Yellow Rails and Rice Festival in Jennings-A Four Year Success Story

The fourth annual Yellow Rails and Rice Festival based out of Jennings, in southwest Louisiana was held October 24-28, 2012. The festival is a collaboration between rice farmers and birders. Throughout the festival, participants get a glimpse of the importance of birds to the area's "working wetlands." Click here to see a video.

International Visitors Come to WesMar Farms

Europeans made visiting farms famous and now we have Europeans visiting our family farms here in America. Recently WesMar Farms, home to 100 Nubian goats and a dairy operation, in Moreauville located in Avoyelles Parish played hosts; click here for more.

Benefits of Agritourism

Agritourism is a business venture on a working farm, ranch or agricultural enterprise that offers educational and fun experiences for visitors while generating supplemental income for the owner. Visitors participate in friendly “discovery” and learning activities in natural or agricultural settings. Because it blends entertainment and education, agritourism is also known as “agrientertainment,” “agritainment” or “agrotourism.” Agritourism can provide many benefits to the agricultural producer: • Cash flow during the off-season • Opportunity to sell the “experience” of your agricultural venue • Opportunity to sell products grown and harvested in your agricultural operation • Opportunity to share your passion of agriculture with others

USE AGRITOURISM WEB GUIDE TO COMPLETE YOUR PLAN OF OPERATION

The new interactive Web guide, www.safeagritourism.com, can help you complete the Louisiana Plan of Operation if you are applying for certification under the Limited Liabilty Agritourism Law passed in 2008.

This guide provides virtual walk-throughs that include corn maze safety, hay-ride safety, machine safety, and walk-ways, surfaces and structures. The walk-throughs identify health and safety hazards that can be termed risks according to Louisiana law; using this tool you can show how you would mitigate that risk on your plan of operation.   

The walk-throughs and suggestions for risk mitigation  are based on “Agritourism Health and Safety Guidelines for Children,” available at www.marshfieldclinic.org/agritourism. The guidelines originally were published in 2007 by the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety, part of the National Farm Medicine Center at Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation, Marshfield, Wis.

For more information on agritourism in Louisiana, visit our website: www.lsuagcenter.com/agritourism

 

 

 

 

Pack & Paddle of Lafayette taught kayak classes at Poverty Point Reservoir State  Park on Saturday, September 29th; then in Monroe at Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge on Friday, October 5th.  We had a great turn-out. These classes were sponsored by the LSU AgCenter, Poverty Point Reservoir State Park and the Friends Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge in an effort to get people on the water to enjoy our abundant water resources. We had 29 who learned to kayak.

 

Pack & Paddle of Lafayette tuaght canoe classes on Saturday, October 6th, at Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Thanks Friends of Black Bayou Lake NWR for hosting.

Twenty learned to canoe.

 

Within the two-week period we have shown 49 people how to enjoy the abundant resources in Northeast Louisiana.