Farmers get assistance with Pigford claims

Louisiana farmers and producers who need to know how receive funds from the recent black farmer discrimination lawsuit are invited to the Southern University Ag Center and LSU Hammond Research Station next week to learn more.

Last month, the USDA and the Department of Justice announced a $1.25 billion settlement for farmers claiming they suffered racial discrimination in USDA loan programs. Under the terms of the new settlement, individual farmers may demonstrate their entitlement to relief through a non-judicial claims process.

The Louisiana Association of Cooperatives and the Fiduciary Management Group, LLC, will host two meetings pertaining to the process, the Pigford settlement, key financials of the settlement, what farmers are eligible, and the three classes of farmers affected.

The meetings are: Friday, April 16, 2010 at the LSU Hammond Research Station, 21549 Old Covington Highway in Hammond at 11am; and Saturday, April 17, at the Southern University Ag Center, Bldg 181 B.A. Little Drive in Baton Rouge at 11am.

Contact the Louisiana Association of Cooperatives Office for more information at (504) 319-1085 or email lcooperatives(at)gmail.com 

2010 Louisiana Farmer of the Year

Nominations for the 2010 Louisiana Farmer of the Year are being accepted now through Dec. 11, 2009. Application forms can be obtained at any parish LSU AgCenter Extension Service office or online at www.lsuagcenter.com/farmeroftheyear. Producers from all areas of agriculture are eligible to enter. Three finalists will be recognized at White Oak Plantation in Baton Rouge on Feb. 26, 2010, with the winner receiving a cash award and other prizes.

Ag Institute opens for new applicants

Applications are now being accepted for the Small Farmer Agricultural Leadership Institute. The Institute is a two-year course of study specifically designed to guide small, socially disadvantaged, limited resource, or minority farmers through the transformative process of becoming successful agricultural entrepreneurs. 

The deadline to apply is September 1. 

For more information, visit www.aginstitute.suagcenter.com or contact Dawn Mellion Patin,Ph.D., MBA, agricultural speciaist and Institute project director, at (225) 771-2242 ext. 201 or dawn_mellion@suagcenter.com

SU Ag Center helps 10 become Master Cattlemen

Eleven farmers from five parishes completed the 10-week Master Cattleman program organized by Glenn Dixon, Southern University Ag Center agent, East and West Carroll parishes. 

Master Cattlemen classes help aspiring cattlemen and current producers learn best management practices for producing high quality beef in an environmentally beneficial way. 

The course was conducted via distance learning in collaboration with the LSU AgCenter. 

Participants represented West Carroll, Richland, Morehouse, Ouachita, and Franklin parishes. For more on the program contact Dixon at 318-559-0060 or 318-428-3571 or  glenn_dixon@suagcenter.com. 

Mentor leads new farmer to national conference

Shreveport farmer Rafeeq Naji has a one-track mind these days: start an organic  vegetable enterprise. The native Louisianan has returned from California to manage his family farmland. Now the 60-something entrepreur has a new line of work and a new mentor in agriculture, Johnathan Jackson.

Jackson, who is a 50-year veteran peach farmer, invited Naji to a national family farm conference because he was aware of the benefits he receives from attending the conference and networking with other producers and professionals.

Naji, Jackson, and 43 other farmers, students, extension agents and other agricultural professionals received scholarships from the USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program to attend the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group’s 18th Annual Practical Tools and Solutions for Sustaining Family Farms conference in Chattanooga Tennessee. They traveled with the Southern University Ag Center to earlier this year.

They attended educational sessions, field trips, intensive short courses, mini courses, and a USDA grantwriting workshop. The meeting consisted of farm tours and presentations on numerous topics including organic production, cut flowers, pastured poultry, goat production, and farm management.

“I have learned valuable lessons from the conference by talking to other farmers and attending the sessions.  I will start small and expand gradually,” Naji said. He first encountered the Southern University Ag Center while still in California. “I was doing some research and a friend told me to call Orlando Phelps (USDA Liason at Southern) to get more information on agriculture in Louisiana.”

Jackson attributes his success in farming to information provided by his local extension agents.  “I highly commend all extension agents for the work they do.  Keep up the good work,” he said. 

The group traveled under the leadership of Owusu Bandele, PhD, professor, horticulture, Southern University Ag Center, and Carl Motsenbocker, PhD, professor, horticulture, LSU.  The two professors served as the state coordinators. More than 1,000 conference attendees including farmers, producers, professionals, students, and vendors converged in Chattanooga, traveling from 13 states.

Photo: Louisiana peach farmer Johnathan Jackson

Local producers attend national conference

By Bridget Udoh

Local producers from Louisiana attended the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group’s (SSAWG) 18th Annual Practical Tools and Solutions for Sustaining Family Farms conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee, January 21-24.

Forty-five producers, students, extension agents and other agricultural professionals received scholarships from the USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program to attend the conference.

The conference provided 56 educational sessions, five field trips, five intensive short courses, four mini courses, and a bonus USDA grant writing workshop. The meeting consisted of farm tours and presentations on numerous topics including organic production, cut flowers, pastured poultry, goat production, and farm management.

Fifty-year veteran peach farmer Jonathan Jackson, from Shreveport, was accompanied by his mentee Rafeeq Naji on the trip. The duo are neighbors and Naji attended the conference to garner additional information on starting an organic vegetable farm. Jackson invited Naji because he was aware of the benefits associated with the conference attendance through networking with other producers and professionals.

Participants expressed appreciation for the networking opportunities at the conference, and many said they were greatly inspired because they received information that would benefit their farming operations and enhance their professional capabilities. 

“I have learned valuable lessons from the conference by talking to other farmers and attending the sessions. I will start small and expand gradually,” Naji said.

Jackson attributes his success in farming to information provided by his local extension agents. “I highly commend all extension agents for the work they do. Keep up the good work,” he said.

Our own Southwest Center for Rural Initiatives assisted with the recruitment and registration of local farmers and agricultural producers and high school students from its 10-parish region to attend the conference. LaVonya Malveaux, Southwest Center director, co-sponsored the trip for Louisiana participants.

The group traveled under the leadership of Owusu Bandele, Ph.D., professor, horticulture, Southern University Ag Center, and Carl Motsenbocker, Ph.D, professor, horticulture, LSU. The two professors served as the state coordinators.

>By Bridget Udoh,Ph.D., communications specialist, bridget_udoh@suagcenter.com

Ag Center in the News

Last week, the Ag Center garnered the attention of two newspapers for three separate events:

1. The Advocate reported on the Center's Communities of Color Network "Wake Up Louisiana!" seminar at the Southern University J.K. Haynes School of Nursing. There, scientist Victor DeNoble, Ph.D., relayed his experience as a researcher in the tobacco industry where he learned how the industry intentionally lied about the dangers of nicotine. Read about it at: http://www.2theadvocate.com/features/39292137.html

2. The Shreveport Sun reported on a local farmer's trip to Tennessee for the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group's 18th Annual Practical Tools and Sustaining Family

 Farms Conference. Shreveport farmer Jonathan Jackson credited LSU and Southern University ag centers and our agents for continued assistance throughout his farming career. 

3. The Advocate columnist Smiley Anderson shared a note from Renita Marshall, DVM, livestock programs director, on the opportunities to purchase meat for the upcoming livestock show. Read it at: http://www.2theadvocate.com/columnists/smiley/39354127.html