Please click on the image above to view the PDF version of the 2012 St. John Parish Profile.

Program Highlights

Family, Nutrition & Health
The MyPlate food guidance system has really taken off in St. John Parish. The nutrition program, MyPlate is designed to teach healthy eating habits, the benefits of exercise, smart shopping, food safety and much more. This past year more than 3000 parish clientele benefitted from educational programs that emphasized planning for nutritious meals and the importance for eating smart and healthy. Over 70% of the seniors and youth learned how to effec-tively create a healthy plate.

4-H, Youth & Family Development
St. John Parish 4-H program promotes youth involve-ment in Science, Engineering, and Technology (S.E.T.). Exciting lessons and activities allow 4-H members to explore facts about animals that inhabit the Louisi-ana coast line. Over 50% of St. John Parish 4-H members are engaged in interesting activities in-cluding but not limited to frogs, insects, aquacul-ture and other species.

Agriculture & Natural Resources
The Horticulture/Agriculture program provides information to the general public and horticulture industry on various subject matters involving home vegetable gardening, insect, disease and weed management and fruit and nut pro-duction along with sugarcane. Sugarcane production represents a competitive and viable agriculture industry in St. John Parish and is valued for its economic contribution of more than 1 1/2 million dollars annually. Sugarcane is grown on both the east and west bank of the parish and involves 16 growers that produce sugarcane on 7,324 acres of crop land. In 2011, parish sugarcane growers achieved an increase in yield of sugar per acre that aver-aged 16% above the five year average for succeeding harvests. 

Who we reach:  

846 - Youth (includes 373 4-H members & 16 school 4-H clubs)
4,324 - Adults 1,324 Ag & Natural Resources 3,000 Family Consumer Sciences

How we reach them:  

4-H clubs, Class series, School Enrichment, Demonstrations, Field days, Workshops, Newsletters, Web sites, Publications, and Social media

Expanding our efforts:

50 Volunteers - 4-H, Master Gardeners, Family & Community 

Parish Facts  

LSU AgCenter County Agents provide research-based information on plant, aqua-culture, wildlife and animal enterprises to St. John Parish clientele. The 2010 total dollar amount from these commodities were:

• Plant enterprises - $11,362,964
• Aquaculture and wildlife - $244,943
• Animal enterprises - $513,570

Data from the Louisiana Ag Summary Web site: LSUAgCenter.com/agsummary

Population - 45,924
Land area (square miles) - 213.07%
Persons under 18 years old - 26.9%
Persons 65 years old and over - 10.3%
Median household income - $47,666
Persons below poverty - 15.5% 

Local Issues & Plans for this year

1. Increase productivity and profitability of Louisiana Agriculture.  

• Conduct educational programs to consumer horticul- ture clientele that addresses production and pest management concerns.
• Conduct producer meetings including on site assis- tance through farm visits.
• Conduct vegetable research trials and demonstra-tions field days for vegetable growers and home gar-deners.
• Develop and conduct educational programs that ad-dress specific needs of agriculture and horticulture clientele as identified through Extension Advisory committees.

2. Promote the wise use of natural resources and protection of the environment.  

• Conduct trainings for private pesticide applicators and agricultural workers.
• Conduct recycling and compost educational pro-grams.
• Conduct programs that promote Best Management Practices (BMP), Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and conservation and environmental stewardship.

3. Build leaders and good citizens through 4-H youth development.

• Promote youth involvement in Science, Engineering and Technology (S.E.T.) programs.
• Conduct community service and service learning activity parish-wide.

4. Strengthen families and communities.  

• Increase parenting programs for adults through learning the value of nutrition.
• Provide financial planning programs for middle and high schools through Living Your Financial Experience (LYFE) formally known as Welcome to the Real World Program.