Chairman Thompson Delivers Ag's Portion of the One Big, Beautiful Bill

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson (PA-15) issued the following statement after the committee passed its portion of H. Con. Res. 14 Title 2001(b)(1):

"Our section of the One Big, Beautiful Bill restores integrity to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, provides relief to farmers, invests in the future of rural America, and prevents the largest tax increase on American families.”

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Avery Davidson
A Sugar Refinery That Supports Over 800 Farmers Wants an Air Permit Renewal

A sugar refinery in St. James Parish that produces more than 1.2 million tons of granulated sugars and molasses annually is seeking to renew its air permit with the state Department of Environmental Quality.

Louisiana Sugar Refining LLC in Gramercy handles roughly two-thirds of the sugar cane crop grown in Louisiana. It receives raw sugar from eight mills that process sugar from 800 farmers in the state.

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USDA Announces $26.5 Million in Grant Funding Available through the Local Agriculture Market Program

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced $26.5 million in grant funding available through the Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP) to help local and regional food entities develop, coordinate, and expand producer-to-consumer marketing, local and regional food markets, and local food enterprises. LAMP includes the Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP), Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP), and the Regional Food System Partnerships (RFSP). USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is accepting applications for the grant programs until June 27, 2025. 

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USDAdon molino
Louisiana Bee Farmers Sound Alarm on Rising Rate of ‘Bee Deaths’

Central Louisiana bee farmers are calling for more eyes on what is being labeled as a ‘concerning’ increase in bee deaths nationwide.

A Louisiana native and multi-generational bee farmer, Dalton Lemoine, is the owner of Lemoine’s Honey in Deville. His business has seen several hardships throughout its lifetime, with Dalton noting Louisiana’s bout with drought conditions in 2023, substantially lowering profits.

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don molino
Republicans Protecting Louisiana's Interests from Chinese Communist Party Influence

The Chinese Communist Party has allowed poisonous fentanyl to pour into the United States and encouraged Chinese businesses to lie, cheat and steal in American marketplaces.

Louisiana crawfish farmers, for example, have struggled to compete with Chinese producers that ignore the environmental and safety regulations that American producers must follow. Under President Biden, regulators only inspected 1% of all seafood imports. In turn, China could sell its crawfish—which are often loaded with unsafe levels of antibiotics—at a much cheaper price than the higher-quality American product.

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Ezell, Carter, Letlow Introduce Bipartisan Safer Shrimp Imports Act

Representatives Mike Ezell (MS-04), Julia Letlow (LA-05), and Troy Carter (LA-02) today introduced the Safer Shrimp Imports Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at tightening federal inspection standards for imported shrimp and protecting American consumers and domestic seafood producers.

Imported shrimp accounts for roughly 90% of the shrimp consumed in the United States, much of which comes from countries with weak food safety standards and inadequate oversight of harmful contaminants such as antibiotics, pesticides, and bacteria.

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File a Notice of Loss for Failed and Prevented Planted Acres

USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds you to report prevented planted and failed acres in order to establish or retain FSA program eligibility for some programs.

You should report crop acreage you intended to plant, but due to natural disaster, were prevented from planting. Prevented planting acreage must be reported on form CCC-576, Notice of Loss, no later than 15 calendar days after the final planting date as established by FSA and the Risk Management Agency (RMA).

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Avery Davidson
How LSU Chemists Are Learning from Nature to Rethink Nitrogen Fixation

Nitrogen is one of the essential elements on which life depends. However, while nitrogen is abundant in the atmosphere as nitrogen gas (N₂), this form is largely inert and unusable by most living organisms.

To be biologically useful, nitrogen must be converted into ammonia (NH₃), a form that living systems can incorporate into vital biomolecules like DNA, RNA, and proteins.

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