📍 St. Martinville, Louisiana
Louisiana’s sugar cane farmers help feed America — and today, we announced new action to protect their crops and livelihoods.
Pasture mealybug is an invasive pest that can damage sugar cane, destroy pastures, and kill plants within weeks.
@USDA is confronting it head-on:
➡️ We released a coordinated Action Plan outlining USDA’s response in Louisiana, Texas, Florida, and Georgia.
➡️ We awarded $500,000 to
@LSUAgCenter to help researchers detect the pest, control outbreaks, identify resistant sugar cane varieties, and give farmers practical tools to protect their harvests.
➡️Increased funding for the Plant Pest and Disease Program to $90M in the Working Families Tax Cuts Act
The award comes through
@USDA_NIFA’s Rapid Response to Emerging and Re-emerging Pest and Disease Program, which we created last year to move quickly when new threats emerge.
Thank you to my friend
@LAGovJeffLandry, the incredible team at LASUCA, and Louisiana’s hardworking sugar cane growers for standing with us.
The Trump Administration is putting American farmers first.