Louisiana Agritourism: Time to Buy a Christmas Tree

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Time to Buy a Christmas Tree

Tis the season to experience the fun and joy of Christmas tree shopping with the family. I can remember many Christmases on our farm in Dodson. My Dad and I were the Christmas tree scouts all year long and we would tag the perfect tree and then find our way back into the woods in December to chop it down. Today, shoppers can travel to tree farms and enjoy the same family experience I did as a child. I can remember circling the tree checking for open spots before, I said, "This is the one." Today, commercially grown trees have no open, void spots, so all the trees are perfect, just select a height and head to the check out counter. For a listing of Christmas Tree farms log onto MarketMaker and/or Pick Your Own Christmas Tree

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Agritourism Law Limits Liability

In 2008, the Louisiana Legislature expanded the limitation of liability found in La R.S. 9:2795 et seq to include certain agritourism activities. The legislation authored by Representative Andy Anders and Senators Francis Thompson and Mike Walsworth provides that the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Foresty (LDAF) will develop a set of rules and regulations and that the LSU AgCenter will define a “plan of operation” for an agritourism venture and review those plans.

More about this law can be found on the LSU AgCenter Web site: www.lsuagcenter.com/agritourism

2012 Agriculture Census Shows Increase in Farming

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2014 –There are now 3.2 million farmers operating 2.1 million farms on 914.5 million acres of farmland across the United States, according to the 2012 Census of Agriculture, released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“Once every five years, farmers, ranchers and growers have the unique opportunity to let the world know how U.S. agriculture is changing, what is staying the same, what’s working and what we can do differently,” said Dr. Cynthia Clark, the retiring head of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, which administered the survey.

Eighty-seven percent of all U.S. farms are operated by families or individuals.
Principal operators were on average 58.3 years old and were predominantly male; second operators were slightly younger and most likely to be female; and third operators were younger still.
In Louisiana agritourism grew from 170 farms in 2007 to 361 farms in 2012.
In Louisiana onfarm agritourism sales jumped from $2,486 to $8,996 in 2012.
In Louisiana the definition of agritourism is broader than the definition in the census; meaning that numbers are greater.