The Ruston Farmers Market and Drew Jones Teaching Kitchen were full of energy and excitement on Thursday, June 5, as community members gathered for the annual Peach Cookery Contest, a beloved tradition held in conjunction with the Louisiana Peach Festival.
Sponsored by Park Haus, the event celebrated local culinary talent with a delicious array of pies and cobblers featuring the region’s favorite fruit, peaches.
Read MoreCongresswoman Julia Letlow has filed legislation to support American agricultural producers impacted by disruptions to the global trade market.
The bill would create a dedicated fund, administered by the Secretary of Agriculture, to provide a timely and targeted safety net for American farmers and producers.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 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.
Read MoreHurricane Laura wreaked havoc in woodland areas, taking the tallest trees and turning them into nothing but stumps.
Those very trees not only provided habitat for many of Louisiana’s native animals, but it also served at the foundation for hunters’ tree stands.
Tree stands were abandoned in the debris.
Read MoreFor the first time since a highly controversial election stirred widespread public debate, the winning candidate for the Crescent Soil and Water Conservation District Board, Erica Johnson, is speaking out.
The district, established decades ago, held its first election this past Saturday, an event marred by reports of numerous voters being turned away at the polls and subsequent calls for a redo.
Read MoreLSU announced the members of its presidential search committee who’ll oversee the process for selecting a new university president after former President William Tate IV left for the same job at Rutgers in May.
The committee is made up of 19 members, many of them business leaders from around the state.
Read MoreWith summer in Louisiana comes hot temps. Really hot temps. And with the hot temperatures comes mowing, grilling, and fire ants.
And fire ants cause more harm and damage than just painful stings. For some reason they are extremely attracted to electricity. When we built our house in North Bossier years ago, we were outside city limits, so we had to have a well. And one soon discovers that fire ants love to find their way into electrical boxes and circuits and cause electrical shorts, or even fires. Hence, another reason for the Federal Fire Ant Quarantine.
Read MoreAmerican Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall commented today on the Department of Labor suspending a rule dubbed the Farmworker Protection Act, which failed to live up to its name and was initially struck down by a district court.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) mailed the July cattle survey to about 18,000 cattle operations nationwide to provide an up-to-date measure of U.S. cattle inventories. This is the first July cattle survey mailed to producers since the reinstatement of key reports was announced earlier this year.
Read MoreThis week’s Rising Stars are six junior high athletes who are set to compete at the National Junior High School Rodeo Finals.
Over the course of the season, the athletes have found success from the close connections formed with their horses.
The road to success has not always been easy, but the athletes have broken through the barriers and continue to reach for the stars.
Read MoreFor Carl Motsenbocker, Farm to School is more than just a program. It's about local food systems and working to teach children and feed children within a local food area.
For more than 20 years, he has recruited LSU students and his own family to help plant gardens in local schools. Back in 2014, he attended a Farm to School conference in Austin, Texas, and realized Louisiana would be a perfect place to implement the Louisiana Harvest of the Month pilot program.
Read MoreThe Louisiana Advanced Aviation and Drone Advisory Committee has outlined a statewide strategic economic plan aimed at preparing for the rapid growth of unmanned aircraft systems and advanced air mobility technologies.
Just a couple of hours before the committee met, Gov. Jeff Landry signed a law that will allow law enforcement to deploy "both kinetic and non-kinetic technologies to neutralize unmanned aerial systems operating unlawfully near high-risk areas such as schools, public events and critical infrastructure," the Governor's office wrote.
Read MoreWhen Ashley Edwards joined the LSU AgCenter in December 2019 as an extension agent and coordinator of livestock programs, she was eager to hit the road and begin visiting producers, conducting workshops and helping 4-H youth with their livestock projects.
Read MoreThe owner of the property that is at the center of a cockfighting investigation in Beauregard Parish has now been arrested, according to the sheriff’s office.
Ricky Lee Ashworth, 70, was booked into the Beauregard Parish Correctional Facility for one count of cockfighting and one count of aggravated cruelty to animals. He was released on bond Wednesday evening.
Read MoreScientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) are helping American beekeepers solve the mystery behind a widespread honey bee colony collapse and its debilitating effects on U.S. agriculture. Researchers have submitted a manuscript to a scientific journal for peer review based on our research findings that identified high levels of deformed wing virus A and B and acute bee paralysis in all recently USDA-sampled bees.
Read More
