Louisiana

States put the spotlight on sweetpotatoes

Thu, 27 Mar 2025 17:26:04 GMT

Sweetpotato councils and commissions across the country go all out to tout their favorite vegetable. Here’s a look at what some of them are up to:

Moving plates in Mississippi

Fans of Mississippi sweetpotatoes will be able to promote the spuds literally everywhere they go thanks to the Vardaman-based Mississippi Sweetpotato Council and a little help from the Mississippi Department of Motor Vehicles.

Special vehicle license plates should be available by summer and will sport the Mississippi sweetpotato logo and show the council’s website — MSSweetpotato.org — in addition to the vehicle license number, said Caleb Englert, council president and president of the U.S. Sweetpotato Council.

The Vardaman-based Mississippi Sweetpotato Council, with a little help from the Mississippi Department of Motor Vehicles, has come up with a special vehicle license plate that will feature the Mississippi sweetpotato logo and show the council’s website in addition to vehicle license number, says Caleb Englert, council president.

(Photo courtesy of Mississippi Sweetpotato Council)

The council had to arrange for the presale of 300 plates in order to have the specialty tags added to the state’s license plate offerings, he said. A portion of the fees charged for the plates will go to the council to promote sweetpotatoes.

Englert expects the special plates to catch on among the driving public.

“Once people see them, they will be all for them,” he said. “It’s definitely going to help support the industry.”

The council also was able to use funds from a USDA specialty crop marketing grant to sponsor Sweetpotato Day, complete with radio and TV support, at a Mississippi State University baseball game in Starkville.

The grant supported Mississippi sweetpotato billboards for four weeks in Atlanta, Houston and Chicago and a wrapped 18-wheeler used to haul sweetpotatoes as well.

The council also is finishing work on a documentary explaining how sweetpotatoes are grown. It will be shown on social media starting this summer.

The Baton Rouge-based Louisiana Sweet Potato Commission encourages consumers to add sweetpotatoes to the state’s popular seafood and crawfish boils, says Rene Simon, director.

(Photo courtesy of Louisiana Sweet Potato Commission)

Crawfish nosh in Louisiana

Spring is a big time for crawfish boils and seafood boils, and the Baton Rouge-based Louisiana Sweet Potato Commission continues to encourage consumers to add the vegetables to the ever-popular boils at this time every year, said Rene Simon, director.

White potatoes are the usual tuber of choice for the mealtime favorites, but Simon hopes that may be changing.

“It’s taking a while to catch on, but we’re seeing more people adding sweetpotatoes to their crawfish boils and their seafood boils,” he said.

Sweetpotato are a good fit for the boils, which are generally fairly spicy.

“The boils have salt, pepper and other flavoring that adds to the savoriness,” he said.

But sweetpotatoes add sweetness and a different flavor.

“They break the saltiness and the seasoning a little bit,” he said.

The Louisiana crawfish has been popular for generations, Simon said. And though the sweetpotato promotion started 10 years ago, it has really taken off over the past two or three years and continues to grow in popularity.

“It gives our farmers another way to market the smaller potatoes that might not be able to make the store shelves,” he said.

The commission supports Louisiana’s 6,000 acres of sweetpotatoes with TV and online advertising, some of which specifically promotes the boils.

While spring is the most popular time of year for crawfish and seafood boils, crab and shrimp boils are just as good and flavorful during the summer, Simon said.

The Benson-based North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission’s 2025 marketing program includes a mix of influencer marketing, social media, cooking classes, recipe development, media coverage, trade/consumer advertising, sponsorships, TV segments and more, says Michelle Grainger, executive director.

(Photo courtesy of North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission)

Influencers loose in North Carolina

“The North Carolina 2025 marketing program includes a mix of influencer marketing, social media, cooking classes, recipe development, media coverage, trade/consumer advertising, sponsorships, TV segments and more,” said Michelle Grainger, executive director of the Benson-based North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission.

The commission has partnered with five creators and four recipe developers who have attracted 2,574,330 followers, Grainger said.

