Louisiana Forage Conference Set for December 1 in Alexandria
Each December, forage producers from around the Gulf South Region meet to hear professionals speak on topics that help their bottom line.
This year’s meeting will be held at the Hurricane Evacuation Center, located at the south end of the LSU-A campus. The campus is located south of Alexandria off Highway 71.
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USDA Announces Appointments Of Members, Alternatives & Advisors To Serve On The Cotton Board
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced the appointment of 12 members, 12 alternate members, and two advisors to serve on The Cotton Board. All appointees will serve three-year terms starting January 1, 2024, through Dec. 31, 2026.
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Election 2024 Is Shaping Up To Be A Doozy
While voters across the country are headed to the polls today to cast ballots on a variety of state and local issues, many analysts are looking ahead to the 2024 presidential election.
All current indications point to a Biden-Trump rematch, according to David Wasserman, senior editor and elections analyst of the Cook Political Report. He calls the 2024 race the strangest presidential election he’s ever approached in his career.
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DOTD Launch Statewide Transportation Plan Website to Engage Louisianans in the Statewide Infrastructure Planning Process
State Transportation is making it easier for Louisianans to give input on infrastructure and transportation projects through a new website. Spokesperson Rodney Mallet says latransportationplan-dot-la-dot-gov details the state’s transportation plan and infrastructure landscape through 2055.
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Reward Offered for Information on Arsons Set in Vernon Parish
Officials are seeking any information on the cause of the fires that burned in the Camp Baker Trace area on Nov. 3 and Nov. 6, and a reward of up to $2,000 is being offered by the Louisiana Forestry Association for information.
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House Speaker Johnson May Move Farm Bill Forward
To be perfectly honest, I’m a little surprised that Mike Johnson (R-La) was chosen to be speaker of the House. His conservative nature is certainly not going to win any fans over on the left side of the isle. But he did have unanimous support from the Republican delegation.
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A Look At Average Corn, Soybean Yields In The Top 3 Countries
With the U.S. harvest concluding, markets will focus on South American weather forecasts and crop progress. For the 2023/24 marketing year, Brazil and Argentina are projected to account for 53% of global soybean production and 15% of global corn production. By comparison, the U.S. produces 32% of the world’s corn and 28% of the world’s soybeans.
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EPA Defends its Decision to Modify RFS
EPA on Friday argued before the D.C. Circuit that its decision to make changes to the renewable fuel standards (RFS) program was based on the Clean Air Act and that it “reasonably set and fully explained the 2022 volume requirements for total renewable fuel and advanced biofuel” within the authority granted by the statute.
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New Research Aims to Prevent ‘Sleeping Sickness’ in Cattle
As parasites adapt to a warming world, an infectious disease expert at Rochester Institute of Technology has his eye on the tsetse fly in sub-Saharan Africa. The biting fly transmits Trypanosomiasis, or “sleeping sickness,” to cattle there and could someday migrate to northern climates, including the United States.
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Opinion: Grain Market Whiplash Shows Need for AG Research to Increase Self-Reliance on Food
Over the past two years, consumers have felt whiplash from volatile grain prices, as powerful players in the global markets cut off trade. It began with Russia’s attack on Ukraine, which disrupted exports of products including wheat and fertilizer from two of the world’s biggest suppliers. Russia has repeatedly used agriculture as a pawn in its game to punish Ukraine and its supporters, and its recent pull-out of the Black Sea grain deal, which had helped keep exports flowing, caused another round of price spikes in the markets.
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$8 Million Grant Establishes Multi-Agency Program to Mitigate Vector-Borne Diseases
A collaborative, grant-funded program called Vector Educational Center for Training, Outreach and Resources, VECTOR, aims to expand and improve control capacity against vector-borne diseases across Texas and Louisiana.
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Livestock Brand Commission to Host Saddle Microchipping Event at Louisiana State Fair
The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry’s (LDAF) Livestock Brand Commission will host its next saddle microchipping event on Thursday, November 9, from 10 A.M. to 2 P.M. It will be held at the State Fair of Louisiana located at 3701 Hudson Avenue in Shreveport, La.
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2023 Farm Service Agency County Committee Elections Open This Week
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will begin mailing ballots this week for the Farm Service Agency (FSA) county and urban county committee elections to all eligible agricultural producers and private landowners across the country. Elections are occurring in certain Local Administrative Areas for these committee members who make important decisions about how Federal farm programs are administered locally. Producers and landowners must return ballots to their local FSA county office or have their ballots postmarked by Dec. 4, 2023, for those ballots to be counted.
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US Cotton Trust Protocol Acres Up 25%
The total area of planted cotton acres enrolled in the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol increased 25% compared to 2022, reaching 1.6 million acres -- the greatest increase to date, according to a recent release.
This is the fourth successive year of program expansion. Trust Protocol cotton represents 16% of all U.S. planted cotton acres.
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Assessing Tree Damage After An Extended Drought
Excessive drought conditions in Louisiana are quickly becoming a natural disaster that will have effects on gardens, landscape plants and natural areas all across the state for some time. We may not understand the full extent of the damage for years. The U.S. Drought Mitigation Center has categorized a substantial portion of Louisiana’s parishes as being in an “exceptional drought” state for an extended period.
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