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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
{AVERY}
HI. I'M AVERY DAVIDSON.
THANK YOU FOR JOINING US FOR THIS WEEK IN LOUISIANA AGRICULTURE. THE ONLY T-V SHOW BRINGING LOUISIANA FARMERS AND CONSUMERS TOGETHER EVERY WEEK. MY PARTNER, KRISTEN OAKS-WHITE WILL JOIN US LATER IN THE SHOW.
Women in Ag
{AVERY}
THERE ARE NEARLY 35-HUNDRED FARMS IN LOUISIANA OWNED BY WOMEN. THAT'S ACCORDING TO THE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY'S MINORITY AND VETERAN AFFAIRS DIVISION. THAT'S ONE OF THE REAONS WHY FEMALE FARMERS TAKE TIME TO NETWORK WITH EACH OTHER AT A SPECIAL EVENT EVERY YEAR. TWILA'S BREANN HENDRICKSON TAKES US TO ALEXANDRIA TO MEET THE EXCITING SPEAKERS AT THE LOUISIANA WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE CONFERENCE AND EXPO.
Women in Ag
THE CORKS POPPED..(popping sound)..MIMOSAS ARE BEING POURED AND THE NETWORKING IS FLOWING AT THE 2023 LOUISIANA WOMENS IN AGRICULTURE CONVENTION AND EXPO. PRESIDENT OF THE LOUISIANA WOMENS IN AGRICULTURE DENIES CANATELLA IS EXCITED TO SEE EVERYONE THIS YEAR
Denise Cannatella
"To see these women come back year after year because some of these women have been here for ten years or more and they can't wait to come back. And we are spotlighting women and ag and giving them the tools and resources they need to come back home to their operations and do the work that they love to do."
WITH SPEAKERS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO CUDDLING WITH ANIMALS THIS EVENT IS TO HELP WOMEN SUCCEED IN THE AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY.
Denise Cannatella
You know, women have moved forward over the years, and I feel they've always been a part of the farm work. They just were in the background. So today our women are out there running their own operations, making their marketing decisions, their equipment decisions from production to harvest.
GUIDING WOMEN TO FIND THE TOOLS AND NETWORKS THEY NEED TO SUCCEED AT THE JOBS THEY LOVE.
Denise Cannatella
We give them the opportunity to network with all the industry partners that they can find out important information that they need to go back home and handle their their production.
LOUISIANA WOMENS IN AGRICULTURE MAKES SURE THE EVENT IS HANDS ON AND VISIT DIFFERENT FARMING OPERATIONS THROUGHOUT LOUISIANA.
Denise Cannatella
Thursday's we take them there's three opportunities of tours that they can go on and they're going to farmers and ranchers. In this case, we even have had a vineyard this year, LANDRY vineyards, where they got to go and they get to watch these operations and hear from those farmers and ranchers what it took for them to get into this business, what it's taking for them to stay in it, especially today with our rising cost of all of our inputs. And so they're they're gaining information knowledge to be able to take it back and try to figure out how it can be incorporated into their operations.
Women in Ag
{BREANN}
IF YOU MISSED THIS YEARS LWAG, DO NOT WORRY. THEY ARE WORKING ON GETTING THE SPEAKERS VIDEOS UP. YOU CAN GO TO OUR WEBSITE TWILA – TV – DOT – ORG FOR MORE INFORMATION
Livestock Show PKG
{AVERY}
FOR TEN YEARS, THE LOUISIANA FARM BUREAU YOUNG FARMERS AND RANCHERS HAVE HOSTED A YOUTH LIVESTOCK SHOW AND THIS YEAR, THE GROUP MAY HAVE SET A RECORD. FOR THOSE PARTICIPATING IN THE EVENT, RECORDS ARE NOT AS IMPORTANT AS THE LIFE LESSONS LEARNED IN PREPARATION FOR THE SHOW RING.
