Louisiana Farm & Ranch

09/13/2024

On a blisteringly hot Wednesday afternoon on the Stelly family farm near Kaplan, barrels worth of golden rice kernels pour into a container to be hauled off for processing. After days of rain, fifth generation rice farmers Sandrus and Adlar Stelly are glad to finally be ramping up their harvest.

“Everybody is in the fields harvesting right now,” said Ronnie Levy, Louisiana rice specialist at the LSU AgCenter. Levy has been making his rounds to four farms in Acadia, Allen, Jeff Davis and Vermilion parishes to help farmers improve their operations and test out the AgCenter’s research in real-life conditions.

This year, Louisiana farmers planted more rice than last year, but slightly less than expected due to very wet conditions during planting season. In total, 475,000 acres of rice were planted across the state this year, compared to 462,000 last year.

Read more here: https://www.lafarmandranch.com/feature-stories1/rainy-weather-spells-new-challenges-for-rice-farmers-after-last-years-historic-drought

08/06/2024

CAMERON PARISH – Hubern Doxey’s family has lived off the land in Cameron Parish for generations. His grandfather was one of the state’s most prolific fur traders. Prior to the 2020 hurricanes that reduced much of the parish to rubble and pushed many of its residents to leave, his family also owned an oyster house in Cameron. Doxey himself is a fisherman who specializes in crabs, shrimp and oysters.

“My kids, when they’re old enough to take over, hopefully I’ll still be in business,” Doxey said of the next generation poised to continue the family tradition.

🦪 To continue reading, visit our website:
https://www.lafarmandranch.com/feature-stories1/long-known-for-its-wild-reefs-calcasieu-lake-now-produces-its-first-farmed-oysters

04/04/2024

Beautiful weather for picking CM Farms’ Louisiana strawberries! 🍓

🍓🍓🍓 Did someone say STRAWBERRIES? Good news, y'all! Our u-pick fields are officially opening this Saturday.. just in time for the kick off of our Strawberry Fest!

Some things to know before this weekend!
-We will have tons of strawberry themed food and dessert available
-Farm attractions will be open for exploring
-Strawberry Fest will run April 6, 7, 13, 14
-We will have a special event- Wool Days April 13 & 14
-U-pick is on a first come, first serve basis
-A 1 gallon strawberry souvenir bucket purchase is required to enter u-pick fields
-Pre-picked strawberries will be available to purchase in the Country Store

Learn more: cmfarmsllc.com

04/04/2024

Easter Sunday on the Heinen farm in Hathaway, LA!

03/27/2024

The 2024 crawfish crop has been disastrous so far, affecting farmers and businesses that depend heavily on the crustacean, and the impact on the area economy will be significant.

Normally, crawfish pumps more than a quarter billion dollars into the Louisiana economy but that amount this year will be drastically reduced.

Eric Thomas, a Rayne crawfish dealer, said the market is looking better than the past 2 months. The price has dropped, and more people are eating crawfish.

“The price was $8 a pound and now it’s $4,” he said on March 4 when the price fell by $1. “The industry has never seen prices like this.”

🦞 To continue reading our latest feature story, "The 2024 Crawfish Crop: A Record-Setting Season for All the Wrong Reasons", click here: https://www.lafarmandranch.com/feature-stories1/the-2024-crawfish-crop-a-record-setting-season-for-all-the-wrong-reasons

02/27/2024

More than a third of the food we eat comes from crops pollinated by honey bees. That is why Dr. Lanie Bilodeau of the USDA Bee Lab in Baton Rouge works hard to keep our managed bee population healthy.

​One of Louisiana’s best kept agricultural research secrets is the USDA’s Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics, and Physiology Lab. Just south of the main LSU Campus, the facility’s cluster of buildings are jam-packed with tables of microscopes, shelves of experimental plants, rooms of high-tech machinery such as genetic analyzers and bioreactors, and freezers filled with DNA samples. Scattered around it all are towers and towers of humming bee hives. Beyond the compound lies open fields, where the lab’s bees forage.

🐝To continue reading, visit our website:
https://www.lafarmandranch.com/feature-stories1/louisianas-usda-honey-bee-lab-keeping-our-bee-industry-humming

11/27/2023

When Mark Guidry (“Guidry”) and his business partners sold their oilfield casing business of 35 years, Guidry finally had the time to bring his long time dream of farming to life.

Decades earlier, he told his pharmacist father, now 95, “I’ll own an organic farm one day.” The notion of producing food always intrigued him and turns out, it was in his blood–though it skipped a few generations. His great grandfather, Dominique Guidry owned farmland which was eventually sold and developed.

