Free Virtual Mental Health Services for Rural Communities Offered Through the SU Ag Center’s Rural Connections for Rural Resilience Program
The Southern University Ag Center will provide free virtual counseling services to Louisiana residents living in rural communities through its Rural Connections for Rural Resilience program.
The program, which is open to adults, aims to combat alarming mental health trends by providing free teletherapy services to underserved rural communities where access to mental health services is often limited due to geographical barriers.
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La. Farm Bureau Applauds Rapid ECAP Payments, Possible Improvement
The United States Department of Agriculture is following through on its promise to get funds into farmers’ hands quickly through the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP), according to Louisiana Farm Bureau President Richard Fontenot. He expressed those sentiments in a letter he sent to Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins.
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USDA Says Corn Acres Up 5% In 2025
Monday, the USDA released the 2025 Prospective Plantings report. In the report, the agency said U.S. farmers will plant nearly 5 million more corn acres in 2025 compared with last year.
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Louisiana Crawfish News: How Much Per Pound?
On Tuesday the calendar will flip over to April in Lafayette, Henderson, Jennings, and Abbeville, and while the official time document, the calendar, may say spring. Those in Louisiana know that the first week of April is when the heart of the crawfish season hits.
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Farming Against the Grain: Melanie Netterville Beavers' Journey in Agriculture
In the heart of Tensas Parish, Melanie Netterville Beavers has made her mark on the agriculture industry alongside her husband Kody, working to maintain their family farm.
Melanie didn’t begin her college journey with her sights set on production agriculture. Initially, she wanted to pursue a career in media for agriculture. However, her direction changed as she realized her passion for hands-on, outdoor work.
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Ag Career Field Day Held For High School Students
The AG Career Field Day has been going for three years.
Eleventh and twelfth grade students from seven parishes came to Ferriday to learn about the different careers agriculture offers on Friday, March 28.
Over 175 students were given the opportunity to learn about everything from wildlife to welding.
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LSU Student Opens Crawfish Food Truck--'Seemed Like A No-Brainer'
Crawfish To Geaux, a crawfish food truck located on Nicholson Drive, opened this month and is getting attention for being owned and operated by LSU students.
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Agricultural Producers Have Until April 15 To Enroll In USDA’s Key Commodity Safety Net Programs for the 2025 Crop Year
Agricultural producers who have not yet enrolled in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2025 crop year have until April 15, 2025, to revise elections and sign contracts.
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Supply & Demand Shifts Leave Cotton Farmers Grasping For Traction
Cotton growers across the globe are improving in efficiency year-over-year. It’s a win for farm technology, but creates a tough marketplace for the former number one worldwide cotton exporter – the U.S.
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LSU AgCenter Program To Grow The Next Crop Of Louisiana Farmers Begins
On March 11, 22 students took part in the first class of the Grow Louisiana Beginning Farmer Training Program at the Hill Farm Teaching Facility on the LSU campus. The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Transition to Organic Partnership Program, as it focuses on teaching new farmers how to grow a sustainable and profitable organic farm.
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How Crawfish Boils Became A Louisiana Tradition
Now that the Mardi Gras beads are mostly cleared from the utility lines and we are firmly in the Lenten season, Louisiana has shifted into a different kind of celebration—one built around backyard boils, spicy steam rising from giant pots, and tables covered in newspaper and crawfish shells.
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Louisiana Farmers Say Recent USDA Cuts Affected Programs Beneficial To Getting Produce To Local Schools
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently cut over $1 billion from two programs that helped food banks and school meal programs purchase local food.
Co-owner of Muse 3 Farms Chris Muse feeds his local community in St. Helena Parish and beyond, but he says the recent USDA cuts could affect his earnings.
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USDA Export Report: Corn Exports Steady, Wheat Disappoints
USDA’s latest export sales report, out Thursday morning and covering the week through March 20, didn’t have a lot of bullish data for traders to digest. Corn volume bested other grains, but sales were down 31% week-over-week and only made it to the middle of trade guesses. Soybean sales were lackluster, meantime, and wheat sales were largely disappointing.
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USDA extends response deadline for 2024 Census of Horticultural Specialties
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will continue to collect the 2024 Census of Horticultural Specialties through April 18, 2025. Conducted just once every five years, the Census of Horticultural Specialties is the only source of detailed production and sales data for U.S. floriculture, nursery, and specialty crop industries, including greenhouse food crops.
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Grant Money Used To Study Drought Practices of Arkansas Farmers
Students and professors at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock received a national grant to study how farmers’ risk preferences affect water use during droughts.
The three-year study will determine if risk preferences change with drought conditions and climate change. Farmers in rural Arkansas, the Lower Mississippi River Basin, Louisiana and part of Missouri are included in the research.
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