Honey Bee Colonies Across Louisiana: August 2024
This report contains the results from the Quarterly Colony Loss surveys.Honey bee colonies for operations with five or more colonies in the Delta Region on January 1, 2024 totaled 88,000 colonies. This is up 11 percent from 79,000 colonies on January 1, 2023. On April 1, 2024, honey bee operations in the Delta Region totaled 104,500 colonies. During 2023, honey bee colonies for the Delta Region on January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1 were 79,000 colonies, 131,000 colonies, 92,500 colonies, and 101,000 colonies, respectively.
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Recycle Your Denim: The Circularity Of Cotton
When you think of recycling, you likely think of things like aluminum cans, cardboard boxes, and glass bottles. But have you considered recycling denim?
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USDA Discrimination Financial Assistance Program
Discrimination Financial Assistance Program (DFAP) decisions and awards have now been made. If you applied and haven’t received an award or denial by August 6, 2024, please call the DFAP call center at 1-800-721-0970.
Deputy USDA Secretary Xochitl Torres Small told the Voice of Louisiana Agriculture Radio Network some 77-million dollars will be distributed to just over eleven hundred farmers and ranchers in Louisiana who applied for the program.
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‘City People’ Get New Appreciation of Ag While RVing
A program that gives RVers, often urban-oriented, a chance to experience farms and rural businesses is just the ticket for Lynn Crafts and Dan Dougherty.
They pay a membership fee of about $85 annually to belong to Harvest Hosts, which provides an interactive map and information about more than 5,000 host farms, wineries and other businesses to help plan their trips. In return for staying free at some spots they might not find otherwise, they shop at the host’s business.
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Anna the Archer Aims to Educate
Anna Ribbeck developed a love for archery while attending LSU. She participated in archery tournaments and became a bow hunter. Today she is a communications specialist with the LSU AgCenter, but is best known as “Anna the Archer,” one of the newer stars on the hit reality show “Swamp People.” Not only can she hunt her dinner, she can clean it and cook it, like her tasty swamp rat (nutria) pizza!
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USDA, USTR Name New Agricultural Trade Advisors, Including AFBF, USA Rice and ASCL Representatives
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai today announced the appointment or reappointment of 55 members to serve on seven agricultural trade advisory committees.
The advisory committee system was created by Congress to ensure that U.S. agricultural stakeholders have input and insight into U.S. trade policy and negotiating objectives.
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Now's The Time To Touch Base With Federal Legislators
With August upon us, Congress has adjourned until September, giving Members of Congress the opportunity to return to their home districts and states where they will hold constituent meetings, town halls, and community events. Over the next five weeks, it will be critical for these elected officials to hear from U.S. rice industry stakeholders about important issues before reconvening for the final stretch of the 118th Congress.
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NASS To Review Acreage Data
In preparation for the August Crop Production report, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will review all available data, including survey data and the latest information from USDA’s Farm Service Agency and Risk Management Agency, for planted and harvested acreage for barley, corn, cotton, dry edible beans, oats, peanuts, rice, sorghum, soybeans, sugarbeets, Durum wheat, other spring wheat, and winter wheat.
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USDA Announces August 2024 Lending Rates For Agricultural Producers
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced loan interest rates for August 2024, which are effective Aug. 1, 2024. USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) loans provide important access to capital to help agricultural producers start or expand their farming operation, purchase equipment and storage structures or meet cash flow needs.
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Hurricane Preparation and Recovery Guides for Louisiana Producers
Louisiana agriculture generates approximately $3 billion in sales each year, but in most years agricultural productivity is negatively affected by hurricane damage. Louisianans are familiar with the devastation and loss of life and property that can accompany a hurricane event as the state experiences, on average, one hurricane every three years. The total economic losses from a single hurricane can reach tens of billions of dollars, while agricultural losses can exceed one billion dollars. Louisiana is a major agricultural producer for the United States, but the structures, livestock, and crops are highly exposed to extreme wind and flooding during hurricane events.
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Richard Fontenot Ready to Lead Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation into New Era of Innovation and Collaboration
A lot has changed in agriculture since Richard Fontenot began farming with his grandfather and father in Evangeline Parish. New technology like drones and data collection systems give farmers more details than ever about field performance. Recent weather extremes ranging from droughts to floods have prompted farmers to adapt accordingly. And, challenges like finding enough labor and overall rising costs mean that farmers must be creative and flexible as they work to produce the crops that feed families across the country.
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LSU AgCenter Researcher Helps to Secure $300,000 Matching Grant for Mass Timber Supply Chains
LSU AgCenter researcher Richard Vlosky has helped secure $300,000 in funding for a project to support a regional mass timber supply chain connecting underrepresented populations and communities in the South with consumers and developers along the Eastern Seaboard and Mid-Atlantic.
Vlosky, professor and director of the Louisiana Forest Products Development Center in the LSU School of Renewable Natural Resources, is part of a team that brought in the 2024 U.S. Forest Service Wood Innovations Program Grant.
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Agricultural Policy and Market Situation Newsletter: July 2024
In a recent Supreme Court ruling, the Court severely constrained the power federal agencies have in interpreting the laws they administer, ruling that courts should rely on their own interpretation of am-biguous laws instead of leaving legal interpretation to the agencies themselves. The decision has been heralded as one that will have far-reaching effects across the country.
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Sugarcane Ripener Recommendations for 2024
Chemical ripeners for sugarcane in Louisiana provide an important benefit. When properly applied, ripeners can maximize recoverable sugar and minimize cane yield (tonnage) losses.
In 2024, the following glyphosate formulation is recommended as a chemical ripener: Roundup PowerMAX 3. Roundup PowerMax 3 contains 4.8 pounds of glyphosate acid per gallon and is formulated as a potassium salt.
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Farm Expenditures Top $480 Billion in 2023
The USDA estimates 2023 farm production expenditures in the U.S. at $481.9 billion, up from $452.5 billion the previous year. The four largest expenditures totaled $238.7 billion and accounted for 49.6 percent of total expenditures in 2023.
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