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This Week In Louisiana Agriculture is a weekly show created to connect Louisiana farmers, ranchers, and fishermen with consumers across Louisiana and around the world. Each week, we’ll share the show here and take a look behind-the-scenes of This Week In Louisiana Agriculture, one of the longest-running television programs in Louisiana.
Welcome
{KRISTEN}
HI. I'M KRISTEN OAKS-WHITE.
{AVERY}
AND I'M AVERY DAVIDSON.
THANK YOU FOR JOINING US FOR THIS WEEK IN LOUISIANA AGRICULTURE.
MIKE JOHNSON TOWN HALL
{AVERY}
FARMERS FROM ACROSS LOUISIANA PUT HARVEST ON HOLD TO GATHER IN RUSTON FOR A RARE OPPORTUNITY: FACE TIME WITH THE SPEAKER OF THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
{KRISTEN}
CONGRESSMAN MIKE JOHNSON, JOINED BY AMERICAN FARM BUREAU PRESIDENT ZIPPY DUVALL AND LOUISIANA FARM BUREAU PRESIDENT RICHARD FONTENOT, SAT DOWN WITH LOUISIANA FARM BUREAU LEADERS TO CELEBRATE A MAJOR VICTORY FOR AGRICULTURE-- THE ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL ACT.
MIKE JOHNSON TOWN HALL
We're here today to celebrate one big, beautiful bill for agriculture, but also to celebrate agriculture throughout this great state and Farm Bureau with Speaker Johnson having only one day in August recess to visit his district, he invited agriculture to the table. Whenever you have this many producers across the great state, not only driving four and five hours, but it's harvest season.
They're parking combines. They're parking tractors to come share their appreciation and support, not only with the speaker zone, but what Louisiana Farm Bureau has done for them. And in bring that message to come, show him from across this great state what agriculture means not only to us, but to him and the administration and to Louisiana as a whole.
Yeah, we're really excited to deliver the one big, beautiful bill for the American people. All boats are going to rise across the economy. All hardworking Americans are going to do better, but specifically in the AG and in the community with farmers and ranchers, they'll get a lot of assistance here. The commodity prices will be addressed. We're going to have a decrease in trade barriers around the world.
So more American ag products and commodities will be shipped around the globe, and we'll have lowered tariff and trade barriers because the president is negotiating all these favorable trade agreements. But the tax piece is so important because small operators, small businesses, small farms will be able to expense a lot of their investments and growing their farms and adding more and more.
So it's a good thing for the American people, a good thing for the community. And it's it's top of mind for the president and for all Republicans in Congress will continue to work on it.
We think that everybody knows why we do and what we do on the farm. And that's not true. Less than 2% of us are on the farm doing that. And we understand it. But my time with the president of the United States of America, the most powerful man in the world, proved to me our stories are important because he had question after question after question about why is the economy on the farm bad?
Why do you know you need crop protection tools like pesticides so he can understand and you would think someone like him would understand. But then when I left, I realized that he's the real estate guy. Why should we expect him to know that? And that tells me that our stories are so important because with understand know what we do and why we do it comes trust.
And with that trust comes support. And what we need is people to support our food system so that we can continue to keep their pantries full and keep that national security that assures that country.
Food security is national security. And we are the people that produce and feed America, our districts like mine. There's a lot of members of Congress who don't fully understand and appreciate that, because they may not come from an ag district. And so we have an education challenge on our hands all the time. So it is top of mind for us.
You have great leadership with Farm Bureau that are in Washington all the time. They hearing from their constituents makes a big, big difference. And so it's an all a full team approach that that coordination between all those elements is what's going to make us produce good policy. And we're really excited about what's ahead of us.
MIKE JOHNSON TOWN HALL
{KRISTEN}
SPEAKER JOHNSON SAYS HE'S VERY OPTIMISTIC THAT CONGRESS WILL BE ABLE TO DELIVER A NEW FARM BILL BY THE END OF THE YEAR. LOUISIANA FARM BUREAU LEADERS SAY THEY'LL KEEP WORKING TO MAKE SURE AGRICULTURE STAYS AT THE TABLE--AND AT THE TOP OF THE AGENDA.
