Grower-Funded Checkoffs Worth Producer Investment
We got milk, think rice, and know beef is what’s for dinner. Turns out cotton is the fabric of our lives and export markets like our soybeans and our citrus.
How do we know this? All of these things are the results of check-off programs for those commodities.
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Cow Country Reporter: December 2023
The year 2023 is coming to a close and what a year it has been! Late freeze, heavy rains early, wild fires and drought just to name a few weather calamities, not to mention wars and political upheaval. The bottom line, Louisiana cow/calf producers realized $70.00 cwt. to $80.00 cwt. price increase from 2022 for their calves they marketed in 2023.
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Louisiana Crop Production: Cotton Ginnings & Sugarcane Production
As of December 1, Louisiana upland cotton production is forecast at 210,000 bales, down 30,000 bales from the November 1 forecast and down 148,000 bales from last year. Yield is expected to average 877 pounds per harvested acre, down 125 pounds from last month and down 27 pounds from 2022. Harvested acreage is estimated at 115,000 acres, down 75,000 acres from 2022.
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2024/26 Rice Leadership Development Program Class Includes 3 From Louisiana
Members of the 2024/26 Rice Leadership Development Program class were announced yesterday during the annual Rice Awards Luncheon at the 2023 USA Rice Outlook Conference. The class is comprised of seven rice industry professionals selected by a committee of agribusiness leaders.
“This is an excellent group that displays exceptional leadership potential,” said Rice Foundation Director Dr. Steve Linscombe. “They also represent a mix of southern and west coast individuals which always makes for good class dynamics.”
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H-2A Growth Slows, But Remains Strong
The Department of Labor recently released full fiscal year usage data for the H-2A program. Given agriculture’s ongoing struggle to recruit domestic workers and a very tight U.S. labor market overall, it should be no surprise that H-2A program usage reached new highs again in fiscal year 2023 (October 2022-September 2023), though the rate of growth was down considerably from last year.
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Carbon Capture High On Forage Conference Agenda
The past few years have seen a steady uptick in the amount of information about carbon sequestration or capture, but what is it and how does it work were questions answered at the annual Louisiana Forage Conference held on Dec. 1 in Alexandria.
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Severe Drought is Taking a Huge Toll on Louisiana Farms, Forests
Louisiana’s abrupt transition this year from one of the wettest states to one of the driest has had crippling repercussions for its farms and forests.
The state’s agricultural and timber industries have suffered nearly $1.7 billion in losses from the long-running drought and recent bouts of record high temperatures, according to a new report from Louisiana State University researchers.
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Congresswoman Julia Letlow Urges the U.S. Department of Agriculture to Support Drought Relief Assistance
Congresswoman Julia Letlow (LA-05) wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Vilsack urging him to ensure our farmers and producers receive the drought assistance that they need.
This past summer, Louisiana was faced with record drought and extreme weather conditions. Because of this, the Louisiana agriculture sector experienced an estimated loss of $1.37 billion in 2023 alone. This kind of loss is detrimental and demands action.
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2023 USA Rice Outlook Conference In Full Swing
The 2023 USA Rice Outlook Conference, the largest rice conference in the United States, kicked off last night with a grand opening reception welcoming colleagues to talk shop, get some work done, and have some well-earned fun.
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USDA Announces 2024 Upland Cotton Marketing Assistance Loan Rate
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Commodity Credit Corporation today announced that the marketing assistance loan rate for 2024-crop base quality upland cotton is 52.00 cents per pound.
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USDA Improves Crop Insurance To Better Support Conservation, Climate-Smart Practices
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is updating the Federal crop insurance program to affirm the use of USDA conservation practices as Good Farming Practices for crop insurance. Recently, USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) recently updated the Good Farming Practices Handbook, as part of the agency’s broader efforts to support conservation and climate-smart activities as well as to improve crop insurance for agricultural producers.
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Drought, Cold Weather Raising Price For Crawfish
Due to the lack of rain and colder weather moving in, crawfish companies are facing hardships. As of December, prices are around $11 per pound.
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United Soybean Board Elects Steve Reinhard As New Chair
Farmer-leaders of the United Soybean Board (USB) elected Steve Reinhard from Ohio as the 2024 chair and 10 additional farmer-leaders to serve on the Executive Committee during the USB December meeting in St. Charles, Missouri.
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Red River Livestock Auction: December 6, 2023
Click below for the market report from the latest Red River Livestock Auction.
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Clear Creek Stud To Host Stallion Presentation On December 16
Clear Creek Stud is holding its annual stallion presentation Saturday, Dec. 16 from 10:30 am until 2:00 p.m., at their farm in Folsom, La.
Several Louisiana legislators as well as Thoroughbred industry dignitaries will be on hand to speak and visit with guests.
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