Family, Nutrition and Health
The LSU AgCenter focuses on strengthening families and citizens through Nutrition and Health educational programs. By providing the latest LSU AgCenter research findings it creates healthier eating habits, combats childhood obesity and provides effective lifestyle instruction to prevent and/or manage physiological diseases such as diabetes. The Family Nutrition Program teaches nutrition and health programs to Head Start children and parents, Council on Ageing members, OFS and OCS clients. The LSU AgCenter maintains a partnership in educa-tion with the LVFC (Louisiana Volunteers for Family and Community). Cooperative efforts focus on Health, Family Life, Environment, Literacy, and International Understanding.
4-H Youth Development
"LEARN BY DOING" is the premise of the Jeff Davis Parish 4-H Program. In Jeff Davis Parish, 4-H is a vital part of the educational process with active clubs in all parish public and parochial schools, reaching 911 youth in the 4th through 12th grade. The parish is concentrating on initiatives that include Workforce Preparation, Character Education, Leadership, and Community Service Learning based on the Mission Man-dates: Science, Engineering and Technology.
The Clover buds program in our parish is reaching 75 youth in grades Kindergarten through 3rd. The program introduces youth to 4-H and the hands on learning process and is working as a recruitment tool for our 4-H program. . Teen Leadership is a major program for the parish. The parish teen leader club has 125 mem-bers; the club focus is service learning and making a civic impact. Teen Leaders volunteered for the Capital Area Food Bank this past summer in Austin, TX. 64 Teens attended 4-H University, 46 were Blue Ribbon winners and 5 state winners. Two Jeff Davis youth is working in a leadership position on the state level. The purpose of the Jeff Davis 4-H Outdoor Skills Club, our fastest growing program, is to teach youth firearm and archery equipment safety, sportsmanship and marksmanship. Over 130 youth and 15 Level I Certified Instruc-tor with many parent volunteers participate in the program.
Parish 4-H Statistics: 24 organized clubs with 65 organizational leaders, 911 4-H members, 430 youth participated in Youth Wetlands Week, 90 youth attended 4-H summer camp, 157 youth participated in the livestock program and 289 volunteers are active in our program. Youth participating in service learning project reported: New 4-H Programs in the parish concentrating on Science, Engineering and Technology are Water Rocketry and Gardening. Mall Cents is a new 4-H program educating youth on fashion and financial management. 150 7th-12th graders from our parish determined a 91% sense of belonging by being a part of our 4-H.program. These youth are more intrinsically motivated, earning higher grades and being leaders in their schools as a result from being a member of 4-H. Jeff Davis Parish 4-H is a vital part of the educational process for all the youth we serve in all parish and private schools within our parish.
Agriculture & Natural Resources
Agricultural production is the largest economic generator in Jeff Davis Parish. Profitability in agriculture has become more difficult to achieve due to increased cost of production, greater pest pressure and increased regulatory requirements. In order to help producers achieve fiscally and environmentally efficient production, the LSU AgCenter presents the latest research based recom-mendations through electronic newsletters, news articles, result demonstrations, farm research plots, field days, educational clinics, mass media and farm visits. Emphasis is in the major commodities of rice, soybean, sugarcane, grain and cattle production. Consumer horticulture (gardens, ornamentals and turf) is another major educational area.
911 4-Hers enrolled in 24 clubs
289 4-H Youth and Adults Volunteers
324 Agricultural Producers
4,000 Home Gardeners
400 Nutrition (FNP) Clients
40 LVFC Volunteers
4-H clubs, Class series, School Enrichmen,t Project Clubs, Demonstrations, Field days, Workshops, Newsletters, Web sites, Publications, On Farm Research Commodity, and Schools
1180 youth took part in Smart Bodies,
430 youth took part in Youth Wetlands Week &
90 youth attended summer camp.
500 ag. producers participated in ed. programs
154 private pesticide applicators certified
LSU AgCenter Agents provide research-based information to Jefferson Davis Parish clientele. The top agricultural commodities in the parish are: Rice-82,000 acres, soy-bean-32,000 acres, crawfish-22,000 acres, sugarcane-3,6000 acres, hay-20,000 acres, turf-850 acres and beef cattle-15,600 head.
The total value of agricultural commodi-ties exceeds $140,000,000.
Data from the Louisiana Ag Summary Web site: LSUAgCenter.com/agsummary
Population - 31,097
Land area (square miles) - 625.5
Persons under 18 years old - 27.6%
Persons 65 years old and over - 13.7%
Family and Consumer Science
1.Enhancing life quality through family, health, nutrition and community develop-ment
4-H Youth Development
2. Building leaders and citizens through 4-H youth development
Ag and Natural Resources
3.Increase profitability in agriculture