Higgins Rice Tariff Recommendations
{AVERY}
LOUISIANA CONGRESSMAN CLAY HIGGINS IS ASKING PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP FOR HIGHER TARIFFS ON RICE IMPORTED FROM THAILAND, SAYING IT'S A THREAT TO LOUISIANA FARMERS.
{VO}
IN THE LETTER, HIGGINS SAYS JASMINE AND LONG-GRAIN RICE PRODUCERS ARE PARTICULARLY IMPACTED BY IMPORTS FROM THAILAND.
HE CITES A "FLOOD" OF THAI RICE THAT'S DISPLACING PURCHASES FROM AMERICAN RICE MILLS AND DEPRESSING PRICES FOR FARMERS.
HE ASKS TRUMP FOR TARIFFS AS HIGH AS 100-PERCENT ON THAI RICE IMPORTS. WHEN WE'RE SHOOTING THIS SHOW ON AUGUST 6TH, TARIFFS ON THAI RICE SIT AT ABOUT 19 PERCENT.
HIGGINS CALLED FOR SIMILAR TARIFFS ON RICE AND SEAFOOD FROM OTHER COUNTRIES EARLIER THIS YEAR.
AFBF MAHA Recommendations
{KRISTEN}
THE AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION IS DEPLOYING NEW TACTICS TO AID IN DEVELOPING THE MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN...OR MAHA MOVEMENT.
AFBF SENT A LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE MAHA COMMISSION, CALLING FOR ADVANCING AMERICAN INNOVATION BY DEDICATING FUNDING FOR AGRICULTURAL TOOLS AND MACHINERY.
THEY'RE ALSO ASKING FOR PUBLIC INVESTMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH, SUPPORT FOR PESTICIDES, AND A MEANS FOR SCHOOLS TO BUY DIRECTLY FROM FARMS FOR KIDS' MEALS.
YOU CAN READ THE FULL RECOMMENDATION LIST FROM THE AFBF RIGHT NOW ON TWILA-TV-DOT-ORG.
TOSS TO JOSH & KARL
{KRISTEN}
THIS YEAR, DOZENS OF 4-H STUDENTS FROM ACROSS THE STATE GOT THE TRIP OF A LIFETIME....GETTING TO TOUR IRELAND AND SEE HOW FARMERS OPERATE IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD.
{AVERY}
IT WAS A TEN DAY EXPEDITION FROM DUBLIN TO GALWAY AND BACK. TWILA'S KARL WIGGERS AND JOSH MEEKS GOT TO TAG ALONG, AND JOIN US NOW FROM THE EMERALD ISLE.
WELCOME TO DUBLIN
{JOSH}
That's right. Kristen and and Avery. We are in Ireland, literally the Emerald Isle, surrounded by so much green. It's so vibrant here. You can almost taste the green. It's just everywhere. So beautiful. And we are so fortunate to have been invited on this trip by Louisiana, for which we are tagging along with more than 100 students and teachers and volunteers, staff, parents to explore this beautiful country.
{KARL}
Yeah. And I'm I'm nervous that our words or our video will not do this justice. I mean, it's just all inspiring, driving down the roads on the wrong side and just getting to tour some of these farms and seeing the sights. It's beautiful and I'm really hoping that we do it justice. With such a large group that we have, we're split into two busses and two groups, the other being a few days ahead on the itinerary. So we'll be following some of these students to really take in the agriculture take in the culture. We see all across the Irish countryside.
{JOSH}
And our coverage starts in what better place to see the center of Irish culture and history. Dublin.
WELCOME TO DUBLIN
AFTER NEARLY HALF A DAY ON A PLANE...INCLUDING SOME OF THESE KIDS' FIRST *EVER* TIME FLYING....THESE 4-H'ERS LANDED IN IRELAND READY TO EXPLORE.
It was honestly, like, really scary, but also really exciting to be on. Like, I've never touched this land before.
ADDIE HINES, A JUNIOR FROM TANGIPAHOA PARISH, SAYS THE TIME CHANGE IS THE HARDEST PART ABOUT TRAVELING SO FAR.
So we got, like, three hours of sleep last night. We we got on the plane pretty late, and then when we got here, it was 7:00 in the morning. So, all day yesterday, flying and then three hours of sleep. And we won't get to our hotel till 9 p.m. tonight. So it was very exhausted at.
