Louisiana Agritourism: January 2017

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Register for March Agritourism Safety Management Workshops

Workshop registration is still open.

Just one change:

The March 7th workshop will be held at the LSU AgCenter's Hill Farm Research Station

located in Homer at 11959 Hwy. 9

For March 7th, register at this link: www.lsuagriarcadia.eventbrite.com

March 9th, in Albany, register at this link: www.lsuagrialbany.eventbrite.com

Workshop is FREE; please register by February 28, 2017

For more details click here.

Saturday, January 28, 2017

Register Now for Annie's Project in Jennings

Deborah Cross-Young, Annie's Project Lousiana State Coordinator, has announced the next round of Annie's Workshop scheduled for Saturday, March 4th and Saturday March 18th at the Jeff Davis Parish LSU AgCenter Office at 1006 South Lake Arthur Ave., Jennings, LA For more information contact Mrs. Cross-Young at 225-281-9470 or e-mail her at dcross1@outlook.com

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program Webinar

Thursday, January 19, 2017

LA Women in Agriculture Conference, Feb. 9-10

Special Guest Speaker, Kim Bremmer from Wisconsin is a true “ag-vocate”! You can find more information about her on her website, Ag Inspirations.

Meeting Location: Holiday Inn Downtown 701 4th Street, Alexandria, LA 71301 (Special room rates available if reserved up to 30 days before event)

Registration: Registration - $50 - www.LAWomeninAG.com

Contact: Please email info@LouisianaWomeninAG.com with any questions.

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.