“The goal is to cater towards certain demographics by having mothers, dietitians and nutritionists share their knowledge on the health benefits of North Carolina sweetpotatoes through recipe and educational content,” she said.

Cooking classes are held to help consumers to learn new recipes at home, and renowned nutrition experts have become partners in TV segments on KCTV, Al Borde Del Abismo and ABC, she said.

A farming influencer will visit North Carolina sweetpotato farms, packinghouses and the Horticultural Crops Research Station at Clinton this spring.

“Content will be created in the form of YouTube videos, Instagram and Facebook reels to be featured on NC Sweetpotato social media pages,” she said.

The commission also is working with Family Features mat syndicate to create a video/photo and an article featuring a sweetpotato beverage during the summer.

In addition, trade ads are planned in key publications and advertising is scheduled for subway ads in New York, a target market, in the spring and summer.

“It’s a tactic to get people to learn more about where their food comes from,” Grainger said.

Cutting confusion in California

The Livingston-based California Sweetpotato Council is winding down its $242,000 block grant received from the California Department of Food and Agriculture in 2022 to dispel consumer confusion about yams versus sweetpotatoes, said Jill Damskey, the council’s associate director.

The council has “done a ton of messaging,” working with several supermarket chains and independent stores and used social media to spread its message, she said.

One of the goals of the project was to tell consumers that all colors of sweetpotatoes — purple, orange, red and white — have the same nutritional benefits and can be used interchangeably in recipes, she said.

Some retailers used the council’s own pictures showing the outside flesh and inside flesh of the various potatoes.

“We feel like it’s been a good two years and a successful campaign,” Damskey said.

The promotional efforts final push of the campaign will run through April.

Hurricane Laura slams coast, soaks fields

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 06:44:39 GMT

Hurricane Laura slammed into Cameron, La., with winds of 150 m.p.h. at 1 a.m. Central on Aug. 27, leaving coastal areas nearby battered and bringing heavy winds and rains inland.

The storm’s landfall in Louisiana was 30 miles east of the Texas border, and it moved northeast across Louisiana.

Joe Watson, who lives two-hours northeast of the hurricane’s landfall in Lafayette, La., said the storm brought extensive tidal flooding around the region.

“We had a really rough night, but we are safe,” Watson, the Produce Marketing Association’s vice president of member engagement, said in an e-mail. “I don’t have any clear insights on supply chain but I would imagine that the Lake Charles area will be disrupted for a few days.”

Short term, the hardest hit areas are expecting no power, closed roads due to trees/debris, and dangerous toxins in the air due to a chemical plant fire in Lake Charles, said Chris Ferachi, operations and safety analyst for Capitol City Produce, Baton Rouge. “Just west of us in Lake Charles, they are just beginning to assess damage and begin the clean-up process.”

Interstate 10 is closed in the area, and a shelter in place is in effect or Lake Charles until the chemical fire can be put out, Ferachi said.

About three hours northeast of Hurricane Laura’s landfall, Cindy Vead, sales representative with sweet potato shipper Earl Roy Enterprises , Hessmer, La., said power was out after a night of tornado warnings and rain. Rain associated with the storm that began in the early morning hours stopped by about 7 a.m. Aug. 27, she said. Wind gusts up to 65 miles per hour have been reported, she said.

“We have been having winds but nothing extreme,” she said. “If there is any damage, it is minimal.”

Rainfall at the farm on Aug. 27 through mid-morning totaled about five inches, she said.

The firm’s sweet potato harvest was expected to begin about Sept. 1 but could be delayed a few days because of wet fields. Harvest usually takes from six to ten weeks, depending on the weather, Vead said.

In 2019, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that Louisiana accounted for about 5.4% of total U.S. sweet potato shipments.

The Packer’s Sweet Potato Coverage

The Packer’s Louisiana Coverag e

Hurricane Laura extends CFAP payments in Texas, Louisiana

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 06:46:08 GMT

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has extended application deadlines for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program for farmers and ranchers in Texas and Louisiana affected by Hurricane Laura.

