A quick glance at Peggy Martin’s Gonzales, Louisiana, home, and it’s clear she loves plants. Paintings and prints of flowers line her walls, tablecloths pop with colorful flora, potted plants fill corners and bouquets dot shelves and end tables. Her yard is an oasis of greens, pinks, reds and purples.
Growing along her garden gate is an extraordinary plant with a storied past, a prolific blooming vining rose that bears her name, the Peggy Martin rose.
Read MorePaul Matthews has stepped down as executive director of the Port of South Louisiana, ending a nearly three-year tenure marked by major growth and strategic development. The resignation, announced August 6, is effective immediately.
Founded in 1960, the Port of South Louisiana is the largest port in the state and the second largest by tonnage in the Western Hemisphere. It is the top grain exporter in the United States and ranks second in energy transfer volume, serving as a key logistics hub for agriculture, oil, petrochemicals, and increasingly, clean energy.
Read MoreSweet potatoes are a superfood rich with vitamins, minerals and fiber.
They’re also a great source for high-value phytochemicals, such as carotenoids and anthocyanins. These chemicals impart various combinations of white, orange and purple to the crop’s flesh and skin, contributing to their popularity.
Sweet potatoes are primarily grown in southern states — North Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi — that offer ideal growing conditions, infrastructure and established markets.
Read MoreImmigration changes and labor reforms have created a moving target for farms utilizing H-2A temporary farm labor in 2025, especially for those located in isolated areas or growing specialty crops.
To maintain legal labor and stay steps ahead of evolving policies, labor consultant Katie Ramagos Nunez shared the practices she and her clients follow on the farm to simplify paperwork and stay audit-ready.
Read MoreThe United States' suspension of live cattle imports from Mexico hit at the worst possible time for rancher Martín Ibarra Vargas, who after two years of severe drought had hoped to put his family on better footing selling his calves across the northern border.
Like his father and grandfather before him, Ibarra Vargas has raised cattle on the parched soil of Sonora, the state in northwestern Mexico that shares a long border with the United States, particularly Arizona.
Read MoreFarmers were attempting to return to the fields Monday after weekend weather events dumped one- to two-inches of rain on some parts of Concordia Parish, according to Kylie Miller, LSU AgCenter extension associate.
Unusual amounts of summer rain have helped corn during its growing period, but the harvest has been “stop and go, stop and go” due to continued afternoon and evening showers, Miller said.
Read MoreFarmers are in their fields throughout Franklin Parish, busy harvesting their corn crop.
This year’s yields are expected to be good, barring any unforeseen weather events, according to LSU AgCenter Extension Agent Carol Pinnell-Alison.
“I think we are going to have a good year with both corn and soybeans,” she said.
Read MoreThe National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), along with 25 state-based corn grower groups, sent a letter to Trump administration officials today detailing the worsening economic situation caused by elevated prices for fertilizers and other inputs that are critical for growing corn.
The letter, sent to the U.S. trade representative, secretary of commerce and secretary of agriculture, painted a grim economic picture in the American countryside. Signatories pledged to work with the officials to help address concerns with input costs, implement new trade deals and remove trade barriers.
The Old Farmer's Almanac just released a sneak peek at what's shaping the upcoming winter, and while they haven't published specific snow predictions for Louisiana yet, the atmospheric setup looks intriguing for weather watchers.
The centuries-old weather guide won't reveal its full Winter 2025-2026 forecast until the 2026 edition hits shelves this fall. But the early indicators they've shared suggest Louisiana could see the type of atmospheric patterns that historically produce the state's most memorable winter storms.
Read MoreThe first meeting of LSU’s presidential search committee, which will select the university’s next president after former President William Tate IV departed earlier in the summer, will be Aug. 19.
The meeting will be held in the LSU Foundation Board Room at 9 a.m. It’ll kick off the process to select a new leader of Louisiana’s leading institution.
Read MoreTen innovation-driven enterprises will go head-to-head for the top prize of $100,000 in the 2026 Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge. The American Farm Bureau Federation, in partnership with Farm Credit, continues to encourage agricultural innovation through the Challenge.
Read MoreU.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will award Louisiana $1,358,822.80 in rural broadband investments. The funding is supported by Cassidy’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which provided significant investment in the USDA Rural Development Broadband Technical Assistance Program.
“Access to high-speed internet sets a student up for success and helps a small business get off the ground,” said Dr. Cassidy. “Whether that student is in a rural parish or the city, I worked to make sure they have the tools they need.”
Read MoreShreveport Green and Louisiana Central today announced the official transfer of Louisiana Central’s Farm & Food Division to Shreveport Green, effective July 31. This strategic move deepens a longstanding partnership between the two organizations and enhances the capacity to build cleaner, greener, healthier ecosystems throughout Louisiana.
The Farm & Food Division, recognized nationally for its innovative programming and leadership, will now operate under the umbrella of Shreveport Green.
Read MoreThe Better Business Bureau’s Jo Ann Deal joined Good Morning ArkLaMiss to discuss vehicle and equipment seller scams.
Deal says fake tractors, skid steers and excavators are costing consumers thousands of dollars and threatening the reputation of a business in Connecticut.
Deal says a company called Case IH Agriculture Woodburry is using Woodbury Tractor’s physical address.
Read MoreThe Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries announced honorably discharged military veteran residents can purchase a recreational hunting and fishing combination license for $20, an $80 discount for the Sportsman’s Paradise license. Republican Lafayette Senator Brach Myers authored the legislation that resulted in a big discount for military veterans.
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