DESPITE THE EXHAUSTION, SHE'S TAKING IT ALL IN. THERE'S A LOT TO LEARN YOUR FIRST TIME IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY. IRELAND USES THE EURO, THE MAIN LANGUAGE IS ENGLISH BUT MANY KIDS ARE TAUGHT IRISH GAELIC IN SCHOOL, AND THE COUNTRY ONLY GAINED ITS INDEPENDENCE FROM GREAT BRITAIN IN 1922.
there's places here in Ireland that are twice as old, three times as old as the country we live in the colony. They're older than the colonies that start in America, much less anything we have in Louisiana.
DAYTON PENNINGTON SAYS HE WAS FASCINATED BY THE TOUR OF ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL....A BUILDING NEARLY THREE TIMES OLDER THAN THE USA.
It was amazing to see the history not just from when the church was established, but even going up to, going into like the 1800s, going into the 1900s, like, you can tell that the churches have been alive and it's still growing since it was founded.
AND OF COURSE THERE ARE PLENTY OF CASTLES....AT KILKENNY CASTLE, BUILT IN 1260, SINAYA STEWART SAYS SHE WAS TAKING INSPIRATION TO DESIGN HER FUTURE HOUSE.
Of my favorite room was probably, I don't know the name of it, but it was like the gallery was red and had, like a bunch of different paintings in it. It was huge. The ceiling was painted. It was so pretty. It was like my favorite room.
IRELAND ISN'T ONLY RICH IN HISTORY, IT'S ALSO THE SECOND WEALTHIEST COUNTRY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION. DUBLIN IS HOME TO BOOMING TECH AND PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES. BUT THEY HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN THEIR ROOTS.
THE 4-HERS GOT THE TREAT OF A TRADITIONAL IRISH MUSIC AND DANCE SHOW. REMEMBER HOW BIG RIVERDANCE WAS IN THE STATES WAY BACK WHEN? WELL IT'S STILL ALIVE AND KICKING HERE. GRACIE MOORE CAUGHT THE BUG AND JUMPED UP TO DANCE WITH THE PERFORMERS.
Me and my mom, we're always doing kind of crazy stuff like that. We like to venture out and just do fun stuff.
SHE'S HOPING TO MAKE THE BEST OUT OF THIS TRIP, BECAUSE SHE CAUGHT THE IRISH BUG AT A YOUNG AGE.
So when I was in pre-K, we had a lesson on Saint Patrick's Day, like the, the dancing that they do in Ireland. And my mom has a video of me on Facebook that she buys every year of me doing the dancing. So I just kind of loved it ever since.
AND THERE'S STILL SO MUCH TO LOOK FORWARD TO.
I'm probably most excited for the cattle farm.
I'm very excited to see the, sheepdog presentation I think that's going to be very interesting.
seeing the castles and the different buildings and the architecture here.
It's a once in a lifetime experience. So it's really is is huge, is huge, is humongous.
IRISH NATIONAL STUD
{KARL}
Walking around pretty much any street, you're going to find one of the most notable brands that everyone associates with Ireland, and that's Guinness. And this next story is about one of the country's biggest agriculture exports: Horses.
IRISH NATIONAL STUD
THE BEAUTIFUL GROUNDS AT THE IRISH NATIONAL STUD AND GARDENS ARE BREATHTAKING. THIS IS WHERE LOUISIANA 4-H STUDENTS GOT THEIR FIRST LOOK AT IRISH AGRICULTURE WITH A GUIDED TOUR FROM DAVID WARDELL, THE TOURISM MANAGER AT THE IRISH NATIONAL STUD. HE SAYS TOURS LIKE THIS ARE PART OF THE CORE MISSION OF THIS FARM.
we are a semi-state organization which primarily breeds top class racehorses. We are the showpiece of of an industry in Ireland, which is, people don't really understand it. It employs over 30,000 people and brings in a huge amount of foreign investment.
THE STUDENTS WALKED THE EXPANSIVE FIELDS TO LEARN ABOUT THE PAST AND SEE THE FUTURE OF THE IRISH RACING INDUSTRY. WARDELL EXPLAINS THE SUCESS IN RAISING GREAT HORSES LIES DEEP BENEATH THESE GREEN FIELDS AND IS ROOTED DEEP IN IRISH CULTURE.
