White Christmas time in south Louisiana

As expected, the news this evening was all about the snowfall in south Louisiana earlier today. I have lots of witnesses at work that can testify that it actually did snow for a few minutes in Houma this morning. I was pleasantly surprised when I looked out my office window, and saw the big snowflakes coming down. New Orleans actually got about an inch of snow. Just north of Lake Pontchartrain, Hammond got about six inches. South Louisiana has only had seven or eight snowstorms in the past 60 years, so this is a rare event. This snowstorm is apparently the earliest ever. Winter doesn't even officially begin this year until early morning Dec. 22. Here are some pictures (The Advocate, Baton Rouge) and here is a video (WDSU, New Orleans). I anticipate getting some pictures of snow-covered sugarcane being harvested, and will post those when I get them.

Harvesting sugarcane in a snowstorm

It may seem hard to believe, but some Louisiana farmers may be harvesting sugarcane in a snow storm, and will certainly be harvesting the crop with snow on it this morning. The harvesting must go on regardless of weather. This graphic, taken from a radar image displayed on the Intellicast website at 6:30 this morning, shows Lafayette (LFT) in the center of that burrrr blue color. Lafayette is the hub of Cajun country, and more or less the hub of sugarcane cultivation in Louisiana. Sugarcane harvest season in Louisiana normally goes from late September through Christmas. This year, the farmers got off to a late start because of two hurricanes, so they still have a fair amount of cane left to harvest. However, it is not unusual to be harvesting sugarcane in Louisiana after a mild freeze toward the end of the harvest season. It is much more unusual to be harvesting cane with snow on it. The last time it snowed as far south as Houma (HUM) was on Christmas day in 2004. The last time it snowed in Baton Rouge (BTR) was...hmm...it's snowing there as I'm writing this... As pics come in, I may add one or two to this posting date.

Remarks by Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer about impending transition

At the 2008 Annual Meeting and Convention of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, our Secretary of Agriculture, Ed Schafer, spoke about the impending transition following the general election. It is obvious from his remarks that there is an air of excitement in Washington D.C. that is especially poignant this time around. Apparently, from Schafer's remarks, the transition team from the Obama camp is already working closely with the present USDA administration as preparations are being made to install a new Secretary of Agriculture. Ed Schafer will shortly be returning to North Dakota, where he hails from. I quite enjoyed reading the transcript of his remarks, because he gave some Washington insights I wouldn't have otherwise been aware of.

Anh 'Joseph' Cao, first Vietnamese-American to U.S. Congress

Another political surprise happened in Louisiana this past Saturday. Joseph Cao had an upset victory over William Jefferson. Jefferson has a 16-count federal indictment facing him, including money laundering, and I guess the folks who he represents, got a little skittish. Here is the earlier editorial endorsement for Cao from New Orleans Times-Picayune. Here is the aftermath story. There are a lot of Vietnamese in this area. They make great fishermen, which should be no surprise to anyone, considering their roots.

While we lived in Hawaii, we took in three Vietnamese refugees for about six weeks, and a little later took in two more, one of whom had malaria. They didn't know a lick of English when we took them in. We maintained contact with the earlier three for several years afterward until they moved to the mainland, and had them over for Thanksgiving each year. It was a good experience for our children. They enjoyed being around our children, and looked upon us as their second family.

Kevin Voisin wins seat on Terrebonne Parish Council

Kevin Voisin, a decided underdog in a post-November election runoff between the top two candidates for City Councilman in Terrebonne Parish District 6, actually pulled off a win yesterday with the narrowest of margins, 862 vs. 846 votes. In the District 6 primary held Nov. 4, Steve Robichaux tallied more than 41 percent of the vote, compared to 32 percent for Voisin. A third candidate, Democrat Al Badeaux, finished with 26 percent. Steve blamed voter apathy for the loss, and the probable assumption by his friends that he "had it in the bag."

We were excited for Kevin and his family. We know Kevin through our church, and wish him the very best in his new role. If there is any one extended family that epitomizes the LDS Church in Houma, it would have to be the Voisin family. I served as a bishopric counselor with Kevin's father, Mike Voisin, a former Bishop of Thibodaux Ward and convert to the church. Kevin was an LDS missionary in France. He was a history major at BYU, and opted to become part of the family business by returning to Houma with his wife, Emily, following college. They now have three children. The Voisin family has been in the oyster business for seven generations. Kevin and Emily played a key role in organizing the Mormon Helping Hands volunteer event that brought over 1,400 volunteers into Terrebonne Parish to assist in the cleanup following Hurricane Gustav.

Obama pledges support of domestic sugar

Just weeks before the November election, President-elect Barack Obama sent the U.S. sugar industry a letter pledging his support of a vibrant domestic sugar sector. The letter focused on three issues of particular importance to sugar producers: The new Farm Bill, renewable energy, and international trade. As I stated in an earlier blog, it will be interesting to see how this all plays out, once President-elect Obama becomes President Obama. Sugarbeet and sugarcane growers have to be pleased that Obama has at least pledged his support, whether they voted for him or not. Leading up to the election, McCain made it abundantly clear that they weren't going to get his support. Speaking of support, Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer reported that "crop supports have fallen from $11 billion to $810 million in three years." That's a pretty remarkable drop. Sharply increased commodity values for most crops must have had more than a little to do this reduction.

Winter garden update

We had very large cauliflower plants but hadn't seen any evidence of a flower head. I was getting a little impatient, so I peeked inside the plants, and to my great surprise, we had full-sized cauliflowers. This is the very first time in my life (at least, that I can remember) that I have grown cauliflowers, so I was pretty excited. The cabbage is doing as well this year as it did last year. I have become a fan of winter gardening in south Louisiana, having had success two years in a row.