The deadline for the program was Sept. 11, but the USDA on Sept. 14 announced the extension for the producers affected by the hurricane, which made landfall on Aug. 27 and caused billions of dollars in damages in Louisiana and Texas.

The new deadline for the affected producers is Oct. 9.

The extension covers all of Louisiana, according to the USDA’s Farm Service Agency, and the Texas counties of Jasper, Jefferson, Newton, Orange, Sabine and Tyler.

As of Sept. 14, specialty crop producers had invoiced $647 million of the overall $9.92 billion paid out to agricultural producers, the smallest of the categories eligible for the program.

According the USDA’s CFAP Dashboard , payments as of Sept. 14 (and percentage of approved payments) were:

Livestock, $4.87 billion, 49%;
Non-specialty crops, $2.58 billion, 26%;
Dairy, $1.74 billion, 18%;
Specialty crops, $647 million, 7%; and
Aqua nursery flora, $81.6 million; 0.8%.

The top specialty crops, and their overall rank in payouts in the CFAP program are:

Almonds: No. 7, $99.3 million;
Potatoes (russets): No. 8, $75.17 million;
Apples : No. 10, $47.87 million;
Walnuts: No. 11, $46.59 million; and
Strawberries : No. 13: $42.14 million.

Related stories:

USDA CFAP applications due by Sept. 11

USDA extends CFAP deadline, adds dozens of specialty crops

Apples, potatoes now included in coronavirus sales loss payments

Southern Specialties helps feed Louisiana health professionals

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 18:10:34 GMT

Southern Specialties Inc. , Pompano Beach, Fla., has donated thousands of pounds of specialty produce to hospital staffs, including heirloom tomatoes , white asparagus and yellow beefsteak tomatoes.

The specialty produce company partnered with Rouse Markets on the donations to three Louisiana facilities, Touro Infirmary, University Medical Center and Ochsner Hospital.

The distributions were organized through Capital City Produce, Baton Rouge, according to a news release.

“We wanted to do something for the frontline folks who have been working literally nonstop, and may not be able to get to Rouses Markets for fresh options,” Charlie Eagle, vice president of business development for Southern Specialties, said in the release. “The Rouses team proved to be an ideal partner in facilitating these donations.”

Touro Infirmary and the University Medical Center created mini farmers’ markets, and Ochsner Hospital’s executive chef Marc Gilberti prepared meals for health care providers.

Southern Specialties has supplied Rouses Markets for almost a decade, and Capital City Produce delivers to Rouses throughout the Gulf Coast, according to the release.

Related stories:

SEPC distributes more foodservice products to people in need

United Fresh foundation grants fund donations during crisis

Produce Alliance donates to hospital, seeks partners to expand program

Louisiana asks USDA for disaster declaration

Wed, 16 Nov 2022 21:16:09 GMT

A long stretch of drought followed by excessive rains created millions of dollars in damage to Louisiana growers, and Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards has requested a secretarial declaration of disaster from USDA Secretary Tom Vilsak.

With challenges already presented by historic input costs, Edwards said in a letter to Vilsack that Louisiana’s agricultural producers were dependent on a successful year. However, Edwards said extreme weather conditions have resulted in extensive losses to farmers this year.

The state’s producers faced abnormal drought conditions in the early half of the year, he said, and the harm this caused was then exacerbated by subsequent persistent and excessive rainfall from late July to early September, which flooded some crops and created significant quality issues.

“One preliminary estimate from the Louisiana State University AgCenter places the total economic impact on Louisiana’s agricultural output at nearly $500 mil1ion,” Edwards said in a Nov. 15 letter to Vilsack.

Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain has been working with Edwards on the disaster request, according to the agency. The Farm Service Agency’s State Emergency Board has already received designation recommendations from the local emergency boards, the agency said.

According to the USDA website, the secretary of agriculture is authorized to designate counties (or parishes) as disaster areas to make emergency loans available to producers suffering losses in those counties and in counties that are contiguous to a designated county.