Livestock Show PKG
{AVERY}
THE DOUBLE O SEVEN ISN'T A LICENSE TO KILL, BUT A LICENSE TO CARE, AT LEAST FOR 15 YEAR OLD ISSAC DUHON OF VERMILION PARISH. HE'S ONE OF MORE THAN 90 YOUNG EXHIBITORS PARTICIPATING IN THE 10TH ANNUAL LOUISIANA FARM BUREAU YOUNG FARMERS AND RANCHERS LIVESTOCK SHOW. FOR DUHON, THE HARD WORK BEGINS LONG BEFORE HE WALKS INTO THE MAKEUP OR SHOW RING.
{SOT}
(Issac Duhon "So every day you're waking up before school at about 6:00 to feed and clean stalls, and then you go to school and come back and you're instantly in that barn before you even do homework.
You catch all the calves were halter breaking babies like over here. And it's overall just a process that you have to do every single day. It's a big responsibility.")
{VO}
FOR THE LOUISIANA FARM BUREAU YOUNG FARMERS AND RANCHERS, THIS EVENT IS A CHANCE TO RECRUIT THEIR REPLACEMENTS.
{SOT}
(It gives us the opportunity to bring in and reach out to the next generation of of young producers. You know, these all these kids that are here. We're just shy of a hundred kids this year. And that's going to give us an opportunity to reach out to those people who have a love for agriculture and a passion and who are doing the right things for the right reasons.
So we're able to reach out to those people and really extend our welcoming, too, to the next generation.")
{VO}
ROBERT DUNCAN IS THE CHAIR OF THE Y-F AND R STATE COMMITTEE. HE SAYS THERE WERE NEARLY TWO HUNDRED CATTLE THAT WENT THROUGH THIS RING AT THE LAMAR DIXON EXPO CENTER IN GONZALES: A RECORD FOR THE EVENT. BUT FOR HIM, IT'S NOT ABOUT NUMBERS. IT'S ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE.
{SOT}
(Duncan "To be in the barn and be with kids and be with animals. You know, that's what we're that's what we're here for, is to reach out to these these kids and hear that hear the sound and smell the smells. And, you know, it's just the socializing aspect of being here with a bunch of people, you know.
And so we've got just under a hundred kids this year. You've got their families, their grandparents, the whole you know, the whole family comes out to these events. And so we're able to really reach out and just be able to visit and and do what we do best.")
Livestock Show PKG
{AVERY}
THE LOUISIANA FARM BUREAU YOUNG FARMERS AND RANCHERS PROGRAM IS FOR PEOPLE INVOLVED IN AGRICULTURE AGED 18 TO 35. YOU CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT Y-F-&R AT OUR WEBSITE, TWILA-T-V DOT ORG
Legislative Update
{AVERY}
THE 2023 LOUISIANA LEGISLATIVE SESSION IS ENTERING ITS FOURTH WEEK AND LOUISIANA FARM BUREAU IS HARD AT WORK PROTECTING BILLS THAT COULD BE DETRIMENTAL TO AGRICULTURE.
{VO}
ONE OF THOSE BILLS WAS SB 32 AUTHORED BY SENATOR BETH MIZELL. IT WOULD HAVE ALLOWED STORES TO SELL MILK AND DAIRY PRODUCTS BELOW COST. THE LOUISIANA FARM BUREAU DAIRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE OPPOSED THE BILL BECAUSE IT COULD LOWER THE PRICE PRODUCERS RECEIVE FOR MILK AND GIVE LARGE RETAILERS AN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE OVER SMALLER, INDEPENDENT GROCERS. SENATOR MIZELL VOLUNTARILY DIFFERED HER BILL AFTER HEARING THIS TESTIMONY FROM RETIRED EAST BATON ROUGE DAIRY FARMER JOY WOMACK.
{SOT}
On September the seventh, 2019, the hardest day of my life, we watched stockyard come.
And pick up every one of our cows. And take them off because we could not stay.
In the dairy business any longer because the price of milk.
Had dropped so low, the price of fertilizer had got so high and everything was against us. And if the.