And it's the limestone in our land. All that heavy mineral content which grows sense. Wonderful big bones, strong bones. It's not just race horses, it's it's sports horses. It's showjumping, it's Connemara ponies. It's in our DNA.
ADDIE AND MICHAEL HINES HAVE HORSES AT HOME, ONCE USED FOR MICHAEL TO RODEO WITH. MICHAEL SAYS A TOUR LIKE THIS HAS HUGE VALUE TO EVERYONE, REGARDLESS OF EXPERIENCE WITH LIVESTOCK.
Oh, that's it's amazing. You know, and what's even better than that is there's kids that don't necessarily have necessarily grown up on a farm or grown up around livestock, have the opportunity to either learn about it, but still come see it and be a part of it. So that's amazing.
ADDIE LOVED HOW MUCH SPACE THE HORSES HAD TO GRAZE.
What I really thought was interesting was that these horses are in like stables, 24/7. They're out there able to go out and graze and things like that.
It was a huge farm with like a bunch of different types of animals, and they were all like, spread out and they all had enough space where they could just kind of walk around. I really loved that. I thought it was very cool.
THAT'S GRACIE MOORE FROM WINN PARISH.. WHILE SHE AND ALL OF THE STUDENTS ENJOYED SEEING THE FIELDS AND HORSES, THERE WAS SOMETHING ELSE HERE THAT WAS A BIT MORE HANDS-ON.. THE IRISH RACEHORSE EXPERIENCE.
HERE PARTICIPANTS PAIRED UP - A JOCKEY AND A TRAINER - TO BUY A HORSE, NAME IT, TRAIN IT, AND ULTIMATELY TAKE THAT HORSE TO THE TRACK, VIRTUALLY.
this one's mine
GRACIE WON THE RACE, WITH SYERRA IN SECOND, AND ADDIE THIRD.
My strategy? I thought that going like this would make it go faster but I think that was wrong.
REGARDLESS OF THE STANDINGS, THESE KIDS LEARNED A LOT ABOUT THE RACING INDUSTRY THROUGH THIS EXPERIENCE.
You have to start at short distances to get them good at that, and then expand to longer distances
I think what I learned was how crucial training actually is.
MORE THAN RACING, THIS TOUR HIGHLIGHTS THE ROLE THIS FARM PLAYS IN IRISH AGRICULTURE, WHICH IS SOMETHING DAVID IS VERY PROUD TO SHOW HIS GUESTS.
But if you do the tour here, you understand that this is a commercial farm. They could be sheep, they should be cattle, but they happen to be a five star hotel for horses. It's exactly the same. We are a commodity to breed the finest, strongest, fastest racehorses in the world.
TOSS TO STUDIO
{JOSH}
And that was just the first of many stories we are so excited to bring to you from here in Ireland. Join TWILA all August long. We'll be showing you cliffs, cattle, castles and so much more from across the Emerald Isle. But for now, signing off for this week in Louisiana agriculture, I'm Josh Meeks.
{KARL}
And I'm Karl Wiggers, back to you guys.
IRELAND TAG
{KRISTEN}
YOU CAN FIND ALL OF KARL AND JOSH'S BLOG POSTS, PICTURES, VIDEO, AND EVERYTHING ELSE FROM IRELAND ON OUR WEBSITE, TWILA-TV-DOT-ORG.
Welsh Cattleman's Event
{AVERY}
GROUND BEEF PRICES ARE UP 12-PERCENT SINCE LAST SUMMER AND HIT A RECORD HIGH THIS YEAR. THAT'S ACCORDING TO THE U-S BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. THAT SAID, CATTLE PRICES ARE ALSO HITTING RECORD HIGHS, WHICH IS MAKING THIS AN INTERESTING TIME TO BE THE CATTLE BUSINESS.
{VO}
THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY THE LOUISIANA CATTLEMEN'S ASSOCIATION HOSTED THIS EVENT IN WELSH. THIS IS THE INAUGURAL COWPOKES AND CATTLEMEN HELD AT THE LACASSINE COMMUNITY CENTER. ORGANIZER BRETT RICHARD SAYS HE WAS LOOKING FOR A WAY TO GET YOUNGER PEOPLE INVOLVED IN L-C-A AND CAME UP WITH THE IDEA FOR THIS EVENT.
