Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain estimates it will take years for the crawfish industry to recover from a historic drought last season. Mel Bridges has the details.
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After receiving $172 million for rural areas to have broadband, another grant of $1.36 billion will complete the project. Brooke Thorington has more.
Cut 2 (33) “…I’m Brooke Thorington.”
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While crops like corn and rice are seeing a good harvest this year, Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain estimates it will take years for the state crawfish industry to bounce back from last year’s historic drought. Strain says the effects of the drought won’t be fixed in a day…
About 100 thousand acres of crawfish farms in Louisiana were lost to the drought, slamming the 700 million dollar state crawfish industry. Strain says while the Agriculture and Forestry Commission plans for almost any disaster a farmer could face, they were blindsided by last year’s drought.
Cut 4 (10) “…dry up the ponds.”
Strain says the state Agriculture and Forestry Commission is working with the federal Department of Agriculture to provide relief for eligible farmers. Still, he says, it will likely take years to rebuild the crawfish industry after a drought that so many were unprepared for.
Last season, crawfish prices reached as high as $14 per pound due to the drought.
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The state is preparing to roll out GUMBO 2.0 ensuring every community, no matter how small, has high-speed internet. Director of the State Office of Broadband Development Veneeth Iyengar says $1.36 billion of federal funds is dedicated to the project.
Cut 6 (11) “…economic development”
Iyengar says about 88% of GUMBO 1.0 projects have been completed or are under construction. 140,000 locations will benefit from the second round of funding.
Iyengar stresses how transformative high-speed internet access will be for those remaining communities that weren’t part of the initial rollout of $172 million through the American Rescue Plan Act. For example, revenue increases for small businesses that can process credit cards.
Cut 7 (11) “…people internet.”
In lessons learned from the first rollout, Iyengar says instead of providers defining project of areas of the state to receive broadband, for GUMBO 2.0 his office is setting those parameters, and they are taking extra steps to vet those providers.
Cut 8 (08) “…remaining locations.”
Iyengar says the broadband initiative is a high priority for Governor Jeff Landry.
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Over 1200 farmers in Louisiana who experienced documented discrimination in federal farm lending programs prior to January 2021 will receive a combined 77 million dollars in financial assistance from the USDA. New Orleans Congressman Troy Carter says the money is going to some of Louisiana’s Black farmers.
Over 43 thousand farmers nationally who faced things like discriminatory denial of loans or lack of appropriate assistance in farm lending programs will receive a combined 2.2 billion dollars under the USDA program. Carter says most of Louisiana’s money will go to…
Carter says Black and other under-served farmers in Louisiana face persistent injustices. He says while this loan won’t fix the systemic issues affecting farmers of color, it will help them ease lost income, enhance their operations, or even start farming.
Cut 11 (08) ” …some of the repair.”
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A man who allegedly shot into a crowd of a thousand people in Many (Manny) has been arrested after an overnight manhunt. Detective Wade Seegers with the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Department says police caught 21-year-old Julius Winfield IV walking along a road in Natchitoches Parish earlier today.
A motive for the shooting has not yet been determined. Seegers says the shooting happened at a trail ride, or an exhibition for horses and four-wheelers, near Many (Manny) on July 13.
Cut 13 (10) “…life threatening, so.”
Winfield faces charges including attempted first-degree murder and terrorizing in connection to the shooting in July. Seegers says police spotted Winfield in his car yesterday near Pleasant Hill…
Winfield has been booked into the Sabine Parish Detention Center.