Price of milk continues to drop.
There's not a dairy farmer in this state that can stay.
{AVERY}
ON TUESDAY THE SENATE AG COMMITTEE ALSO CONSIDERED SENATE BILL 28 BY CHAIRMAN SENATOR STEWART CATHEY TO STANDARDIZE GRADING OF GRAIN WHEN DELIVERED TO AN ELEVATOR. THAT BILL PASSED COMMITTEE AND NOW MOVES TO FULL SENATE.
Mayhaw PKG
{AVERY}
MAYHAW JELLY IS A DELICIOUS SOUTHERN TREAT THAT STARTS TO BECOME MORE AVAILABLE THIS TIME OF YEAR. IN FACT, IT'S ONE OF LOUISIANA'S TWO STATE JELLIES. HOWEVER, AS TWILA'S NEIL MELANCON TELLS US, BECAUSE OF THE WINTER WEATHER, MAYHAW JELLY MAY BE A LITTLE MORE DIFFICULT TO GET THIS YEAR.
Mayhaw PKG
THESE ARE MAYHAW TREES. THIS TIME OF YEAR, THEY SHOULD BE FULL OF THESE SMALL, SWEET FRUITS. MICHAEL BOOK, WHO OWNS THE LARGEST ORCHARD OF MAYHAW TREES IN LOUISIANA, SAYS THE FREEZE THIS YEAR WIPED OUT MORE THAN 90 PERCENT OF HIS CROP THIS YEAR.
Michael Book, Caldwell Parish Mayhaw Grower
"So when the when the freeze occurred, there was a small berries that the blooms had fall off, but the fruit was still young and tender. So the 26, 27 degree temperatures that we had that lasted 6 to 7 hours were just more than the fruit could stand."
MICHAEL'S STORY ISN'T UNCOMMON IN LOUISIANA. THE TREES THEMSELVES FARED WELL, BUT THE FRUIT DIDN'T, ACCORDING TO FRUIT SPECIALIST MICHAEL POLOZOLA.
Michael Polozola, Ph.D LSU AgCenter Fruit and Nut Specialist
"It was about this stage of fruit development where it got hit and you can even look and see at the fruit that did develop afterwards, a relic of that kind of a hard brown layer in there. And the fruit just developed abnormally. Not typical. It puckered extremely at the edges here and just not your typical major. But the issue is going to be that they are abnormal looking. And that cold event probably wiped out 90 to 80% in most orchards, if not more. It's really almost a complete loss for many."
ORCHARDS LIKE THIS ONE ARE A RELATIVELY NEW ENTERPRISE. THAT'S WHY DEVASTATING FREEZES LIKE THIS YEAR ARE SO BAD FOR THE INDUSTRY--THERE IS NO SAFETY NET, ACCORDING TO LOUISIANA MAYHAW ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT ANDY THOMPSON.
Andy Thompson, President, Louisiana Mayhaw Association
"I mean, we spend thousands of dollars and thousands of man hours every year cultivating these trees in the field, and you just lose the year you're just out. I don't know if anybody has any insurance. I haven't heard of anybody."
FORTUNATELY, THE GROWERS ARE WORKING TO HELP MAKE MAYHAWS MORE RESILIENT AND PRODUCTIVE. THE HYBRIDIZATION YOU SEE HERE IS HELPING GROWERS FIND OTHER REVENUE STREAMS, SUCH AS SELLING SEEDLINGS.
THAT'S BECOMING MORE IMPORTANT, AS SADLY, MAYHAWS ARE DISAPPEARING IN THE WILD ACCORDING TO THOMPSON.
Thompson
"Started by some hobbyists who just love the maple tree. I grew up in Louisiana going out in the woods and I saw a need to start propagating these in an orchard fashion. They started testing various varieties. Some didn't work. Some did. They started giving them names. They decided they wanted to make an association. They put it out. And it's just been growing over the years."
