Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) Crop Insurance Policy Mechanics for 2025

The optional Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) endorsement provides additional coverage for a portion of an individual producer’s underlying crop insurance policy deductible. The basic operational mechanics of the SCO endorsement follows/ ‘mirrors’ underlying policy coverage. If the producer purchases a yield protection (revenue protection) policy, then SCO covers yield loss (revenue loss). The amount of coverage depends on the liability, coverage level, and approved yield for the underlying policy. 

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LSU AgCenterAvery Davidson
The Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO) Crop Insurance Program for 2025

The Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO) allows producers to supplement their current underlying individual insurance coverage and provides area-based coverage for a portion of the deductible of the producer’s underlying policy in a manner like the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO). ECO utilizes the same expected and final area yields, projected and harvest prices, and payment factors as SCO but covers a band from 86% (where SCO coverage ends) up to 90% or 95% of expected crop value. Like SCO, ECO is based on a producer’s underlying insurance coverage. 

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LSU AgCenterAvery Davidson
La. Rep. Carter Signs on as Cosponsor of Bicameral Effort to Restore FAFSA Exemptions for Farm and Small Business Families

U.S. Representatives Tracey Mann (KS-01) and Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), alongside House Agriculture Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson (PA-15), and House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig (MN-02) led 74 of their colleagues in reintroducing the bipartisan Family Farm and Small Business Exemption Act. In July 2024, provisions from the Federal Application For Student Aid (FAFSA) Simplification Act altered the federal formula for determining student aid.

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Avery Davidson
LSU AgCenter Hunger Project ‘On Hold’ Amid USAID Freeze

A $22 million project involving the LSU AgCenter has been paused while the Trump administration reviews spending at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

LSU is part of the Feed the Future Climate Resilient Cereals Innovational Lab, which researchers at Kansas State University lead. It seeks to make cereal crops – such as rice, wheat, miller and sorghum – more readily available to those at risk of hunger, according to an AgCenter blog post.

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LSU AgCenterAvery Davidson
Deer with Chronic Wasting Disease Found in St. Landry Parish, 2 Other Louisiana Parishes

Three more deer have tested positive for chronic wasting disease in Louisiana, one of them in St. Landry Parish, officials said.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said CWD was found in captive deer in pens permitted by the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry. The recent detections in St. Landry, Concordia, and Tangipahoa parishes are linked to trace outs from a captive CWD positive deer pen in Jefferson Davis Parish, where CWD was first confirmed in a captive deer back in November.

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Avery Davidson
Southern University Ag Center Set To Host The 3rd Annual Boots & Bling Affair

The Southern University Ag Center will host its 3rd Annual Boots and Bling Affair on Saturday, February 22, 2025, from 7 p.m. – 12 a.m. in the F.G. Clark Activity Center on Southern University’s campus.

Funds raised from the Boots and Bling Affair will be used to provide scholarship awards and necessary equipment to youth exhibitors participating in the Ag Center's Annual Livestock and Poultry Show.

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SU Ag Centerdon molino
LSU Researchers Develop Way To Keep Eggs Fresh For Longer Using Crawfish Shells

Louisiana produces 850 million pounds of seafood each year, according to the Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board. Much of that includes crustaceans like crawfish, shrimp, and crab. It follows that Louisiana also produces a lot of seafood waste once those crustaceans are processed. However, researchers at LSU’s School of Nutrition and Food Science have developed a way to turn a smelly byproduct of the seafood industry into a way to make other foods last longer on the shelf.

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Pre-Vet Program at McNeese Lays a Strong Foundation for Veterinary School

Ashton Landry, McNeese State University alumna, is well on her way to becoming a veterinarian after completing McNeese’s agricultural sciences program. Her path is one that current pre-veterinary students, like junior Madison Watson and sophomore Jade Bel, want to follow. 

From the start of her college career, Landry knew she wanted to attend veterinary school. To begin, she chose to study agricultural sciences at McNeese. The small class sizes and hands-on program made it a great choice for her.  

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LivestockAvery Davidson