Top retailers in the Southwest by market share

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 07:42:31 GMT

Each year, The Shelby Report showcases valuable retail market share data. In the interactive map below, find each major market around the Southwest. Also, highlighted are the major cities in each market.

All markets are “labeled” or identified by their primary state (with metros or key cities). Percentages are estimates based on annualized sales, industry data, institutional research and store footprints. Shares are updated as market metrics dictate and retailers supply their store lists.*

Market shares are for chains, independents and/or the wholesalers (voluntary or cooperative) which supply them within each region’s distribution area, extending well beyond typical metros or CBSAs. Each market is defined by the sphere of distribution, not by a rigid geographic boundary.

Major cities in each market:

Colorado/Wyoming/Nebraska/South Dakota - Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs,
Ft Collins, Pueblo, Grand Junctiion, Cheyenne
West Texas/New Mexico/Colorado/Kansas - Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, El Paso, Amarillo,
Lubbock, Wichita Falls, Abilene, Odessa
South Texas - San Antonio, Austin, Waco, Laredo,
Corpus Christi, McAllen, Brownsville
North Texas/Louisana/Arkansas/Oklahoma - Dallas, Fort Worth, Tyler, Longview, Shreveport
East Texas/Louisiana - Houston, Pasadena, Galveston, Bryan,
Beaumont, Port Arthur, Lake Charles
Oklahoma - Oklahoma City, Tulsa
Springfield, MO - Springfield, MO; Fayetteville, Bentonville, AR

US Foods expands Louisiana facility

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 05:46:09 GMT

Foodservice supplier US Foods Holding Corp. is expanding its Marrero, La., facility, nearly tripling its size to support growth in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

US Foods, Rosemont, Ill., broke ground on the project in late January, with plans to have it operating by late 2020, according to a news release. The project will expand the F. Christiana facility from 70,000 to 200,000 square feet.

“This is an important day for US Foods as we take the next step to expand our footprint in Louisiana and reaffirm our commitment to our customers and the community,” Keith Knight, south region president for US Foods, said in a news release about the Jan. 31 groundbreaking ceremony.

US Foods purchased broadliner F. Christiana in mid-2017.

The construction project includes a kitchen and training center for customer product demonstrations and recipe development, plus a technology center for customers to learn about US Foods’ web-based business solutions, according to the release.

The facility is designed to meet energy efficiency standards in refrigeration, lighting, and heating and cooling systems.

US Foods has more than 60 locations, according to the release.

USDA cites Louisiana company for PACA violations

Tue, 12 Sep 2023 14:13:58 GMT

The USDA has imposed sanctions on Tyler’s Pride Produce LLC, Kenner, La., for violating the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act .

These sanctions include barring the business and the principal operators of the business from engaging in PACA-licensed business or other activities without approval from USDA, the agency said.

Tyler’s Pride failed to pay $750,174 to seven sellers for produce that was purchased, received and accepted in interstate and foreign commerce from March 2020 to September 2021, according to the release. Tyler’s Pride cannot operate in the produce industry until Aug. 17, 2025, and then only after it applies for and is issued a new PACA license by USDA.

The company’s principals, Charles St. Philip Jr. and Tammy St. Philip, may not be employed by or affiliated with any PACA licensee until Aug. 17, 2024, and then only with the posting of a USDA-approved surety bond, the release said.

For further information, contact Corey Elliott, chief of the Investigative Enforcement Branch, at 202-720-6873 or PACAInvestigations@usda.gov.

State sweetpotato organizations share plans and initiatives

Tue, 05 Sep 2023 12:42:18 GMT

Louisiana Sweet Potato Commission

The Louisiana Sweet Potato Commission , Baton Rouge, will host the 62nd National Convention of the U.S. Sweet Potato Council in New Orleans from Jan. 21-24, 2024, said Rene Simon, commission director.

“It’s an opportunity for the industry to gather and share information,” he said.

A highlight will be a riverboat cruise and lunch with Louisiana seafood and Cajun and Creole cooking, he said.

