The Day the Earth Stood Still. Vampire Romance. Witches Stitches. Lipstick Lips. These are just a few of the names you’ll see on labels as you take a stroll through the daylily gardens of Lake Charles attorney John Bradford.
Bradford’s West Prien Lake Road home is surrounded by hundreds of daylily blooms. His brother, Henry, a microbiologist in Abita Springs, La., became interested in growing the flowers first. Then, about 10 years ago, Bradford joined him.
A 10-year-old girl from Rayville is one of the winners of the 2023 Youth Hunter of the Year competition. Paisleigh Stephenson and three others were honored at the 58th Conservation Achievement Awards.
This was the first time since 2019 that the Louisiana Wildlife Federation and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries were able to honor youth hunters due to a hiatus.
Louisiana Downs is celebrating a milestone this weekend.
Saturday kicks off the racetrack’s 50th anniversary of the live racing season. It’s also the same day as one of the biggest horse racing events of the year -- the Kentucky Derby.
Since 1974, Louisiana Downs has been a part of the northwest Louisiana landscape. Company officials say they are happy to keep the tradition alive for their 50th anniversary.
It hasn’t been that long ago that the only way to irrigate rice was to build a system of levees strong enough to keep water at a prescribed depth on a field until it was ready to be drained and harvested.
Fast forward to 2024 and rice farmers now have seven, eight or possibly even nine systems, depending on how you count them, for keeping their crops watered during the long Midsouth growing season.
The LDAF Student Internship Program allows students to gain valuable work experience in the fields of agriculture, forestry, and other related fields.
Students will have the opportunity to work full-time during June and July for eight weeks. Applications are being accepted from December 1 until February 28, or until all positions are filled. The selected Students will be hired to work in LDAF Divisions which include the Office of Management & Finance, Agriculture & Environmental Services, Animal Health & Food Safety, Forestry, Soil & Water Conservation, Agro-Consumer Services, and related areas.
Louisiana’s sugar farmers and millers have been producing a reliable source of America’s favorite ingredient for centuries but so have our foreign competitors.
Our producers thrive in the face of adversity. We grow a profitable crop in nine months while the rest of the world has the luxury of a twelve-month growing season. We are some of the most efficient producers in the world and believe our farmers can compete with any farmer in the world.
Deidre Deculus Robert was promoted to Director of State Operations for Rural Development.
Most recently, Deculus Robert served as State Director of Rural Development in Louisiana. There, she worked to support rural communities across Louisiana by administering programs for affordable housing, community facilities, and the business industry. Before that, she was Executive Counsel and General Counsel for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and the Southern University and A&M College System respectively.
American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall commented today on the House and Senate Agriculture committees releasing title-by-title overviews of the 2024 farm bill.
“AFBF appreciates the House and Senate Agriculture committees’ progress to enact a new, modernized farm bill this year. We’re encouraged to see both proposals acknowledge that programs farmers and ranchers across the country use require additional investment in the face of falling commodity prices and increased inflation.”
Farmers are invited to submit nominations for the 2025 Farm Bureau Farm Dog of the Year contest, which comes with cash prizes and bragging rights. This is the seventh year of the contest, supported by Nestlé Purina PetCare, which celebrates farm dogs and the many ways they support farmers and ranchers.
The grand prize winner – Farm Bureau Farm Dog of the Year – will win a year’s worth of Purina Pro Plan dog food and $5,000 in prize money. The winner will be recognized at a Farm Dog of the Year award ceremony at the American Farm Bureau Convention in San Antonio, in January 2025.
If you visit C6 Farms website you see that their opening line is "We want to be your personal farmer". Who doesn't want to experience the art of a personal farmer? How awesome would it be for you to know exactly where your food comes from? C6 Farms said "Our goal is to provide our family and customers with the highest quality nutrient dense pasture raised meats & eggs, raised sustainably and transparently from our farm in Desoto Parish." We love that a family in DeSoto Parish is taking so much pride in feeding Northwest Louisiana.
Several bills at the state legislature this session look to place stricter regulations on imported seafood.
Proponents say the bills would ensure consumers are getting a safe product and aid local fishing industries that are dying due to imported seafood.
The LSU AgCenter and College of Agriculture hosted the inaugural AgExcellence Awards Ceremony, led by Vice President and Dean Matt Lee and emceed by Avery Davidson from the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation. The event recognized leaders whose contributions have significantly advanced the AgCenter's mission in public policy, industry, community partnerships and academia.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced loan interest rates for May 2024, which are effective May 1, 2024. USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) loans provide important access to capital to help agricultural producers start or expand their farming operation, purchase equipment and storage structures or meet cash flow needs.
USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation has announced the 2024 crop loan rate differentials for upland and extra-long staple cotton
The differentials, also referred to as loan rate premiums and discounts, were calculated based on market valuations of various cotton quality factors for the prior three years. This calculation procedure is identical to that used in past years.
Heavy rain is likely, once again, and it looks like some of the hardest hit areas in recent weeks will once again bear the brunt of this next system. There will also be at least some potential for severe weather. Over the last 24 hours, there has been an uptick in forecast rainfall amounts, as well as severe weather parameters. I've included forecast rain totals through Thursday night.
Water is both a blessing and a curse for farmers in the fertile soils of the Mississippi Delta. Quality, quantity and availability see silent shifts from year to year and add to the thrilling challenge of growing good crops in one of nature’s most unpredictable environments.
“Water is king,” said Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry Mike Strain. “What did Mark Twain say about water? ‘Whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting’ – think about that.”
The Avoyelles Parish Farm Service Agency (FSA) office in Marksville is hiring a full time Program Technician (PT). The deadline to apply is May 14, 2024.
Duties include general office activities supporting FSA programs administered at the field level. Successful applicants must be reliable, have a professional attitude and enjoy working with the public.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds agricultural producers that Farm Loan Programs can be used to support a variety of climate-smart agriculture practices, which build on many practices that farmers and ranchers already use, like cover cropping, nutrient management and conservation tillage.
According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service in Louisiana, there were 5.9 days suitable for fieldwork for the week ending Sunday, April 28, 2024. Topsoil moisture supplies were 0 percent very short, 6 percent short, 72 percent adequate, and 22 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture supplies were 0 percent very short, 6 percent short, 83 percent adequate, and 11 percent surplus.
Scientists from multiple states convened earlier this month to collaborate and share research at the Management of Invasive Species in Wetlands workshop held on the campus of LSU.
Pramod Pantha, a postdoctoral researcher in Maheshi Dassanayake’s laboratory in the LSU Department of Biological Sciences, helped to put the event together and opened the proceedings with a discussion of genomic insights into invasive traits using Phragmites australis, or roseau cane, as a model.
Low prices have encouraged export sales of all growths and U.S. cotton continues to move. Yet the level of sales is not sufficient to suggest that demand is improving. In fact, the level of sales does not even suggest any improvement in demand. Thus, cotton prices remain trapped within the narrow six cent, 77-83 cent trading range. The high 70s to low 80s trading range for both old crop and new crop will continue to prevail.
Listen to the latest markets and headlines in Louisiana Agriculture on The Voice of Louisiana Agriculture Radio Network.