All cattle and calves in Louisiana as of January 1, 2024, totaled 720,000 head, were down 4 percent from January 1, 2023. The calf crop for the full year of 2023 was 330,000 head, down 3 percent from last year. All cows and heifers that have calved, at 435,000 head, were down 2 percent from January 1, 2023; beef cows, at 428,000 head, were down 2 percent; and milk cows, at 7,000 head, were down 12 percent from 2023.
Read MoreThe Southern University Ag Center's Small Farmer Academy will host spring courses beginning in February at the Maurice A. Edmond Multipurpose Building, 14600 Scenic Hwy, Baton Rouge, LA.
Read MoreThe American Sugar Cane League’s annual meeting will feature guest speaker Robert Johansson, the director of economics and policy analysis of the Washington-based American Sugar Alliance.
Johansson will make his remarks at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, February 6 at L’Auberge Hotel & Casino in Baton Rouge. He will speak on renewal of the farm bill and national sugar policy.
Read MoreAmerican Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall commented on the launch of a new Agriculture Trade Caucus in the House of Representatives.
Read MoreLouisiana Gov. Jeff Landry announced a new chair and executive director of the state agency charged with restoring and protecting Louisiana’s withering coastline.
Former state representative and Terrebonne Parish President Gordy Dove will chair the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and has been charged with restructuring how the organization runs.
Read MoreCongressman Clay Higgins sent a letter to the United States Department of Agriculture requesting relief for Louisiana’s crawfish industry amid devasting losses from the drought in 2023 and the recent freeze.
In the letter sent on Wednesday, Higgins asked the USDA to revise the criteria for an eligible cause of loss to include drought under the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program.
Read MoreLouisiana's ongoing exceptional drought is making the Bayou state's staple of boiled crawfish unaffordable for many.
Louisiana is amid its worst drought since 2000, with more than 70% of the Bayou State in exceptional drought, the worst rating on the 5-level U.S. Drought Monitor scale. Many of the crawfish farmers' crops from last spring didn't survive without rain.
Read MoreOn January 26, 2024, investigators with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) Forestry Enforcement Division and the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office arrested James E. Doyle of Elizabeth, Louisiana, for trespassing and setting wildfires on company land in Rapides Parish.
Read MoreUSA Rice Washington staff brought a break in the recent rain here for industry visits and to talk about the crop year ahead.
USA Rice President & CEO Peter Bachmann, Chief Operating Officer Sarah Moran, and Vice President of Communications & Domestic Promotion Michael Klein first met with the Central Louisiana Rice Growers Association (CenLaRGA) where President Michael Fruge expressed the frustration and anxiety many Louisiana rice farmers are feeling because of unusually low crawfish harvests in particular.
Read MoreWhen considering a sugarcane soil fertility program, follow these guidelines. The number one priority should be the soil pH. Soil pH that is outside the optimum ranges will adversely affect the availability of all other applied nutrients. The second most important component of your fertility program should be nitrogen, followed by potassium, sulfur and phosphorus. Soil testing should be a regular part of your soil fertility program. Periodic leaf tissue analyses can verify midseason plant health
Read MoreCrawfish season is here, yet some popular places like Louisiana – the largest crawfish producer in the country – are without the delicacy as restaurants and seafood suppliers are struggling to get their hands on it.
Trudy Alexander, the owner of Kenner Seafood, said she has been shipping crawfish around the United States for nearly three decades.
Read MoreDespite strong opposition from truckers, the House and Senate Transportation committees approved Governor Jeff Landry’s plan to use a combination of federal and state dollars, plus tolls, to build a new I-10 bridge in Lake Charles. Director for the Louisiana Motor Transport Association, Renee Amar, says truckers look at tolls as an additional tax.
Read MoreLSU and other Louisiana universities have been awarded a $160 million grant – the largest ever awarded by U-S National Science Foundation to support energy transition, decarbonization, and create jobs. Vice President of Research and Economic Development Robert Twilley says the grant positions the state to be the leader in expanding the energy industry.
Read MoreThe 2024 LATMC final program has been posted. A hardcopy will be distributed at the meeting next week
Read More“Cattle rustling”—the theft of livestock–and farm and ranch equipment, and even saddles, is alive and well in Louisiana and across America. Louisiana combats agricultural crimes through its Brand Commission, a team of law enforcement officers with specialized training.
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