We’ve all had that friend who’s indulged too much and become belligerent, thus becoming a burden and pain to all those around them. In many ways, that’s how some have described 2020 thus far.
Read MoreOpportunities to connect and network with other farmers and ranchers are something I don’t take for granted. I’m writing this as we’re concluding the seventh beef tour through Louisiana Farm Bureau’s Livestock Advisory Committee. As I reflect on these trips spanning Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri and now Florida, I am amazed at how priceless these experiences are. We’ve seen small farms and large ranches, incredibly rich seedstock operations, dairies which process milk on site, and make cheese and ice cream, stocker outfits weaning and preconditioning tens of thousands of cattle - the list is endless and I can go on and on.
Read MoreReady or not, 2020 is here. Along with the festivities of the New Year come the awards show season for Hollywood’s most glamorous. ‘Tis the season for the rich and famous from all over the world to travel to the west coast in private jets and rock the red carpet showing off exquisite gowns that will likely be worn only once.
Read MoreAlternative protein products are making their way into retail markets in multiple forms. Whether in the form of a plant-based protein looking and tasting like beef or a product grown from beef cells in a lab, beef as we know it has some new competition in the retail marketplace. In many respects, this shouldn’t come as a surprise to farmers and ranchers as the spectrum of consumer products, services and technology has experienced more compounded growth in the past century than in the all of the previous history.
Read MoreWomen’s History Month annually highlights the contributions of women to the world and agriculture is no exception.
Did you know over 3,500 of Louisiana’s farms have women in both ownership and management roles? I didn’t know that until I read a statistic from the Louisiana Women in Agriculture Conference, which is being held this year on March 21.
Read More2019. Is. Here. While 2018 brought us some amazing honors and opportunities, it also brought us the most difficult personal challenges I’ve ever faced. I am not sorry to see the end of 2018. The new year finds us wrapping up calving season, and while the winter has been a wet one, we’re grateful that so far it’s been mild.
Read MoreImagine this: “Dumping #romaine today that was harvested Wednesday and had no association whatsoever with the current EColi #outbreak. Will the next fields get harvested? Wish we could have at least taken it to the #FoodBank. Almost $0.20/lb and 6 months of hard work invested.”
Read MoreAs a cattle farmer, when asked what I think about the current state of the soybean industry, with a heavy heart a couple of things come to mind. Soybean farmers are in the midst of what’s become the perfect storm – an abundant crop that is putting downward supply pressure on prices, coupled with the double-whammy of the trade war has soybean prices lower than they have been in decades. In much of Louisiana, as well as other regions in the county, soggy weather has dealt the final blow to the 2018 soybean crop by causing moderate to severe damage to the beans.
Read MoreOur right to farm is under attack. I’m not talking about from state laws. Think in the context of our social license to farm. We see this threat in varying degrees nationwide, but this is something we, as farmers, need to face head on. In the past few months, there have been 27 lawsuits filed in North Carolina, pitting local hog farms as the defendants in cases where the plaintiffs allege the farms are a legal nuisance to the community and unreasonably interfere with their property. Ironically, the plaintiffs are neighbors who moved into the community of these already-established hog farms. In two of these suits, the juries ruled against the farmer, putting them out of business and awarding the neighbors several million dollars.
Read MoreFarmers and ranchers have had the spotlight of national media attention for the past several months, and not necessarily in a positive light. Of course the trade negotiations are a recurring story, whether it’s the impacts of NAFTA or trade wars with China. As our margins are already tight, and we’ve already experienced market declines based on speculation, I hope these trade talks settle in a few short-term battles rather than a long-lasting war. But trade isn’t the only topic bringing attention to farmers and ranchers. Thanks in large part to a Centers for Disease Control Study released in 2016, numerous stories and articles by many of the national and international media outlets have covered suicide rates among farmers and ranchers.
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