This week, Land Trust for Louisiana gathered with our partners at Live Oak Farm in Vermilion Parish for a special Farm Field Day. We met at this beautiful family-run rice farm with landowners and farmers from across Louisiana to talk about how protecting ecologically important agricultural lands benefits wildlife — and ensures that future generations can continue to stay connected to the land.
Live Oak Farm will become the first approved Agricultural Land Easement (ALE) in the state of Louisiana, and it was a wonderful day to focus on the importance of rice farming to Louisiana’s wildlife (especially migratory birds!) Check out what USA Rice had to say about this historic event on their website.
Thank you to Charles Payne and the Godchaux family for hosting us on your property, and thanks to our partners from the Natural Resources Conservation Service and The Conservation Fund for coming to present on the Agricultural Land Easement program. Special thanks as well to Kane Webb from USA Rice for helping to pull this event together!
We were joined by Dr. Erik Johnson from Audubon Delta for a bird banding expedition. Using mist nets, we walked across a field to stir the birds out. We caught two swamp sparrows, and Erik recorded their data and banded them before releasing them back into the fields. Thank you little friends for your contribution to science!
Take a look at some of our pictures from this event below, and check out the alligator we found sunning herself. It was truly a perfect February day in Louisiana.
