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LOUISIANA
I. Significant Activities/Program
Highlights
- Environment. Louisiana Cooperative
Extension Service is working on a number of environmental issues,
including the lower Mississippi Valley initiative dealing with water
quality in the Mississippi River and hypoxia issue in the Gulf. We
have had a number of meetings regarding the issue and are developing
plans to try to impact the lower Mississippi Valley. The total maximum
daily load regulations are related and we have six research projects
related to run off on pastures as a result of poultry and dairy waste.
Additionally, there are several water quality projects going on in
row crop agriculture to determine the extent of run off problems from
agronomics sources. The Cooperative Extension Service is developing
a set of best management practice manuals and are gearing up to develop
total farm plans to assist farmers in dealing with the environmental
regulations.
- Several projects in production agriculture
are designed to improve profitability for producers. Verification
projects allows county agents and specialists to work intensely with
a few farms to demonstrate and prove that recommended practices are
effective and economical. Additionally, our animal scientists have
established a forage bull test and are working on a heifer development
program that offers lots of potential for Louisiana producers.
- Our economists have worked very diligently
on the farm financial disaster situation and have offered programs
to lenders, farmers and their families. The information has varied
from marketing, production, farm management, bankruptcy, and stress
management.
II. New Initiatives/Thrusts
Louisiana has gone through a strategic
planning process which involved forums with major stakeholders in all
64 parishes. The issues that were identified included economic development,
quality of life, education, environment, agriculture, and health and
nutrition. In response to these concerns, five initiatives have been
developed to address the issues.
The initiatives are:
- Economic Development
- Master Farmer Program
- Water Resources
- Waste Management
- Child Care
In addition, a number of ongoing programs
have been enhanced to address the specific concerns of our constituents.
III. Administrative Changes
In the last year or so we have added two
new division leaders, one in plant science, Dr. Clayton Hollier, who is
a plant pathologist, one in forestry, Dr. Bob Blackmon, who came to us
from Arkansas, and we are presently searching for a new horticulture head
and a new head for economics.
IV. Major Issues
Major programmatic concerns for Louisiana
are economic development and responding to the environmental regulations.
Additionally, we are very concerned about the quality of our staff in
the future and have undertaken a very extensive staff development program
which requires all of our field staff to take approximately 15 hours of
technical course training in a specialty area that corresponds to the
needs in their particular local.
V. New Partners
LCES is working diligently to enhance
our relationship with NRCS, DEQ, DNR as well as the traditional farm
support organizations, such as Farm Bureau, Cattleman, etc. The economics
situation, drought in the South, and environmental concerns dictate
that the various state and government agencies work closer together
to enhance the profit potential of our producers.
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