Neil Outtro:
"And now the good news is most of these major trees seem to have survived the winter relatively unscathed in Louisiana, as you can see from this new growth. Now, whether or not the Louisiana producers who grow them will continue to remain in business is yet to be determined. Reporting from Columbia, Louisiana, I'm Neil Melancon."
Mayhaw PKG
{AVERY}
THE LOUISIANA MAYHAW ASSOCIATION WILL HOLD ITS ANNUAL MEETING ON JUNE 17TH IN ALEXANDRIA, STARTING AT 9 AM. THE CONFERENCE WILL HAVE A LOT OF INFORMATION FOR BOTH GROWERS AND THOSE INTERESTED IN GROWING MAYHAWS. MORE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND ON OUR WEBSITE AT TWILATV.ORG. BY THE WAY, THE OTHER STATE JELLY OF LOUISIANA: LOUISIANA SUGAR CANE JELLY. NOW YOU KNOW.
Tease 1
STILL TO COME ON TWILA -- WE REACH BACK IN THE ARCHIVES TO LAST YEAR FOR ONE OF OUR FAVORITE SEGMENTS OF FEASTING ON AGRICULTURE. A GREAT CRAWFISH TREAT IS COMING UP.. STAY WITH US.
Feasting On Agriculture
FEASTING ON AGRICULTURE WITH KRISTEN OAKS-WHITE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE LOUISIANA CRAWFISH PROMOTION AND RESEARCH BOARD. LOUISIANA CRAWFISH -- ASK BEFORE YOU EAT. AND BY THE LOUISIANA BEEF INDUSTRY COUNCIL. BEEF -- ITS WHATS FOR DINNER. AND BY THE LOUISIANA RICE PROMOTION BOARD -- THINK RICE.
Feasting On Agriculture
Well today, we have a real treat for you. We're here in Morganza, Louisiana on a beautiful blue sky day at four Oaks crawfish farm with Mr. Matt Frey.
So the ponds that we're going, are they further, a lot further away
From here about a quarter of a mile down the road. We're gonna get out there and they gonna be kind of getting ready to, uh, prepare for the, the catch today. Right?
Right,
Right.
I wanted him to stop and undoubtedly, he must have thought we were just wanting to look at him or something. Cuz he kept going So we gotta go chase him down.
Yeah, we gotta go chase him down now. Hey, check that out.
What has the season been like thus far?
It's been good for us, you know? Uh, just wish we could do it longer.
When you talk about the season ending, how long are y'all gonna keep crawfish fishing?
Uh, end of may, yeah. We're gonna be finished at the end of may. Yeah.
You could sit right there. It ain't wet. Huh? No. Hey the, yeah, the prop is that would be fun. They'd eat you like a little piranha.
You sell directly to consumers. Yes. What, what's the one thing that you want the public to know about the product that you're, that you putting your blood, sweat and tears into?
Yeah. I, I, to me it it's about, uh, the industry trying to put out a crawfish or a product that is superior.
That's I mean, look, you could eat that one Like a steak. You gotta sack that one. That's how, Hey, I need to get this one here. come here. Just push them in. You gotta get closer than that. They that big she's "yah-ing" them like a cow! I've seen better!
If you wanted to keep it going until July. Could you physically?
Yeah, we could. But the quality of crawfish falls off to where, you know, there's the money that they're willing to pay is not worth it
This is a female and this is a male.
I learned this last time, But it was so cold, I think I forgot.
I got a check, but that's a female. Learn that a male, female. Female? No, that's- a male. No, you're right, that's a female. This is a male with the little white. He's angry. Yeah. Well I'm grabbing the wrong spot right now. What does that make you feel like when somebody sits down for, like you said, a senior party or you know, an Easter crawfish bowl or something and they have your crawfish on the table and they say, man, these are the best ones I've ever had.
That happens a lot, but it's still just as good as it was the first time I heard it, which is years ago.
So how, what does that make you feel like inside?
Oh no. It's, it's important. I mean, you know, shoot, you, you know, I'm out here. I, ain't not here just to play around, you know, I wanna be the best that I could do at, you know, I wanna be the best at it, you know? Um, and, and we doing pretty good.