Researchers will present some of the latest findings in the sweetpotato world, and Mike Strain, commissioner of forestry and agriculture for Louisiana, will be a speaker.

The USDA Agriculture Marketing Service will give a presentation on how USDA purchases sweetpotatoes and how suppliers can sell to USDA. Louisiana State University sweetpotato specialists also will present the latest on variety development and cultural practices.

To register, visit sweetpotatousa.org/convention.

Mississippi Sweet Potato Council

The Mississippi Sweet Potato Council , Vardaman, is trying to persuade the state’s residents to feature sweetpotatoes on their plates — their vehicle license plates, that is.

A design for special sweetpotato plates has been created, and the council is in the process of gathering the 375 signatures necessary to persuade the state to add it to its list of special tags, which already call attention to wildlife preservation, various universities and NASCAR, said Lorin Harvey, professor at Mississippi State University and scientific adviser to the council.

“It’s one of those very subtle marketing and awareness campaigns,” he said.

Harvey expected the goal to be reached by the end of the year.

“It absolutely will happen,” he said.

An application for the plates is available on the council’s website: mssweetpotato.org.

North Carolina SweetPotato Commission

The North Carolina SweetPotato Commission , Benson, has a full slate of activities in the works for the coming season, said CoCo Daughtry, communications specialist.

The commission is preparing for its annual Research Field Day hosted by North Carolina State University. Date is to be announced.

The North Carolina FarmHER lunch to fight breast cancer is set for Nov. 3. “Over the last three years, we have raised over $22,000 for the Pretty in Pink Foundation,” which provides uninsured and under-insured breast cancer patients in the state with financial assistance for medical treatment, Daughtry said.

The commission also plans to celebrate National Sweet Potato Month in February.

“If any of our retailers would like to step up and partner, we are certainly open to working with them,” she said.

Learn: More about sweetpotatoes from PMG

Partnerships that Give Room to Grow in Urban Louisiana

Mon, 25 Nov 2024 11:00:00 GMT

On Thursdays each week, the farmers of River Queen Greens pack up the vegetables they’ve grown and take them to the Crescent City Farmers Market in New Orleans’ Mid-City neighborhood to sell. They tote a variety of microgreens, root veggies, cooking greens and fresh herbs that haven’t been utilized in their farm share program or by selling to wholesalers or local restaurants across the city.

Their 88-acre farm is located on the west bank of New Orleans in the Lower Coast Algiers neighborhood. Owner Cheryl Nunes, who owns and operates the farm with wife Annie Moore, calls their neighborhood rural and agricultural, in a lesser-known part of the city — pretty far away from the jazz and glamour you might think of in New Orleans. Certainly no parades are passing by their window.

But the couple’s farm is part of a growing agricultural movement in New Orleans, where urban plots are cropping up on top of land that two decades ago held apartment buildings and storefronts.

River Queen Greens got its start on one of those lots, a half-acre tract in the city. Like many of their urban farmer neighbors, Nunes and Moore struggled to build the health of their soil, the foundation for a productive growing environment.

“It was extremely sandy, and it had a lot of urban rubble from construction in it,” Nunes says.

Even in their larger farm farther away from the traditional city-center, she says they still struggle with managing their soil, fighting against the dense clay by adding in amendments.

The 88-acre of River Queen Greens Farm is located on the west bank of New Orleans.

(River Queen Greens)

There are programs in place that can help urban farmers with this and other challenges related to their unique growing conditions. But, piling administrative tasks like finding those opportunities, connecting with the proper channels, filling out the sometimes-arduous paperwork and meeting requirements into an already packed day can sometimes feel like a net negative return on investment.

“That’s a lot of paperwork that growers often are very overwhelmed by, including us,” she says. “That’s just not our forte.”

“It can be isolating to fill out forms when we don’t really know what the language means or if we are doing it correctly.”

“I feel like forms are a big barrier to opportunity.”

Helpful Hands

Margee Green, producer and sustainability director for Sprout , says that this kind of thinking is exactly why her organization exists.

“Farmers are so talented at farming,” she says. “We try to help them just be able to farm.”