SOTVO WELSH CATTLEMAN'S EVENT
Yeah, man, it's a great time to be in the cattle business. It's a little hard to get in with the price of admission right now.
But there there's Programs where there's with FSA, USDA, there's ways to get in. And our Hope is that we can show with different tools that we talked about today, that there's ways to manage The business, to be able to be profitable, be successful so they can continue to stay in business for years to come.
{CONT VO}
THE MORE THAN 100 PEOPLE IN ATTENDANCE HEARD PRESENTATIONS ABOUT HERD HEALTH, RECORD KEEPING AND ANIMAL NUTRITION.
Tease 1
{AVERY}
STILL TO COME ON TWILA... FOR NATIONAL FARMERS WEEK, THE NATIONAL MALL IN D-C TURNS INTO A GIANT FARMERS MARKET.
{KRISTEN}
PLUS, COCA COLA'S ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT USING CANE SUGAR IS ALREADY AFFECTING LOUISIANA'S SUGAR CANE FARMERS.
SOT BUMP OUT
YOU'RE WATCHING THIS WEEK IN LOUISIANA AGRICULTURE. THE ONLY T-V SHOW BRINGING LOUISIANA FARMERS AND CONSUMERS TOGETHER EVERY WEEK.
NATIONAL FARMERS MARKET
{AVERY}
IT'S NATIONAL FARMERS WEEK. THE WEEK LONG CELEBRATION KICKED OFF IN OUR NATION'S CAPITOL WITH THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE NATIONAL MALL INTO A FARMER'S MARKET.
{KRISTEN}
LOUISIANA WAS REPRESENTED THERE BY THE FOLKS AT 4 SISTERS RICE AND BY TWILA'S TAMMI ARENDER, WHO BRINGS US THAT STORY.
NATIONAL FARMERS MARKET
THE GREEN SPACE BETWEEN THE NATION'S CAPITOL AND THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT IS NORMALLY JUST THAT A GREEN SPACE. BUT NOW IT'S TURNED INTO THE GREAT AMERICAN FARMER'S MARKET FOR THE KICK OFF OF NATIONAL FARMER'S MARKET WEEK.
AGRICULTURE SECRETARY BROOKE ROLLINS ALONG WITH THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, KELLY LEOFFLER, WANTED NATIONAL FARMERS WEEK TO BE LIKE NO OTHER. ROLLINS GOAL-TO HAVE PRODUCERS FROM ALL 50 STATES REPRESENTED. SO THAT VISITORS TO D-C WILL KNOW ABOUT THE PASSION AND HARD WORK OF OUR FARMERS AND RANCHERS.
I hope they go back with a love and heart for real America and rural America. Meat and cheese don't come from a grocery store. Government has to get out of their way
IT WAS A MONUMENTAL CHALLENGE TO GET FRESH PRODUCE AND MEAT PRODUCTS TO THE NATION'S CAPITOL, SO ONLY ABOUT 35 STATES PARTICIPATED. FOR 4 SISTERS RICE OUT OF MER ROUGE LOUISIANA, THE THOUSAND PLUS MILE TRIP WAS WORTH THE COST.
it's so worth it just to be here to represent LA and show our product to so many wonderful people here in Washington
FOR THE HANCOCKS, OUT OF BEL ALTON MARYLAND, IT WAS A CHANCE TO SHOW VISITORS, WHO MAY NEVER STEP FOOT ON A FARM, WHERE THEIR FOOD COMES FROM.
I hope maybe a little more appreciation for where their food comes. We also like to promote from buy it from your local farmer it shortens the route from farm to the table.
THIS WAS ALSO A CHANCE FOR SECRETARY ROLLINS TO SHAKE HANDS AND LISTEN TO THE FARMERS AND AG COMPANIES SHE REPRESENTS. SHE AND LOEFFLER HAVE MADE RURAL AMERICA A PRIORITY EXPLAINING HOW FARMERS MARKETS IN PARTICULAR NOT ONLY HELP TO FEED THEIR LOCAL COMMUNITIES BUT HELP THOSE COMMUNITIES THRIVE.
