Sara Bair, a junior majoring in agriculture education at Utah State University, has been named the winner of the American Farm Bureau Young Farmers & Ranchers Collegiate Discussion Meet. Bair earned the national title following a dynamic discussion on how communities can grow responsibly while protecting farms, ranches and the agricultural way of life.
Read MoreThe chairman of the Senate Ag Committee says 2026 is a pivotal year for ag policy.
“We are facing a generational crisis right now.”
Read MoreMultinational agriculture technology company Syngenta announced last March 3 that it will cease global production of the herbicide paraquat by the end of June, including at its facility in Iberville Parish.
Banned in more than 70 countries, paraquat is repackaged and distributed in the United States from Syngenta’s manufacturing site in St. Gabriel.
Read MoreCongressman Clay Higgins (R-LA) released the following statement on efforts to address workforce challenges facing Louisiana’s crawfish industry.
“Many of Louisiana’s crawfish processors are facing significant workforce shortages due to complications involving legal immigrant temporary employee visas. Historically, seasonal workers and the visa system that allows them to be legally employed in America is fraught with controversy and bureaucratic uncertainty.”
Read MoreThe bacteria that is responsible for nitrogen fixation in soybean is Bradyrhizobium japonicum. If a field has never been planted to soybean, it is likely the seed will need to be inoculated. The bacteria can survive many years until the next soybean crop, but the common recommendation is to inoculate seed if soybean has not been planted for 3 to 5 years. However, research has indicated that an increase in yield is possible if seed is inoculated in a regular soybean rotation.
Read MoreOptimum soybean planting windows differ among the Northeast, Central, and Southwest regions of Louisiana
Optimum soybean planting windows differ among the Northeast, Central, and Southwest regions of Louisiana
Depending on maturity group, the planting window to achieve at least 95% of yield potential in the Central region ranged from March 21 through May 16, with predicted peak yield dates occurring between April 12 and May 1.
Read MoreIn the heart of Cajun country, Allen Mclain farms about 3,000 acres of rice together with his wife, father, and two younger brothers. Much of their crop, all south of LA-14, is under threat. Saltwater from the Gulf is slowly, and some days quickly, making its way up through marshes, bayous, and over levees.
Read MoreThere are still some timing issues regarding the forecast confidence (with the action more than 48 hours out), but confidence is increasing with regard to the upcoming Sunday/Monday frontal passage.
Read MoreOver 2.0 million landowners rented out 348 million acres of farmland, according to the results of the 2024 Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land (TOTAL) survey results released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). Of these acres, 79% are owned by non-farming landlords.
Read MoreA farm bill of missed opportunities.
Illinois Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski, a Democratic member of the House Ag Committee, says there were several reasons she voted against the Farm Bill 2.0 proposal that recently passed out of committee.
Read MoreCrawfish processors across Louisiana say a shortage of temporary work visas has left them without the migrant labor they depend on, forcing plants to sit idle during the busiest part of the season, and threatening a key part of Louisiana’s $640 million crawfish industry.
Read MoreThe trade and immigration policies of the Trump administration have rippled through the nation’s economy in myriad ways, and Louisiana has not been immune to their effects. In recent months, we’ve catalogued the ways tariffs have affected our ports, our retailers and even our coffee shops.
Read MoreThe Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has designated eight north Louisiana parishes as Natural Disaster Areas following the severe winter storm in January.
Read MoreThe commissioner of agriculture and forestry is sounding the alarm over the lack of crawfish peelers in the state. Mike Strain says this is because the Department of Homeland Security has stopped processing H-2B applications for skilled guest workers, preventing them from coming back.
Read MoreU.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said the Trump administration is working to ease labor restrictions for Louisiana farmers, particularly those in the aquaculture industry, as planting season begins amid rising diesel prices and ongoing visa limitations.
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