For the full story on Guidry Organic Farms, click here:
https://www.lafarmandranch.com/feature-stories1/guidry-organic-farms-from-the-oilfield-to-the-field-of-dreams

11/13/2023

LAFAYETTE – At peak hours, there is almost always a line waiting out the door of the new location of Scratch Farm Kitchen, a laid-back breakfast and lunch restaurant in the middle of Lafayette. Scratch is known for its fresh, “from-scratch” casual dishes made from locally-grown ingredients. The menu also includes an interesting variety of coffees, lemonades, teas, beer, seasonal cocktails, and natural and organic wines. Many Acadiana diners claim it’s their favorite place to eat, so I decided to see what all the fuss was about.

Scratch is owned and operated by Jamie Harson, who, at the age of 30, moved from Oregon to what was once her great-grandfather’s 18-acre farm in Duson. Harson, who was featured in a 2016 Farm & Ranch article, jumped headlong into farm life by raising chickens, meat birds, goats, and some 300 pigs.

“So much has changed since then,” says Harson. “I began farming because I care about the quality of my food. But raising animals is hard work. So, I sold most of my livestock and veered off into the restaurant business.”

To continue reading, click here:
https://www.lafarmandranch.com/bites-of-louisiana

Scratch owner Jamie Harson standing in front of persimmon tree mural painted by local artist Ben Koch. Photo by Cynthia Nobles.

10/28/2023

With cool weather around the corner, Chuck and Jackie Melsheimer of CM Farms have just opened the gates to a much-anticipated outdoor activity for the whole family, their annual corn maze.

The Melsheimers operate a 1,300-acre farm in Dry Creek, a rural community in the east-central part of Beauregard Parish.

On pastureland, the couple raises 500 cattle, which are mainly crossbreds, along with Angus, Hereford, and Brahman bulls. They also have an impressive herd of longhorns.

Visit our website to continue reading:
https://www.lafarmandranch.com/feature-stories1/fall-fun-at-cm-farms

08/24/2023

“Florida gets all the press for alligators,” Linscombe says. “But theirs are mostly tourist attractions. We do a much better job capitalizing on hides and meat. Actually, every inch of a gator has a use.”

​In Louisiana, wild alligators have been hunted commercially since the 1800s. Licensed alligator farming through LDWF’s Alligator Ranching Program began in 1986. Initiation of the farm program was an effort to shore up the gator population after Louisiana had conducted a nationally and much-heralded conservation effort that shut down hunting from 1962-1972.

“It’s hard to believe, says Linscombe, “but alligators used to be on the endangered list. Now Louisiana has over 2 million. We’re managing them so well that habitat loss is their biggest threat. The farm program gives landowners a chance to make money by protecting wetlands for alligators. That’s a big win for everybody.”

For more of this story, click here:
https://www.lafarmandranch.com/feature-stories1/alligators-from-marsh-and-farms-to-hides-and-meat

07/30/2023

When purple bird droppings begin appearing on my tomato plants, I know that the mulberries are ripe. A gnarly-trunked mulberry tree grows down a gravel road by my house, and every spring it produces clusters of dark purple berries that ooze with juice.

Spring is also prime time for searching along the fence in a nearby field for wild dewberries, which is not the same as blackberries, which ripen along another field a few weeks later.

Throughout the years that I’ve strolled the pastures and woods on my family’s farm, I’ve always kept an eye out for wild edibles. John Nettles, an experienced forager and naturalist from Baton Rouge, shares my curiosity and love of dining on the unexpected.

To continue reading the latest 'Bites of Louisiana', visit our website: https://www.lafarmandranch.com/bites-of-louisiana

07/30/2023

BOYCE– Residents and tourists alike may have the opportunity to experience a unique spectacle in the mostly rural north-central portion of Rapides Parish–a family of jugglers.

While you will not find Robert or Rachel Duncan under a circus tent–or even the Rapides Parish Coliseum–what you will find is a happy thriving family that has a distinctively diversified agricultural operation.

As for the first part of their act, the Duncans manage just shy of 200 commercial female cattle. Their calf crop is mostly sold through Superior Livestock in Rapides Parish while the remainder of their herd is sold directly to consumers–adding the first proverbial balls to the imaginary spectacle, beef cattle farmers and retail beef sellers.

Read more here: https://www.lafarmandranch.com/feature-stories1/rapides-parish-farming-couple-earns-farm-bureau-accolades-with-agricultural-juggling-act

06/26/2023

CROWLEY – As Louisiana approaches summer, warmer temperatures and afternoon showers are nudging the state’s 2023 rice crop closer toward harvest.