.
Feasting On Agriculture
Well, now we've got a real treat for you because we're in the kitchen at four Oaks crawfish farm, and I've got the matriarchs of four Oaks, Sean and Jodi Frey that are here and we're gonna do crawfish stuffed bell peppers. That's right. And you said that you picked this recipe for a special reason because,
Well, whenever we were deciding on what to cook, we said here in the spring of Louisiana gardens are in full swing. And so there's lots of bell peppers and just wonderful ingredients to use in this. So we decided to use that.
I will have to give y'all kudos because y'all spent so much time to give us a beautiful spread of all of the different things that make Louisiana produce great, including the crawfish. So y'all take it away. Tell me what's the first thing we need to do.
Okay. First thing you need or, and we've par boiled our peppers already. So you need par boiled peppers that we're gonna actually stuff these. So
How do you just boil 'em?
You cut the tops off. You could either use the whole bell pepper or half a bell pepper and scoop out the pu and put 'em in boiling water. I'd say I about no more than five minutes, five minutes just to get 'em kind of soft. That's the pre cooking stage. The next step is you're just gonna, um, use a half a stick of butter, not a half a stick. That's a full stick of butter stick.
Oh, that's hot.
Yeah. And then you're gonna put yes, a little hot and then we're gonna put our Trinity. I would put all of it. It calls for a half a cup or a cup of onion, but here in Louisiana, the more season and the better, right? Yeah. So that's about a medium that's
Thing.
You can never have too much of the Onions. That's in my opinion.
It's About a half cup celery and bell pepper.
Look, I'll help. I'll start. You wanna start? You, you add in, but you tell me if I'm doing it wrong.
No, you're doing it. Perfect.
Perfect.
And you boil it and you're gonna sauté that until it's nice. And wilted,
It almost looks like you're starting a roux?
So after that's, wilted, you're going to stir in your crawfish. This is two pounds of Louisiana crawfish, tails.
Beautiful.
And you're gonna cook that for about 20 minutes. Okay. So the next thing that it calls for is salt, black pepper and red pepper. So Jody's just, and we like to season our just
Season to taste. Yeah. Yeah. So You could never have too much
Before we stuff. We could always taste a little bit before You stuff, your pepper, your pepper To make sure that's your taste. This is black pepper
And we like a little Kick to It. Right, right. But that's Cayenne pepper.
Yes. This is cayenne pepper. If you used, um, boiled crawfish, I'm sure you'll have a little heat in your seasoned water already. So you may not use quite as much. Um, there we go. We're gonna have heat on that one.
little spicy peppers,
A little wish to share in Tabasco. If you, if you'd like to and green onions, that's about a half a cup of green onions And parsley.
That's beautiful
In south Louisiana, you can never have too much green onions and parsley.
You now, stir it up, get that well mixed. And actually now that we've put in all those ingredients, I think we might add a little, a little bit of crawfish stock. Just I wouldn't put all of it stuff just a little bit.
This is a beautifully colored dish. And it looks like that we coordinated our outfits with it.
it kind Of does like coincidence.
It's a very pretty, there you go. I think you could dish pretty color.
So you cook that for about 10 minutes.
So now we're moving onto the stuffing,
Place it in there and you would put a little bit of water in the bottom. So it doesn't stick, pop it in the oven at three 50, until, until it comes out until it comes out out that like this, and that's the finished
Product.
As we always say, through the magic of television, we have it already prepared. So I'm going be the Guinea pig tasting: Y'all! There are, there's so many different flavors in here in the, it's that good! Wonderful, kudos. I'm taking the recipe home with me. If you guys at home are interested in trying to recipe yourself, are you wanna learn more about four Oaks crawfish farm- We put a link on our website@twilatv.org. Thank you so much, Shawn. Jody, this has been wonderful. It's a great dish and the spread is so beautiful. We've had a great day here at four Oaks. Thanks for joining us on feasting on agriculture.
