More than 2,000 farms have been lost in Louisiana in between the years 2017 and 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Census.
A census is conducted every five years, and data shows that the numbers are expected to continue dropping. The main reasons are frequent farmer deaths, overpriced labor and a declining farmers networking system.
Read MoreClick below for the market report from the latest Kinder Livestock Auction.
Read MoreLouisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain joins Brian to talk crawfish prices, strawberry season and the news back from his recent trip to Cuba.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is expanding crop insurance tailored for nursery producers to all counties in all states. Nursery Value Select (NVS) is a pilot program that enables nursery producers to select the dollar amount of coverage that best fits their risk management needs. Its expansion is part of USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) efforts to provide insurance options for a broader group of producers, including specialty crop producers.
Read MoreState officials are urging residents to be extremely cautious about lighting anything on fire after dry and windy conditions contributed to a record number of wildfires over four days. State Agricultural and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain said from Friday to Monday there were 124 fires in Louisiana.
Read MoreCrawfish lovers know that prices have been pretty high this season.
The summer drought and cold winter temperatures devastated the production of this year’s crop. Commissioner Mike Strain with the Department of Agriculture & Forestry sat down with KSLA on Tuesday, Feb. 27 to discuss the outlook for the rest of the season.
Read MoreA Louisiana congressman is asking the federal government for help with the state’s crawfish industry.
Last week, Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. (D-La.) wrote letters to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) asking them to help the crawfish farming industry after it was hit by a severe drought and a hard freeze.
Read MoreRecently Gov. Jeff Landry sent a letter to the U. S. Department of Agriculture seeking federal assistance concerning the crawfish industry.
News 10 spoke with a local crawfish producer, Chad Hanks, who shared the reality of what crawfisherman are facing.
Read MoreThe USDA 1890 National Scholars Program is aimed at bolstering educational and career opportunities for students from rural or underserved communities around the country. It was established in 1992 as part of the partnership between USDA and the 1890 land-grant universities.
USDA’s Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement (OPPE) manages the 1890 National Scholars Program, which is aimed at increasing the number of students from rural and underserved communities who study food, agriculture, natural resource and other related sciences.
Read MoreLouisiana Farm Bureau President Jim Harper announced he will not seek reelection to the position he’s held since June 2020.
“It is an honor to serve as president,” Harper said. “I am proud of the accomplishments Louisiana Farm Bureau has made in its 102-year history and that I was the organization’s leader for its centennial. This is not a decision I make lightly, but family comes first and that is where I must focus my energy in the future.”
Read MoreIf you can tell the character of a person by the company they keep, then the 2024 High Cotton Award winner from the Delta region, Louisiana farmer Edward Greer, is in good standing.
Read MoreThe value of production for field crops in Louisiana during 2023 totaled $2.76 billion, down 7 percent from 2022. The top three crop commodities (excluding sugarcane), corn, rice, and soybeans, accounted for 62 percent of the total value of production for field crops. Corn showed the largest increase at 34 percent in value of production from last year, followed by rice at 11 percent.
Read MoreThe Beauregard Parish Police Jury has announced that they have instituted an emergency burn ban, effective immediately, due to the dry conditions in the area.
As a result, all open-air burning of trash, garbage, leaves, limbs, branches, or debris of any kind is now prohibited while the ban is in effect.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) are launching a new initiative to help farmers cut costs and increase income using underutilized renewable technologies including smaller-scale wind projects. Through the Rural and Agricultural Income & Savings from Renewable Energy (RAISE) initiative, USDA is setting an initial goal of helping 400 individual farmers deploy smaller-scale wind projects using USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).
Read MoreAt the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association’s annual conference Feb. 5, Gov. Jeff Landry announced a $100 million bond allocation for the expansion project at Chevron’s Geismar renewable diesel plant.
This expansion project is expected to bring 90 new permanent jobs and 1,500 temporary jobs.
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