NCREDIBLE way to celebrate nothing means more to communities small business 250 year and farmer's role.
I've talked about the what we can do and how we can pivot and open up markets for smaller farmers...for those local communities"
I'M TAMMI ARENDER FOR THIS WEEK IN LOUISIANA AGRICULTURE.
NATIONAL FARMERS MARKET
{KRISTEN}
THERE ARE 8,600 FARMERS MARKETS THROUGHOUT THE U-S. ACCORDING TO THE U-S-D-A.
Coke and Cane Sugar
{KRISTEN}
IN LATE JULY, PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP ANNOUNCED THAT COCA-COLA WOULD USE CANE SUGAR IN ITS REGULAR COKE.
{AVERY}
IN AN INTERVIEW WITH AXIOS NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA COMMISSIONER OF AG AND FORESTRY DR. MIKE STRAIN SAID THAT SINCE THAT ANNOUNCEMENT, THE VALUE OF LOUISIANA SUGAR HAS JUMPED NEARLY SEVEN PERCENT.
WE ARE THE LEADER IN SUGAR CANE PRODUCTION IN THE U-S, SO SUCH A DEAL WOULD BE A SIGNIFICANT BOOST FOR THE STATE ECONOMY, AS WELL AS FOR OUR SUGAR CANE FARMERS.
STRAIN SAYS THE STATE EXPECTS TO PRODUCE MORE THAN TWO MILLION TONS OF SUGAR THIS YEAR, WITH MORE EXPECTED NEXT YEAR.
SUGARCANE FIELD DAY
{AVERY}
AT THE LSU AGCENTER'S SUGAR RESEARCH STATION FIELD DAY, AG SCIENTISTS SHOWED OFF HOW A NEW VARIETY OF CANE IS SHOWING PROMISING RESULTS.
{KRISTEN}
AS L-S-U AG CENTER REPORTER CRAIG GAUTREAUX TELLS US, THEY'RE ALSO KEEPING A CLOSE EYE ON A NEW INVASIVE WEED.
SUGARCANE FIELD DAY
In January, Louisiana sugarcane growers were concerned, seeing their crops buried under more than 6 inches of snow. Turned out the snow was a blessing, but another weather event soon after had a more profound effect.
But we had a lot of snow, 6 to 8 inches in some places. That was an insulator that protected the crop. The bullet we didn't dodge was the freeze one month later in mid-February.
That freeze thinned out stands across the state, especially in the central and northern parts of the cane belt. But even with that, the crop has progressed and is ahead of schedule.
We hit our grand growth phase about two or three weeks early. The grand growth phase is our maximum growth period. Our crop can grow as much as an inch per day.
After 12 years of testing in fields and labs, the U.S Department of Agriculture released the variety HoCP 18-803. According to AgCenter breeder Michael Pontif, 803 has many positive attributes.
803 was determined to have good tonnage, good stalk size, good sugar, medium maturing sugar, especially in plant cane or first stubble crop. Actually doing statistically and significantly better than L 01-299, which is the leading variety in the state the last several years.
Matt Foster, an AgCenter weed scientist, told the group that an invasive weed, Luffa quinquefida, was found for the first time in the state in late 2024.
It's native to Central America and has the potential to lodge cane and bring it to the ground, similar to a tievine. It wraps around the cane. It can cause issues with harvest, clogging the machine.
Because the cane is ahead of schedule, Gravois believes planting will begin later this month. With the LSU AgCenter, this is Craig Gautreaux reporting.
Tease 2
{AVERY}
STILL TO COME ON TWILA... THE AGRI-AQUACULTURE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE MAY BE A MOUTHFUL, BUT IT'S ALSO MAKING STRIDES IN CONSERVING WATER. WE'LL TAKE YOU INSIDE AFTER THE BREAK.
AQUACULTURE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE
{AVERY}
WHILE AQUAPONICS MIGHT SOUND LIKE A GROUP CLASS YOU'D TAKE AT THE Y-M-C-A, IT'S ACTUALLY A GROWING PART OF LOUISIANA AGRICULTURE.
{KRISTEN}
COMBINING AQUACULTURE WITH HYDROPONICS, THE AGRI-AQUACULTURE CENTER DOWN IN NEW ORLEANS IS CHANGING HOW WE LOOK AT REGENERATIVE AG. TWILA INTERN ALEXANDRA KLING TAKES US INSIDE.