Feasting On Agriculture
FEASTING ON AGRICULTURE WITH KRISTEN OAKS-WHITE WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE LOUISIANA CRAWFISH PROMOTION AND RESEARCH BOARD. LOUISIANA CRAWFISH -- ASK BEFORE YOU EAT. AND BY THE LOUISIANA BEEF INDUSTRY COUNCIL. BEEF -- ITS WHATS FOR DINNER. AND BY THE LOUISIANA RICE PROMOTION BOARD -- THINK RICE.
Feasting On Agriculture
{AVERY}
TO TRY THIS THIS RECIPE OUT AT HOME WITH SOME LOUISIANA CRAWFISH, SIMPLY VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT TWILA TV DOT ORG.
Crawfish Prices
{AVERY}
NOW...IF ONLY WE KNEW WHERE TO FIND SOME CRAWFISH HERE IN LOUISIANA....
WELL, YOU ARE IN LUCK. FARMERS CONTINUE TO PULL TRAPS AND LOUISIANA CRAWFISH IS STILL A GREAT TREAT TO GET TO ENJOY THIS WEEKEND, BOILED, FRIED, IN AN ETOUFEE OR IN SOME STUFFED BELL PEPPERS.. THERE'S NO SHORTAGE OF POSSIBILITIES. LETS LOOK AT A FEW PRICES FROM AROUND THE STATE.
{GFX}
OUR FRIENDS IN BATON ROUGE AT TONY'S SEAFOOD HAS LIVE CRAWFISH FOR 2-79 A POUND, AND BOILED CRAWFISH FOR 4-19 A POUND.
IN ERATH, T BOBS SEAFOOD HAS LIVE CRAWFISH FOR 2-50 A POUND AND BOILED IS 4-50 PER POUND.
IN RUSTON, D'S CRAWFISH HAS LIVE CRAWFISH FOR 2-75 A POUND AND YOU CAN GET THEM BOILED FOR 5-50 A POUND.
{AVERY}
AS ALWAYS, CALL YOUR LOCAL CRAWFISH HOLE BEFORE YOU GO TO CHECK PRICES BEFORE --THEY CHANGE AT LEAST EVERY WEEK. ALSO, BEFORE YOU BUY 'EM, MAKE SURE YOU'RE GETTING LOUISIANA CRAWFISH, WHICH IS WHY THE THE LOUISIANA CRAWFISH PROMOTION AND RESEARCH BOARD REMINDS YOU TO ASK BEFORE YOU EAT!
Boost
{AVERY}
PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD CELEBRATED EARTH DAY APRIL 22, BUT FOR FARMERS AND RANCHERS WORKING TO PRODUCE MORE FOOD USING FEWER RESOURCES– EVERY DAY IS EARTH DAY. SO IN TODAY'S BOOST WE TIP OUR HATS TO THE MEN AND WOMEN COMMITTED TO SUSTAINABILITY.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW AMERICA'S FARMERS AND RANCHERS ARE LEADING THE WAY IN SUSTAINABILITY, VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT TWILA-TV-ORG.
Until Next time
{AVERY}
THAT DOES IT FOR THIS EDITION OF TWILA. BE SURE TO JOIN US NEXT WEEK WHEN WE'LL TAKE YOU ALONG FOR ONE OF THE TOURS AT THE LOUISIANA WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE CONFERENCE.
UNTIL THEN, YOU CAN WATCH ALL OF OUR STORIES ONLINE AT TWILA-TV DOT ORG AND BE SURE TO FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM. YOU CAN ALSO FIND ALL OF THESE STORIES ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL -- BE SURE TO SUBSCRIBE AND TURN ON THE NOTIFICATIONS SO YOU KNOW WHEN WE PUT OUT NEW CONTENT.
FOR ALL OF US HERE AT TWILA, THANKS FOR JOINING US. WE HOPE TO SEE YOU AGAIN RIGHT HERE NEXT WEEK.