“Obviously they are small business owners, and you have to be able to run a small business, but I don’t think it’s fair that farmers have to be able to navigate every system and every program,” she says. “We are like business partners for farmers.”

Sprout calls itself “connective tissue” for farmers, binding them into communities and helping to navigate resources to enhance and grow their operations.

(Sprout)

On the ground, that partnership looks like Sprout running interference, matching farmers like Nunes and Moore with opportunities to enhance their farms and then helping them to navigate the processes that accompany. They host gatherings where farmers come together to fill out forms, share best practices and exchange tools.

One of the primary partnerships that Sprout leverages for Louisiana farmers is with the local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, which provides technical and financial support for conservation efforts. Through an initiative to provide support to urban and small-scale agriculture, there is a USDA NRCS service center in New Orleans complete with a dedicated urban conservationist.

That urban conservationist is Jorge Penso, and one of his first connections when he arrived in New Orleans was with Sprout.

“Sprout has been one of my biggest helps in terms of meeting farmers and producers, and getting information about NRCS programs out there,” Penso says. “They’ve been here for years. They’re very well organized.”

The organizations are now partnering to provide programming, bringing workshops for growers on topics such as soil health, high tunnels and diversification.

Filling the Void

For Nunes, Sprout and NRCS are stepping in to fill a desperate need for farmers like herself.

“We struggle to find resources that address some of the issues that we face, especially in the South,” she says. “Many resources deal with farmers at a much bigger scale or a national scale or northern climates with much different soil types than we have down here.”

“Sometimes it feels like we are doing a lot of trial and error and learning from our peers in our community.”

Penso is ready with programs to help with this and all of the challenges that urban and peri-urban farmers like Nunes and Moore face. He’s already making use of conservation programs like EQIP to fund high tunnels — River Queen Greens has six in operation on their farm. High tunnels, which elsewhere can be used to extend growing seasons, in Louisiana are often used to protect fragile crops from the climate extremes of the region, like sweltering hot days and torrential flooding. Raised beds are also popular as a way to short-circuit building soil health on former mixed-use sites. Through the CSP program, Penso is facilitating pollinator plantings.

“One of the nice things about working with urban producers is that they are not as heavily invested as a row-crop farmer would be, which makes it difficult to change what they are doing,” he says. “Especially when someone is just getting started, they can be conscious about their choices and be in a mindset to work toward conservation.”

Facilitating Change

What can happen when farmers free up the headspace occupied by administrative tasks? Green believes that is when actual change can occur.

“When we crunch farmers into needing to be everything all at once, there is no possibility for them to breathe and look out onto their land and think about what it could look like in 20 years if they could reintroduce pollinators or native plants or monitor their soil health or trap carbon,” she says. “When we open up space, they can think about sustainability on their farm, both financial and environmental.”

Sprout’s Margee Green says that when arduous administrative tasks are alleviated, farmers like Cheryl Nunes of River Queen Greens can focus on a more sustainable future for her operation. For Nunes, that includes implementation of cover cropping to protect her fragile Louisiana soil.

(River Queen Greens )

On the River Queen Greens farm, one of those conservation practices that Nunes and Moore are implementing that has them thinking about the next two decades on their farm is cover cropping.

“Something that has us very excited about the future is a very specific type of cover cropping that we started doing,” she says. “We are using sunn hemp, which is a fast-growing, hot-weather-loving crop that we are planting and then crimping with a roller crimper before planting into. The mulch then is lasting us about six months adding a lot of benefit.”

Changes like this are what give Green hope that her “life’s work” at Sprout is starting to grow impact.

“Farmers are such an incredible tool for fighting climate change, if they are able to really run their farms in these holistic ways,” she says. “Nonprofit partners and NRCS, we try to lift a load so that farmers can do what they do best.”

America’s Conservation Ag Movement is a public/private collaborative that meets growers across the country where they are on their conservation journey and empowers their next step with technical assistance from USDA-NRCS and innovation solutions and resources from agriculture’s leading providers. Learn more at www.americasconservationagmovement.com .

