Farmer’s Guide to Trucking Regulations available to Ohio Farm Bureau members
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February brought our last AgriPOWER XI session to the great state of Louisiana, and it didn’t disappoint. While we toured so many great places during our time, I’m going to highlight some of my favorites.
Our adventure started at the Cargill port. Although it was cold and pouring rain, it didn’t stop us from seeing everything that makes this place important to international grain shipping. The ships can haul anywhere from 1 million to 2.5 million bushels of grain internationally. The efficiency that goes into loading and unloading was equally impressive. This tour highlighted the importance of maintaining and updating our water way infrastructures in the United States. Our final stop of Thursday took us to St. James Parish where we toured a farm with multiple diverse crops such as sugar cane, crawfish and Perique tobacco which has been grown, harvested and sold over three generations.
Friday brought us to the Angola Prison, the largest maximum security prison in America. The director of agriculture for the prison system guided us around the 18,000 acres, showing how diversified their sustainability is for Louisiana’s prison system. Cattle are raised and sold at auction, vegetables are grown and consumed by the prisoners, and grain is grown. A prisoner rodeo, where civilians and their families come to enjoy the day of rodeos, carnival rides and food was my favorite. Prisoners sell wood crafts and other hobby items during the fair to earn money for their commissary, while paying the prison a percentage of their commission for religious maintenance. A tour of The Water Campus, which is focused on reduction of land loss in Louisiana, finished out the day.
Fellowship was had by all students as we finished out our tour of New Orleans, with grand parades celebrating Mardi Gras, while also enjoying local foods and flavors of the NOLA culture.
Online Extra
AgriPOWER takes on Louisiana–Session 6 blog by Vicki Vance
Labor has always been an issue, mainly because we are a seasonal operation. So that's a challenge finding somebody who only wants to work three months out of a year, sometimes up to six months.
I appreciate the benefit of having a strong voice in my corner. The extras that are included in membership are wonderful, but I'm a member because of the positive impact to my local and state agricultural communities.
I see the value and need to be engaged in the community I live in, to be a part of the decision-making process and to volunteer with organizations that help make our community better.
Farm Bureau involvement has taught me how to grow my professional and leadership experience outside of the workforce and how to do that in a community-centric way.
With not growing up on a farm, I’d say I was a late bloomer to agriculture. I feel so fortunate that I found the agriculture industry. There are so many opportunities for growth.
Knowing that horticulture is under the agriculture umbrella and having Farm Bureau supporting horticulture like it does the rest of ag is very important.
If it wasn't for Farm Bureau, I personally, along with many others, would not have had the opportunity to meet with our representatives face to face in Washington.
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