Congresswoman Julia Letlow (LA-05) and Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) introduced the Quality Loss Adjustment Improvement for Farmers Act. This bill will amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to provide increased and more flexible insurance coverage for farmers who have experienced crop quality loss.

The policies existing in the current Federal Crop Insurance Act do not always provide farmers with the flexibility that is needed for the often unpredictable crop quality losses. Soybean farms in particular have been significantly impacted by quality loss issues.

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More than 60 Oklahoma Farm Bureau members learned about the spicy, savory and sweet Louisiana agriculture industry during the 2024 OKFB Ag Tour May 6-9 to Vermilion Parish, Louisiana.

The tour featured two days of stops and visits to farms, agribusinesses and cultural destinations in southwest Louisiana near Lafayette.

Members arrived on Monday, May 6, with a welcome dinner and meeting with Vermilion Parish Farm Bureau members and leaders at the parish Farm Bureau office. The local Farm Bureau planned the tour stops for OKFB members with numerous visits at local Farm Bureau members’ farms and ranches.

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Sen. John Kennedy (R-La), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, introduced the Quality Loss Adjustment Improvement for Farmers Act. The bill would give farmers more flexibility by improving the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC)’s ability to set discounts for farmers who experience crop loss.

“Too often, federal insurers give American farmers short shrift when regional disasters damage their crops. The Quality Loss Adjustment Improvement for Farmers Act would make sure that fickle government policies don’t control the fate of Louisiana’s soybean farmers,” said Kennedy.

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Last year was one for the ages across Louisiana, and NOT in a good way. I did a brief dive into a comparison of the numbers from this year and last year, since May 15th 2023 was the point where we went from a pretty normal year, to one of the most incredible droughts and heat waves in recent history. I used Alexandria for this exercise since it is right in the middle of the state, and I had already used it for my local update.

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I genuinely wish I had better news in this update. Corn is in the ground, and that’s a great start. I know fertilizing needs to happen for some, and others are in the process of planting cotton and soybeans. If not already in the process, I’m sure you want to be. I don’t see that happening for the next week to 10 days. 

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Heavy rain is likely, once again, and it looks like some of the hardest hit areas in recent weeks will once again bear the brunt of this next system. There will also be at least some potential for severe weather. Over the last 24 hours, there has been an uptick in forecast rainfall amounts, as well as severe weather parameters. I've included forecast rain totals through Thursday night.

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The latest crop report shows loads of good news, with most everything close to 5 year averages, or ahead of schedule. It looks like more good weather is on the way. By that, I mean there will be some rain, and some dry, as things try to stay pretty balanced across Louisiana. Here’s how I see things going through the middle of next week. 

First off, the warmth is here, and it looks like it’s here to stay. We’ll still see a couple of “cold” fronts before we really shift into summer mode, but the cold fronts are going to lose their punch.

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We are right at the midway point of the 2024 Louisiana legislative Session, and things are about to get interesting. Subject matters like insurance and tort reform are starting to really take shape, as well as other issues like reduction in the size of government. These are just a few issues that can spill over into almost every other issue at the legislature.

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Within a few hours of severe storms passing through the state in early April, Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation members and volunteers were on the phone with each other, assessing damage and determining the next steps to protect the future of their crops and livestock.

“By mid-morning, we had talked to at least six people in different areas of the state. We knew we had farmers with barns that were damaged by the wind and fields that were flooded. We were immediately figuring out what people needed,” said Robert Duncan, chair of the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee. “That connection and reliability is such an important part of what we do.”

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It looks like another round of rain is on tap for Louisiana. The rain will start across north Louisiana early on Saturday, and spread southeast through the day. The best time to see moderate to heavy rainfall in most areas will be Saturday night into early Sunday. Instability should be shoved to the south as this system approaches, and that means that any sort of severe threat will be minimal at worst, and that very small threat will generally be along, and south of I-10. Rainfall totals will generally be in the 1/2 to 2 inch range, with higher totals in north Louisiana, as they will have the longest duration of rain. 

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Hurricanes are a regular threat to the Gulf Coast, and while it is important to plan and prepare, there is little for Louisianians to do except react to the aftermath of these storms. For the past 29 years, Colorado State University’s meteorological team has released a tropical forecast for the Atlantic. This year, CSU is predicting 23 named storms, 11 of which they believe will be hurricanes.

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