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Making Room at the Table on One Louisiana Farm

Thu, 12 Dec 2024 15:12:17 GMT

Throughout his career in corporate America and higher education, Hilery Gobert never could shake the feeling that he belonged on a farm. The dream of having a tract of land all his own, working the soil and growing food for his family just never faded away.

These days, the seventh-generation farmer is finally living that long-held dream. On a 65-acre farm in Iowa, La., called Driftwood Farm , Gobert has only one real goal — help restore the heritage of his family’s Creole farming tradition.

“My father was a farmer, as was his father before him and his father before him in south Louisiana,” he says.

“I grew up working as a sharecropper with my father, and as a Creole, we always had meals with large family and lively conversation around the table.

“Coming home, for me, meant recreating the whole idea of where I grew up, the farm, the fresh vegetables and the idea of having family around you.

“That’s what this has become for me,” he says.

Learn more about Driftwood Farm by watching America’s Conservation Ag Movement Case Study in Conservation.

Heritage Growing Practices

For Gobert, having a farm that both looked and felt like the one he’d grown up on meant he’d need to tackle one important thing first: the health of his soil.

Early soil health tests on Driftwood Farm showed dismal organic matter levels. According to Gobert, when colonists first arrived in Louisiana, the organic contents of the soil were around 20%, but his soil had been so depleted of organic matter that its levels were less than 2%. In order to grow food that he was proud for his family to eat, he’d need to boost those levels fivefold.

“We realized we had a large job ahead of us if we want to produce nutritional food, because the only way you’ll produce nutritional food is if you have healthy soil,” he says.

His answer for a quick boost was animals. It was the same way that his ancestors had maintained healthy soils.

Now, his land is teeming with livestock and animals, each serving a particular set of purposes, according to Gobert. They include:

Grass-fed cattle — Driftwood Farm sells whole and half-shares of their beef to family members.
Free-range chickens — Eggs are sold and shared with family members as well as meat.
Sheep — The woolly coats of Driftwood Farm’s sheep actually help keep insects at bay.
Fowl — A variety of ducks, geese and guineas roam Driftwood Farm, keeping pests in check.
Horses — Horses serve as transportation around the farm and local community for the family.

The manure from these animals limit the commercial fertilizer needed, says Gobert. He adds compost to supplement and uses mulches in his cropping areas.

Driftwood Farm uses a combination of manure from their animals and compost to help restore the organic matter in their soil.

(America’s Conservation Ag Movement/Jon Reynolds)

Cover crops are keeping his soil covered and adding nutrients, and he is limiting tillage, working toward implementing a fully no-till operation.

Much like his ancestors, Gobert made the decision to grow his food organically.

“Our decision to restrict the use of any type of pesticide for five years is helping to create a biology and ecosystem that will take care of itself,” he says.

Heritage Innovation

Restoring his farm in the image of his ancestors’ farms doesn’t mean that Gobert is shying away from innovation.

He tapped his local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service for financial and technical assistance to build a high tunnel to extend his growing season and improve his irrigation to a micro-irrigation or drip irrigation system to capture water efficiency.

“Driftwood Farm is a great example of the benefits small-scale agriculture can have,” says Joshua Anderson, USDA NRCS district conservationist. “The only thing about it that’s small is the footprint.”

“NRCS can help producers like Hilery address resource concerns that, if left unchecked, would have large financial and labor investments to correct them, and then it can also serve as an incentive for a producer to try a new conservation practice they may be on the fence about.”

Gobert is also bringing back one of his father’s heritage crops using an innovative new agronomic approach.

“On my father’s farm, nearly half of our farm production was rice,” he says. “Rice was traditionally grown in the southwest Louisiana area because the very high water table meant you didn’t have to go very deep to get the amount of water you needed in order to paddock flood rice.”

Driftwood Farm is using innovative new agronomic techniques to grow rice in a more water-efficient way.