AQUACULTURE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE
THE AGRIAQUACULTURE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE IS OPENING A NEW CHAPTER IN FARMING BY BLENDING AGRICULTURE AND AQUAPONICS TO GROW LETTUCE THROUGH A CLOSED LOOP SYSTEM. THE LETTUCE IS ABLE TO GROW ON WATER WITH NUTRIENTS OBTAINED FROM THE WASTE OF CATFISH.
PROGRAM COORDINATOR PAUL BEGUE LEADS A TOUR FOR REPRESENTATIVES FROM ALL OVER LOUISIANA TO SHOW THE PROCESS.
STATE REPRESENTATIVE FROM DISTRICT 37 TROY ROMERO ADMIRES WHAT HE HAS LEARNED ABOUT THE CLOSED LOOP SYSTEM.
You know, I had no idea and I guess I've seen hydroponics before, but nothing like this. Not aquaponics, not where they're utilizing water that has been fertilized by other animals. Catfish grow beautiful, beautiful heads of lettuce.
SEEDING FOR THE LETTUCE IS EVEN FASTER WITH THE VACUUM SEEDER. GREENHOUSE SEED OPERATION ASSISTANT KYLIE MILLER INTRIQUED STATE SENATOR FOR DISTRICT 33 CHAIRMEN OF THE AGRICENTER COMMUNITY STEWART CATHEY.
How little waste there is. You know everything is used. I mean everything is marketable and I think that as we look for efficiency in everything that we do it's an efficient process and so I think that was one of the things that really blew me away.
EVEN THE DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS THOMAS PAT SKIDD HAD A JUMP SCARE. THE PRESENTATION WALKS THE REPRESENTATIVES THROUGH A NEW PERSPECTIVE WITH PAUL MAKING IT CLEAR THAT THE AGRIAQUACULTURE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE WANTS TO WORK TOGETHER.
We want to work with farmers. This is an and not an or.
CATHEY THINKS WITH THIS OPERATION AND WORKING TOGETHER CAN MAKE A LOT OF PROBLEMS GO AWAY THAT MOST FARMERS FACE.
I think that this facility presents a new creative opportunity. Eliminating some barriers to entry that young farmers may have.
THE FACILITY WILL BE EXPANDING BUT ROMERO AGREES THAT THE AGRIAQUACULTURE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE CAN'T DO THIS WITHOUT THE INPUT OF FINANCES.
But funding is important because this is kind of grassroot right not your normal farming environment. It's grass root so it's gonna take some start up dollars to be able to make this possible.
WITH THE AGRIAQUACULTURE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE'S NEW SYSTEM AND HELP FROM THE COMMUNITY THIS CAN BE THE SOLUTION FARMERS HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR LEADING AGRICULTURE IN A NEW DIRECTION.
FOR THIS WEEK IN LOUISIANA AGRICULTURE, I'M ALEXANDRA KLING.
AQUACULTURE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE
{KRISTEN}
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT BOOKING YOUR NEXT TOUR OR IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING, CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE AT TWILA-TV-DOT-ORG.
Until Next time
{KRISTEN}
THAT DOES IT FOR THIS EDITION OF TWILA. BE SURE TO JOIN US NEXT WEEK WHEN WE'LL SEE HOW LOUISIANA JASMINE RICE STACKS UP AS WE GO FEASTING ON AGRICULTURE.
{AVERY}
UNTIL THEN, YOU CAN WATCH ALL OF OUR STORIES ONLINE AT TWILA-TV DOT ORG AND BE SURE TO LIKE US ON FACEBOOK, FOLLOW US ON TIK-TOK AND INSTAGRAM. YOU CAN ALSO FIND ALL OF THESE STORIES AND MORE ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL -- BE SURE TO SUBSCRIBE AND TURN ON THE NOTIFICATIONS SO YOU KNOW WHEN WE PUT OUT NEW CONTENT.
{KRISTEN}
FOR ALL OF US HERE AT TWILA, THANKS FOR JOINING US. WE HOPE TO SEE YOU AGAIN RIGHT HERE NEXT WEEK.