It can be harvested up to 30 days sooner than other sweet potatoes. It is a high yielder and tastes great, though its skin is a shade lighter than the sweet potatoes many Louisianans are accustomed to.
It’s the LSU AgCenter’s newest sweet potato variety, Avoyelles — named for the parish where scientists initially saw its potential and a parish that has played a central role in the state’s sweet potato industry for decades.
Read MoreAmerican Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall commented today on USDA’s release of the Fair and Competitive Livestock and Poultry Markets proposed rule, intended to improve fairness and competition in the livestock, meat and poultry sectors. This is the fourth rule issued by USDA to address fairness and competitiveness in livestock markets under the Packers and Stockyards Act.
Read MoreThe Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP) helps the owners of non-industrial private forests restore forest health damaged by natural disasters.
The local FSA County Committee implements EFRP for all disasters with the exceptions of drought and insect infestations. In the case of drought or an insect infestation, the national FSA office authorizes EFRP implementation.
Read MorePotassium deficiency symptoms in soybean first appear as irregular yellowing on the edges of K-deficient leaves, typically manifesting as early as the V3 vegetative stage (three trifoliolate leaves), primarily on the lower older leaves (Figure 1). In severe K-deficient soils, symptoms often appear on the upper younger leaves during the reproductive stages (Figure 2). Early-season K deficiency symptoms are relatively easy to diagnose and manage. However, many soybean fields experience K deficiency and consequent yield losses without displaying visible symptoms until the later reproductive growth stages (beginning seed, R5 to full-seed, R6).
Read MoreAccording to the National Agricultural Statistics Service in Louisiana, there were 6.1 days suitable for fieldwork for the week ending Sunday, June 23, 2024. Topsoil moisture supplies were 1 percent very short, 20 percent short, 71 percent adequate, and 8 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture supplies were 0 percent very short, 15 percent short, 78 percent adequate, and 7 percent surplus.
Read MoreNutrien, a leading crop inputs and services provider, recently committed $1 million over four years to support sustainable agriculture practices for rice growers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Texas and California. Through the USA Rice and Ducks Unlimited decade-long Rice Stewardship Program, we have built a field team of partners who have worked on more than 1,000 rice farms spanning nearly one million acres, improving agricultural and environmental performances.
Read MoreExtreme drought and pine beetle outbreaks are of increasing concern for forests in the south to the extent that USDA approved financial and technical assistance to help owners restore forests on non-industrial private forestlands in Mississippi and Louisiana. Behind much of the information about the drought and the trees adversely affected are Forest Service scientists who have developed tools that allow users to see real-time effects of the drought.
Read MoreMAUI, HI – The USA Rice Millers’ Association (RMA), one of the oldest agribusiness organizations in the U.S., gathered here last week for their 124th convention for strategic planning, a Board of Directors meeting, networking events, and enlightening and provocative presentations on important topics.
As in recent years, shortcomings with Class 1 railroad service and needed ocean shipping reform was a burning topic; as was export competitiveness, hampered by bad actors and trade cheats such as India and others. U.S. grain quality and supporting research dominated many conversations, and of course, the status of the 2024 Farm Bill and food safety and labeling regulations also factored heavily in meetings.
Read MoreLouisiana is one of the most vulnerable U.S. states to extreme weather events due to its high frequency of natural disasters. Of these disasters, drought is the most expensive risk to Louisiana agriculture, accounting for 95% of projected crop losses by 2050.
Read MoreThe economic impact of the St. Landry Parish agricultural industry was saluted Tuesday as the Opelousas Noon Rotary Club recognized three farmers and their families during annual Farmer of The Year presentation ceremonies.
Richard Hollier, Billy McWorthy and Dwayne Smith were honored during the club’s Agricultural Appreciation Day as farmers who have excelled in raising rice, cattle and crawfish.
Read MoreFor the second week this growing season, USDA reported soybean ratings for top producing states. As of the week ending June 16, 70% of the country’s soybeans rated good/excellent.
According to USDA, soybeans in Louisiana rated 5% excellent, 83% good, 9% fair, 3% poor, and 0% very poor as of the week ending June 16.
Read MoreLongtime real estate executive Beth Lambert spent her formative years on a Louisiana cattle farm and has settled into no-nonsense Texas, where she's taking on a new job financing property deals. She's so settled, she wants to stay at her new company for the rest of her career.
That doesn't mean she's averse to adventure. While she's not a Swiftie, as Taylor Swift fanatics are known, she enjoys the American singer-songwriter's music enough to travel 4,745 miles from Dallas to London with a few of her friends from CREW, or Commercial Real Estate Women, for a concert.
Read MoreWhen it comes to rice stinkbug, Midsouth rice farmers have few insecticide options and experience widespread failures with pyrethroid products like Lambda-Cy. Through university trials in Arkansas, research confirmed the quality and economic net return of all the available products, with two standing out above the rest.
Read MoreA new bill re-establishing a black bear hunting season in Louisiana was signed by Governor Jeff Landry on Tuesday.
HB 684 purports to advance Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) ability to fund the management, conservation, restoration, and enhancement of the Louisiana black bear, in addition to its habitat.
Read MoreThis summer, the Conservation Practice Adoption Motivations Survey (CPAMS), a joint project between USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), will be mailed to 43,000 forest and grazing landowners and managers across the nation. The CPAMS gathers information to understand why people choose to use different conservation practices, and whether they continue to use practices over time. The data will help improve voluntary conservation programs. NASS will mail an invitation to respond early online at agcounts.usda.gov starting June 24. NASS will mail questionnaires on July 8 with the option for survey recipients to respond online, by mail, or fax. If NASS does not receive completed questionnaires by July 28, they may reach out to schedule interviews. A data highlights publication is scheduled for October 2024 and will be published at nass.usda.gov.
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