(America’s Conservation Ag Movement/Jon Reynolds)

Recently, Gobert learned of rice growers in his area that were experimenting with rice as a dry-land crop, using furrow floodings and only using about a quarter of the water traditionally used to paddock flood. In addition to the water conservation, Gobert was intrigued by the agronomy’s ability to reduce greenhouse gas production.

He tapped into the expertise of Jubilee Justice , a Louisiana-based organization that supports Black farming communities with conservation assistance, cooperative ownership and financial security.

One focus of the organization is on encouraging rice production using The System of Rice Intensification, or SRI, developed in Madagascar in the 1980s.

“Traditionally, rice farmers get 13 cents a pound doing specialty rice,” says Bernard Winn of Jubilee Justice. “Growing rice SRI-style, you can get 80 cents to $1 a pound, which is one of the reasons that we wanted to bring Black farmers in on this economically-friendly way of growing rice.”

Gobert and Jubilee Justice are partnering to test nine rows of rice in four different varieties on Driftwood Farm using drip irrigation.

“I’m probably going to use only about 15% of the water that paddock flooders are using,” Gobert says. “I’m excited about the possibilities, because the rice production could be a way for small farmers to get back into rice production without accumulating the cost that’s involved.”

Water conservation opportunities in Louisiana, an important migratory destination for many waterfowl, align with the mission of Ducks Unlimited , an America’s Conservation Ag Movement partner and wetlands conservation leader.

“Waterfowl habitat is disappearing, especially the Louisiana, Texas Gulf Coast,” says Kyle Soileu of Ducks Unlimited. “What’s good for rice is good for ducks — they go hand-in-hand like peanut butter and jelly, or when you are in south Louisiana, jambalaya and white beans.”

Heritage Markets

On any given day, consumers might be able to purchase a number of fresh foods from Driftwood Farm. Beef, poultry, duck and eggs are available, alongside fresh vegetables from fresh greens to okra, cucumber, tomato and turnips.

All of the animals that live on Driftwood Farm serve dual purposes.

(America’s Conservation Ag Movement/Jon Reynolds)

Driftwood Farm sells online, but it also uses an age-old method of CSA, or community-supported agriculture. In that program, enrollees receive a selection of goods from the farm’s weekly harvest as part of a cost-share.

“Today, a lot of our small-scale farmers are doing basically the same thing as generations before through CSA,” Gobert says. “We go out to the community and sell shares on our farm, and I’ll take everything that I produce on that farm every week and create a care box for one of the shareholders and divide that plentiful bounty that I get from the farm to each of the stockholders.

“It’s surprising how the old become new again,” he adds.

In addition to his weekly farm sales, Gobert is using the farm to open up seats at his family’s table.

“This farm is our idea of not only feeding ourselves and our close family, but our extended family as well,” he says. “Now, we are actually feeding an entire extended family in the Lake Charles area with the vegetables that we are growing here.”

Heritage Sustainability

For Gobert, the conservation agronomy and the innovation are all part of building the overall sustainability of his farm, the same way that his father and grandfather did before him.

“The idea of the sustainable farm is to be able to keep it in our family from generation to generation,” he says. “That’s the Creole tradition.”

Driftwood Farm is a multigenerational farm, bringing in the ninth generation of the family to farm in southern Louisiana.

(America’s Conservation Ag Movement/Jon Reynolds)

Gobert is already fostering that next generation. His grandson began learning early the importance of caring for the land through workshops he attended right alongside Gobert.

When Gobert retired and moved back to Louisiana to develop Driftwood Farm, his grandson moved with him.

“He’s very active in the farm and decided to major in agriculture in college,” he says. “I feel very secure in the transition of this farm when I retire going to the ninth generation, who will have the knowledge to continue nurturing the soil and revitalizing the soil into becoming a productive farm in the way we would like.”

“He is excited about his future here as well,” he says. “The future in farming and our young people looks good.”

America’s Conservation Ag Movement is a public/private collaborative that meets growers across the country where they are on their conservation journey and empowers their next step with technical assistance from USDA-NRCS and innovation solutions and resources from agriculture’s leading providers. Learn more at americasconservationagmovement.com .

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