GROW LA Pilot Connects 27 Farmers, Producers and Small Business Owners with Resources in Opelousas
From information to action, the Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center’s (SUAREC) Growing Rural Opportunities through Workforce and Business Development, Louisiana (GROW LA) initiative made a measurable impact during its Opelousas pilot, connecting 27 farmers, producers, and small business owners with practical guidance, trusted resources, and hands-on technical assistance. GROW LA is designed to help Louisiana farmers, producers, entrepreneurs, and small business owners access the information, programs, technical assistance, and relationships needed to strengthen and grow their operations.
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Farm Bureau: Understanding The Beef Cycle
The beef production cycle is a long-term process that takes several years to complete.
Cattle farmers' daily decisions affect the beef supply and prices for years to come.
America's beef cattle herd is at its lowest level since the 1970s, reflecting the years of depressed prices, high input costs and persistent drought conditions ranchers have faced.
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Governor Jeff Landry Discusses Positive Impact of SpaceX Launching Facility in Vermilion Parish
There are concerns over SpaceX’s $100 billion rocket launching facility and what it will mean for hunters and fishermen in Vermilion Parish. In an interview with Talk 107-3, Governor Landry expects Louisiana Starbase will enhance Sportsmen’s Paradise as SpaceX has committed to building up the marshes that are home to a lot of wildlife.
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Ruston, Louisiana, Has 22,000 Residents—Yet It Grows More Peaches per Person Than Almost Any Southern Town Its Size
Ruston, Louisiana built its identity around Louisiana Tech University and a peach farming tradition dating back generations, with the surrounding Lincoln Parish countryside still home to working peach orchards that supply the annual Louisiana Peach Festival, a June event drawing visitors from across the state for a celebration built entirely around a crop most people don’t associate with Louisiana agriculture at all.
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Early Agricultural Ties to Avoyelles Parish
In many ways, being born and raised in Evangeline Parish naturally created a strong affinity for Avoyelles Parish. The two parishes share not only a geographic border, but also many cultural traditions and values.
The people of both parishes have long been known for being friendly, kind, welcoming and outgoing, with a strong French and Cajun cultural heritage that is unique and unmistakable.
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New H-2A Adverse Effect Wage Rates Up in Air as Court Orders DOL to Try Again: What Agricultural Employers Need to Know
A federal court in California just ordered the US Department of Labor (DOL) to quickly come up with a new methodology for calculating the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) for H-2A job orders, just weeks after the agency released long-awaited new H-2A farmworker rates. Those rates had been calculated under a framework established in an interim final rule, which the DOL issued in 2025 and the United Farm Workers challenged.
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USDA Announces $20 Million Purchase of Wild-caught American Shrimp
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced plans to purchase $20 million in wild-caught American shrimp through its Section 32 program.
This will be the first USDA purchase of warm water, wild-caught shrimp in more than a year, bringing much-needed demand at a time when Gulf shrimpers are facing extremely low dock prices, high operating costs, and continued pressure from imported farm-raised shrimp, according to the Louisiana Shrimp Association.
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NCBA Opposes Any Effort That Weakens Food Safety
NCBA strongly supports increasing competition in the cattle markets and creating more opportunities for small and regional beef processors. We also support eliminating unnecessary regulations that make it harder for those businesses to compete. However, weakening federal meat inspection and food safety standards, as President Trump has suggested, is not the answer.
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Rice Leadership Development Program Application Period Is Ending Soon
The application period for the 2027 Rice Leadership Development Class will end on Friday, September 4, 2026.
The Rice Leadership Development Program gives future leaders a comprehensive understanding of the rice industry, with an emphasis on personal development and communication skills. The class attends four one-week sessions over a two-year period that encompasses studies of all aspects of the rice industry through firsthand observations. They also attend seminars and workshops designed to strengthen leadership skills.
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Area Cattle Ranchers’ Beef with Trump’s Foreign Meat Import Plan
Amelia Kent, co-owner of Kent Farms, said high costs are squeezing her family cattle-ranching operation more than ever before. President Trump’s plan to import foreign beef to bring down prices has seen broad pushback from cattle ranchers nationwide.
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Sugarcane Research on Display: What Growers Learned During Field Day Season
One topic seemed to be on everyone’s mind as Louisiana’s sugarcane field day season got underway this summer: the pasture mealybug.
The invasive insect, first identified in a handful of Louisiana sugarcane last year by crop consultants, has quickly become one of the industry’s top research priorities.
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Aflatoxin and Storage Recommendations for Infected Grain
There has been an abundance of ear rots reported in Louisiana throughout this growing season. As the harvest window is winding down, and with many growers already finished with harvest, I have heard of one reoccurring issue in particular: aflatoxin. There have been reports of heavy docking and even loads being rejected at the elevators.
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Questions Raised Concerning Effects of Announced Vermilion Parish SpaceX Facility on Area Wildlife
SpaceX’s $100 billion rocket launch site in coastal Vermilion Parish could bring thousands of jobs to Acadiana. But some are questioning what the massive development could mean for the area’s wildlife. Starbase Louisiana will be built near Pecan Island, a popular destination for fishing, crabbing and duck hunting. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell says the company will develop only a portion of the 125,000 acres of marshland it now owns.
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Soybean Group Warns on Small Refinery Exemptions Impact
The American Soybean Association is warning that small refinery exemptions could significantly exceed earlier expectations for the 2025 Renewable Fuel Standard compliance year, a shift the group says would undermine domestic biofuel demand when soybean growers are already under pressure.
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Heat, Floods Threaten China Crops as U.S. Farm Purchases Loom
High temperatures and heavy rain have battered China’s key corn, soybean, and cotton-growing regions since mid-July, threatening crop quality and yield losses that could boost imports of feed grains and cotton, including from the United States.
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