Agriculture

Sugarcane acreage in Louisiana is likely to increase this year after the recent successful harvest, LSU AgCenter sugarcane specialist Kenneth Gravois predicted at a recent meeting for sugarcane growers in Iberia and St. Mary parishes.
Gravois said the 2018 crop totaled 459,000 acres, an increase of 19,000 acres from 2017.

More than 230 rice industry members gathered here for the annual meetings of the Louisiana Rice Council (LARC) and the Louisiana Rice Growers Association (LARGA), and to hear reports and updates from Baton Rouge and Washington, DC.
The meeting opened with the powerful Future Farmers of America creed delivered by Isabella Hardy, a freshman at Lacassine High School, and then remarks from Gov. John Bel Edwards, who praised the rice industry for contributing to the economy of Louisiana that he said was going strong.

Thirteen farmers who completed an LSU AgCenter environmental stewardship training program were recognized at a ceremony Jan. 10.
Members of the 2018 class of Louisiana Master Farmers received certificates during the annual Louisiana Association of Conservation Districts meeting at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Baton Rouge.
To qualify, they had to attend educational sessions about research-based conservation strategies and write plans for implementing such practices on their farms.