Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation Steps Up Advocacy Work Amid Drought and Economic Challenges
Anyone who’s been on the hunt for boiled crawfish this year knows that it’s been harder than in the past. The lengthy drought of 2023 has led to diminished production and smaller crawfish. Combined with increasing operational, labor and transportation costs, it’s a tough time for farmers in the industry. And, it’s not just crawfish. Experts predict that the lingering drought effects will hamper production of other key Louisiana crops like rice, soybeans and more.
In situations like this, the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation (LFBF) stands ready to support farmers and advocate to lawmakers on the local, state and federal levels on their behalf.
Read More
Louisiana Farm Bureau Working to get Help for Crawfish Farmers
This is going to be a year of surviving for Brant Lamm and his family. He and his brother are farmers and together they manage 3000 acres of land, with 1500 of those acres dedicated to crawfish. While that may sound like a lot, they, along with other Louisiana crawfish farmers, are struggling to make ends meet.
“We spent several hundred dollars an acre flushing and fertilizing all summer long and it seems like it was all for nothing at this point,” said Lamm.
Read More
USDA Census Shows the Bayou State Lost More Than 2,000 Farms Between 2017 and 2022
According to the USDA, Louisiana lost two-thousand farms between 2017 and 2022, but the amount of land used to farm has stayed about the same. Neil Melancon with the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation says smaller farms are finding it impossible to remain economically viable, so we are just seeing bigger farms.
Read More
State Peanut Organizations Seek National Peanut Board Nominees
The Georgia Peanut Commission, Texas Peanut Producers Board, South Carolina Peanut Board and the Louisiana Farm Bureau are seeking eligible peanut producers who are interested in serving on the National Peanut Board.
Nomination election meetings will be held to select two nominees each for member and alternate from each state to serve on the National Peanut Board. All eligible producers are encouraged to participate. Eligible producers are those who are engaged in the production and sale of peanuts and who own or share the ownership and risk of loss of the crop.
Read More
Louisiana Farm Bureau seeks National Peanut Board Nominees
The Louisiana Farm Bureau has announced it is seeking eligible Louisiana peanut producers who are interested in serving on the National Peanut Board. The Louisiana Farm Bureau will hold a nominations election held jointly with New Mexico to select nominees for the National Peanut Board during a meeting to be held on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. at the LSU Ag Center - Morehouse County Agents Office located at 9609 Marlatt Street in Bastrop, La.
Read More
Lobbying and Lobbyists; an Insider’s View
A lobbyist is a professional like a plumber, or a lawyer, but lobbyists provide specialized services in regard to the legislature, politics, and government. Now, politics is not everybody’s cup of tea, but that’s the whole point. You wouldn’t want to represent yourself in court, or fix your own leaky pipes, and you definitely don’t want to try and take care of your industry or profession’s politics down at the State Capitol all by yourself.
Read More
Louisiana's Drought is Fueling the ‘Unprecedented’ Crawfish Prices this Season
Louisiana's ongoing exceptional drought is making the Bayou state's staple of boiled crawfish unaffordable for many.
Louisiana is amid its worst drought since 2000, with more than 70% of the Bayou State in exceptional drought, the worst rating on the 5-level U.S. Drought Monitor scale. Many of the crawfish farmers' crops from last spring didn't survive without rain.
Read More
State Farm Bureaus Honored for Outstanding Programs and Membership Achievement
Awards recognizing excellence in implementation of outstanding member programs and membership achievement in 2023 were presented at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 105th Convention.
Read More
Louisiana Farm Bureau Members Attending National Convention, Shaping Next Farm Bill
More than 65 Louisiana Farm Bureau Members and their families are traveling to the 105th American Farm Bureau Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah. It’s at the convention where voting delegates from all 50 states and Puerto Rico set policy positions for the nation’s largest general farm organization.
Read More
Compete for Cash Prizes During the Inaugural Louisiana Ag Week
Cash prizes and bragging rights are up for grabs during the inaugural Louisiana Ag Week taking place March 18 through 22.
The Louisiana Ag in the Classroom program will be hosting a coloring contest, art contest and a video contest for students in all grades during Ag Week.
Read More
The Time is Now to Meet Your Legislators
It's time to prepare for the 2024 regular session of the Louisiana legislature that begins March 11th at the Capitol in Baton Rouge and ends June 3rd. It's an 85-day session with no restrictions on what types, or how many, pieces of legislation can be filed for the session. It's what's referred to as a, "Katy bar the door" session where anything goes.
The new year begins with a new legislative scenario, i.e. of the 144 legislators in the legislature, 46 will be new with a new governor, as well. Louisiana will have a new speaker of the house, a new president of the senate, and new chairpersons for both the house and senate committees.
Read More
Farmers in Caddo Parish Prepare for Winter Blast
The cold arctic blast on the way to the ArkLaTex and the wintery precipitation is not fit for man nor beast. And that really hits home with Marty Wooldridge of Northern Caddo Parish, a cattle farmer as he preps for the cold weather.
"We kind of know the plan, we know what we need to be doing," says Wooldridge. "We're really fortunate. You know, your guys on TV, y'all are giving us several days of warning, so we're prepping the next couple of days.
Read More
La. Farm Bureau Legislative Update: Be Prepared to Answer the Call
As the new year fast-approaches, your Farm Bureau legislative team is preparing for whatever might come ag’s way next year. Yes, we have a pro-business legislature and pro-business Governor that both support agribusiness, but that doesn’t mean Farm Bureau won’t have a fight on our hands over an issue yet to be seen; possibly an issue trickling down from the national level for each state to decide for itself.
Read More
Congresswoman Julia Letlow Introduces the Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act of 2023
Congresswoman Julia Letlow (LA-05) introduced H.R. 6717, the Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act of 2023. This proposed bill will revise two programs within the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 - the Emergency Conservation Program and the Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP), to provide farmers and owners of nonindustrial forest land who have been impacted by natural disasters with the option to receive advance emergency payments prior to carrying out emergency measures.
Read More
2024/26 Rice Leadership Development Program Class Includes 3 From Louisiana
Members of the 2024/26 Rice Leadership Development Program class were announced yesterday during the annual Rice Awards Luncheon at the 2023 USA Rice Outlook Conference. The class is comprised of seven rice industry professionals selected by a committee of agribusiness leaders.
“This is an excellent group that displays exceptional leadership potential,” said Rice Foundation Director Dr. Steve Linscombe. “They also represent a mix of southern and west coast individuals which always makes for good class dynamics.”
Read More
