What will the 2025 snowstorm and cold temperatures mean for the upcoming crawfish season? LSU AgCenter crawfish expert Mark Shirley says the mudbugs will bury themselves as deep into the mud as they can.
“It’s not going to kill the crawfish, but it will significantly reduce their movements. So, I think the supply of crawfish over the next several days, well, probably for the next week or so, is going to be a shorter supply of crawfish,” Shirley said.
Read MoreThe LSU AgCenter will have a free, year-long training program for Louisiana’s beginning farmers this spring. A beginning farmer is defined as those currently farming with fewer than 10 years of experience or those wanting to start farming.
Read MoreThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently published an updated definition that provides guidance on what food products can claim to be “healthy” under federal rules. Whole grain rice was identified as part of the estimated five percent of foods that meet the new definition and now qualify to use the healthy claim on packaging and marketing materials.
Read MoreThe Bear will continue to dominate our cotton market. As much as we want to look ahead and find a bull rummaging through the market, bearish fundamentals continue to dominate. Simply stated, a bull market cannot exist in the absence of demand. Thus, cotton’s battle for market share will continue to dominate pricing throughout 2025.
Positive indicators even come with a grain of salt.
Read MorePorts in Texas and Louisiana remained closed to shipping traffic Tuesday morning due to a winter storm, a shipping agent said.
Marine pilots suspended boardings at the Texas ports of Houston, Galveston, Texas City and Freeport late on 20 January. Traffic also was halted at the Sabine-Neches Waterway on the Texas-Louisiana border, which offers access to terminals and refineries in Port Arthur and Beaumont, Texas, as well as Cheniere's Sabine Pass liquefied natural gas terminal.
Read MoreMississippi authorities captured a man wanted in multiple states after he allegedly bought livestock and agricultural equipment with fraudulent checks.
Law enforcement captured Johnny Payne II of Louisiana on Jan. 11 in Rankin County, the Mississippi Agriculture and Livestock Theft Bureau (MALTB) announced on Tuesday, Jan. 21.
Read MoreA new law requiring restaurants in Louisiana to tell their customers the specific country of origin of any seafood being served is causing some confusion among state officials and industry leaders.
Act 148 of the 2024 regular legislative session brought sweeping changes to laws affecting restaurants and other food establishments in an effort to protect Louisiana’s struggling domestic seafood industry. However, the new law, which took effect Jan. 1, could undergo some clarification revisions when lawmakers reconvene this spring. At issue are several provisions concerning menu and labeling requirements.
Read MoreCrawfish aquaculture is the most profitable aquaculture endeavor in Louisiana, representing roughly 69% of the total gross farm value generated across all commercial aquaculture enterprises in 2022, according to the Louisiana Summary Agriculture and Natural Resources 2022. Crawfish producers in south Louisiana create a suitable wetland habitat for crawfish to survive, reproduce and grow to harvest size in shallow water impoundments used for both crawfish and rice.
Read MoreThe National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) announced the open application period for the 2025 Urban and Community Conservation (UAC) grant initiative. The grants are open to any conservation district within the U.S. and the territories NACD serves, state associations, and tribal organizations. Proposals are due by April 1, 2025.
Read MoreBen McKnight, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife State Extension Cotton Specialist, was named the 2025 Beltwide Extension Cotton Specialist of the Year during the recent Beltwide Cotton Conferences in New Orleans, LA.
The 36th recipient of the award, McKnight received the honor during an awards dinner sponsored by Bayer Crop Science.
Read MoreThe LSU AgCenter 2025 Precision Agriculture Summit scheduled for Jan. 23 at the State Evacuation Shelter near Alexandria has been canceled because of winter weather.
Read MoreThe National Weather Service in Shreveport can honestly say they told us this was coming, and conditions around here have lived up to their predictions. We're talking Arctic-ish.
Due to this extreme cold front's arrival, the NWS has issued another "Cold Weather Advisory" which will remain in effect until 9:00 am this morning. They warn us to expect wind chill values as low as 12 degrees.
Read MoreThe 2024/25 U.S. corn outlook calls for lower production, feed and residual use, exports, and ending stocks. Corn production has been revised downward by some 276 million bushels to an estimated 14.9 billion bushels, mainly due to a 3.8-bushel per acre cut in yield to 179.3 bushels which was partially offset by a 0.2-million acre increase in harvested area. Total corn use is down 75 million bushels to 15.1 billion.
Read MoreThe Louisiana Agricultural Technology & Management Conference sponsored by the Louisiana Agricultural Consultants Association will be held Wednesday 12:00 noon through noon Friday, February 12-14, 2025 at Paragon Casino Resort in Marksville, LA.
There will be a pre-conference workshop held on Wednesday morning from 9:00 – 11:30 a.m. in the Chiqui Ballroom. The pre-conference workshop will consists of New Regulations and Requirements for Commercial Applicator Recertification, in addition to Pesticide Safety and Labeling, and WPS.
Read MoreAt the outset of the 119th Congress, Congresswoman Julia Letlow has filed two pieces of legislation aimed at strengthening disaster assistance for livestock and crawfish producers and providing increased flexibility for farmers with soybean crops covered by federal crop insurance.
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