LSU AgCenter rice specialist Ronnie Levy said rice growers are scouting their crops for diseases as the current warm and wet weather patterns allow fungal diseases such as blast and cercosperaq to propagate.

“It’s still early in the season, but we’re starting to see a little bit of disease showing up,” Levy said. “With the weather we are starting to have, it is something we have to be concerned about.”

Rice growth was slowed a bit earlier in the season because of cooler temperatures, Levy said. But beneficial weather patterns have allowed the early-planted crop to catch up.

https://www.lafarmandranch.com/feature-stories1/2023-rice-crop-benefitting-from-warm-summer-weather-pattern

05/01/2023

MERMENTAU – This is Christian Guinn’s first year of farming on his own, and the 22-year-old is getting a hard-earned lesson in agricultural economics of supply and demand.

While his crawfish catch is respectable, the price isn’t.

“It’s been hard this year,” Christian said while driving to check on crawfish and rice fields.

He said crawfish production has been good on his 150 acres -- after a slow start because of cold weather -- but prices have dropped considerably. “During Lent alone, it’s dropped three times.”

To continue reading, click here: https://www.lafarmandranch.com/feature-stories1/christian-guinn-first-year-farmer-endures-a-tough-crawfish-season

03/19/2023

If you like to buy beef that’s been raised in Louisiana, you have no doubt heard of Coastal Plains Meat Company.

Chip Perrin and his business partner, David Billings, are the Eunice-based processing plant’s owners. The two military veterans’ dream of promoting local, sustainably-raised cattle came to life in 2021, when they bought the old Eunice Superette Slaughterhouse on Highway 91. In the short time since, Coastal Plains has become our state’s largest beef processor.

On a recent visit to the 22,000-foot facility, Perrin told me that his company’s vision is to “give pride in Louisiana beef. We want to strengthen the Louisiana cattle industry,” he says. “And we’re doing that by sourcing premium local products.”

Read more here: https://www.lafarmandranch.com/feature-stories1/coastal-plains-meat-company-heres-the-beef

02/24/2023

PONCHATOULA – William Fletcher owns Fletcher Farm in Ponchatoula and he has been growing southeast Louisiana’s famously sweet strawberries for 25 years. Along with 8 acres of seasonal vegetables, William grows 6 acres of berries. “This farm belonged to my grandfather, George Edward Fletcher,” he says. “He cleared stumps with mules and dynamite. And he grew strawberries.”

“I grew up in Ponchatoula,” William says. “I’ve lived other places, but there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” He and his wife, Ginger, are the fourth generation of family to live in his grandfather’s old house.

Surprisingly, he is one of only three strawberry farmers left in the city known as the “Strawberry Capital of the World.” With over 75 percent of Louisiana’s strawberries growing in Tangipahoa Parish, the state’s industry has a gross farm value of $8.4 million. That’s quite a drop from $15.2 million in 2012.

🍓For more of this story, and for recipes, click here: https://www.lafarmandranch.com/feature-stories1/fletcher-farm-strawberries-carrying-on-a-sweet-tradition

01/12/2023

Eunice – A collaborative effort among LSU Eunice, the LSU AgCenter and a host of agricultural and civic organizations is fostering interests in agricultural careers in the tri-parish area.

The Sustaining Future Farms in Louisiana program is beginning its inaugural semester within the school’s Agriculture Department this month. At the helm of this new venture is Program Manager Caitlin Denux. She said the program stemmed from funding from a U.S. Department of Labor grant that was awarded to the college last year.

“The purpose of the grant is to reinvigorate an aging population of farmers; to provide college credit for youths who are interested in agriculture; and to provide some relief to unemployment that was caused by COVID and natural disasters,” Denux said.

Read more here:
https://www.lafarmandranch.com/feature-stories1/free-program-aims-to-bolster-agricultural-careers-in-tri-parish-community

12/30/2022

WEST MONROE – For a bit of Napa Valley right here in Louisiana, jump in your car and visit the tasting room, winery, and vineyards at Landry Vineyards in West Monroe.

Jeff and Libby Landry have been growing wine grapes for 22 years. Throughout that time, Jeff has not only learned how to coax vines to produce in Louisiana’s challenging climate, but he’s also mastered the winemaking ropes.

The result of his labor is an impressive portfolio of 24 dry and semi-sweet whites and reds, and a few ports. Some red wines, such as an elegant Cabernet Franc and a fruity Petite Sirah, are French oak-finished and full-bodied, and stand up to comparables costing twice the price.

🍷Read more on Landry Vineyards here:
https://www.lafarmandranch.com/bites-of-louisiana