grand Marshall on Friday afternoon, and Christine and Dwayne Fulton, with Falcon Rice Mill of Crowley, will serve as the Grand Parade Marshalls for Saturday’s Parade.
Read MoreWith many uncertainties in the world, people have become interested in homesteading — living self-sufficiently and sustainably. Factoring in this high level of interest in the topic, the LSU AgCenter Red River Research Station recently hosted the inaugural Homesteader’s Conference in Bossier City.
Read MoreFederal wildlife officials were ready to declare the ivory-billed woodpecker extinct, but recent photos and videos purportedly showing the bird flitting through a Louisiana forest are making them second-guess their verdict.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on announced on Monday that it was delaying its long-anticipated decision to remove the bird from the endangered species list and add it to the roster of animals that no longer exist.
Read MoreThis month’s 2023/24 U.S. corn outlook is for reduced supplies, lower feed and residual use and exports, and smaller ending stocks. Corn production is forecast at 15.064 billion bushels, down 70 million on a cut in yield to 173.0 bushels per acre. Corn supplies are forecast at 16.451 billion bushels, a decline of 160 million bushels from last month, with lower production and beginning stocks.
Read MoreWith the 2023 Louisiana sugarcane harvest in full swing, sugarcane producers should advise their drivers of proper railroad crossing safety.
Railroad crossing safety is always an important matter and Union Pacific Railroad is saying “Call before you haul” and “Find the blue and white to save your life” in a series of English and Spanish language public service announcements.
Read MoreIn less than two months, the rice industry will descend on Indian Wells, California, for the 2023 USA Rice Outlook Conference at the family-friendly and beautiful Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Resort & Spa. The Early Bird registration deadline has been extended to Friday, October 20. The USA Rice room block at the Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Resort and Spa is full, but a nearby overflow hotel is being added. Please check the website for more information.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued more than $1.77 billion this year to agricultural producers and landowners through its Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), a critical piece of the Department’s efforts to support climate-smart agriculture and forestry on working lands. Right now, CRP’s more than 667,000 participants received payments from USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) for their voluntary conservation efforts on more than 23 million acres of private land. Since 2021, CRP has grown by 21 percent in terms of acres enrolled, testament to the Biden-Harris administration’s program improvement efforts.
Read MoreThe LSU AgCenter will hold a prescribed burn workshop on Monday, Nov. 6, and Tuesday, Nov. 7, in Amite.
The workshop will take place at the Tangipahoa Parish extension office located at 305 East Oak St.
Read MoreA controversial proposal to build a grain elevator in St. John the Baptist Parish faces a key test on Monday, when the planning commission takes up a zoning change that has been entangled in court disputes and community opposition to the project.
The parish has applied for the property owned by Greenfield, a grain export company, to be rezoned from residential to industrial land.
Read MoreFirst Solar’s chief commercial officer Georges Antoun, revealed more details on the upcoming solar panel production facility to the Kiwanis Club of New Iberia Oct. 12.
Primarily, he revealed the layout and specific aspects of production. A majority of the physical manufacturing within the facility is fully automated which is necessary to stay competitive in the market, according to Antoun.
Read MoreThe Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center (SU Ag Center or Southern University Ag Center) and the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) are partnering to enhance NMSDC’s Acres: Cultivating Equity in Black Agriculture program.
As part of the partnership, the Southern University Ag Center will provide instructors and course material for the Acres 12-week learning curriculum focused on growing program participants’ capacity to take on major national contracts with NMSDC corporate members.
Read MoreThe US Department of Agriculture in its Oct. 12 World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report reduced its estimate of 2022-23 US sugar supply, cut its forecast for 2023-24 supply and cut its projection of Mexico’s 2023-24 sugar production, dropping the US stocks-to-use ratios for both this year and last year.
Read MoreDave Ruppenicker has held three jobs since beginning his career in 1980 at the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation. In all of his roles, Ruppenicker has maintained the same mission: being an advocate for farmers.
Ruppenicker will retire as CEO of Southern Cotton Growers on December 31, after more than 23 years of service to the largest cotton farmer association in the country.
Read MoreProjections show the saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico continues to push up the Mississippi River in the coming weeks, threatening the drinking water of thousands of people in Louisiana.
Farmers are also scrambling for ways to save their produce.
Commissioner for the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry Dr. Mike Strain said Plaquemines Parish is the heartbeat of Louisiana’s citrus industry.
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