Being an amateur blogger, I have been experiencing a few minor setbacks today on getting my post and pictures to load, but I'm back up and typing this morning ( Wed, Oct.31st). To wrap up my day 3 update. I believe I left off at Avery Island and the Tobasco Factory. We toured the facility and then sampled several different varieties of sauce along the my favorite of the day, Jalepeno flavored ice cream. On to our next stop in Erath, La, which Stuart tells us was meant to be spelt Earth, La. In Erath we met up with the Duplantis Family who raise purebred Brahma's under the Ranch name D Bar Ranch. The Duplantis family also raise sugar cane which is a main commodity produced in this part of Louisiana. In pictures that are posted you can see the cane fields and we are here in the middle of the cane harvest, very interesting to hear about the harvest and the marketing of sugar from the mills which the cane is taken.
Our next and final stop of the day took us to Hank Moss's farm in Henry, La, pronounced Henry just like in Alabama. Hank Moss is a world famous cutting horse trainer and judge. He travels all over judging shows and trains horses here on his farm in Henry. In the pictures from the prior post Hank is the man in the black cowboy hat. What he has experienced through the hurricanes is a whole different story. I also posted a picture of Hanks house that Hurricane Rita took out. Rita has been referred to by the farmers down here as the forgotten Hurricane. She came along about a month after Katrina and completely devastated the agriculture industry in the part of the state, but yet the media kept their focus on Katrina and New Orleans. Hank Moss has rebuilt his farm 2 times in the last 7 years. He is the 4th generation in the last land and he believes he will be the last, due to the tough times his kids watched him go through after Hurricanes Rita and Ike. Hank has a unique farm. His pastures have levies around them and canals that run through them. These canals fill up everyday with water and he pumps the water out into the delta/marshes, that flow into the gulf. He can grow Bermuda grass knee high 9 months out of the year, and that's his focus on his stocker operation.
Now we are off to an Alligator farm before boarding a ferry and watch cows graze on the beach. I will add more blogs and pictures throughout the day. Be sure to check out #beeftour12 on twitter and look at our pictures on www.flickr.com/photos/beeftour2012
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Day 3 Grass Farmers
If there was a theme of the day it would be the tours of "Grass Farmers". I believe most people on the tour today received more info than we could possibly take back with us to Alabama. We had the opportunity to tour some top of the line farms and I will do my best to give an overview of each of the stops. After arriving later in the night on Monday, to the Heart of Cajun Country, LaFayette, LA (Laugh-yet) we headed to New Iberia sugar cane country. In New Iberia we were joined by NRCS Agent Stuart Gardner, who provided us with a ton of information on the bus between each stop. We toured 2 farms in New Iberia, "branch cousins" Harvey and Shannon Gonsoulin (Gone-so-lay). Harvey and Shannon both use an intensive grazing system to raise their cattle. They rotate cows every 1-3 days through 28 different pastures. In the pictures I have uploaded you will see where a group of cows have been turned out to a new grazing pasture.The Gonsoulin's move the hot wire fence approximately 200 feet each day until they reach the end of the particular pasture the cows are grazing. Also in each pasture the cows have access to mineral and water troughs. We traveled by hay wagons and were provided a giant grass fed beef hamburger and just a little LSU vs AL football talk.
Our next stop took us to Avery Island, the home of Tobasco sauce. We toured the packaging and labeling factory where they ship out 700 thousand bottles of Tobasco 
Monday, October 29, 2012
What a day!
What a trip we had today down into the marsh country of Plaquemines Parish. First of all the tour was outstanding! We boarded barges and rode thru a series of canals to the Empire Lock and locked into the Mississippi River where we were met by 20-25mph north winds. We ended up in the marsh land made up of small islands and canals. It's on these islands that Mr Phillip Simmons raises his cattle. He explained to us how these cows survive and use the levy system to their advantage. Hurricane Katrina about wiped him out of the business, he lost over 600 cows and 40 bulls to the storm. He said he would have quit but cattleman across the country came to help and brought him replacement cows and bulls and that is what helped him get through one of his toughest times in his life. He said that it was sad that such a terrible storm brings people closer together. He stated several times that farmers are the backbone of our country. I couldn't agree more.
On a side note, I am in awe of the Cajun culture. These folks down here in Plaquemines Parish have worked their entire lives for what they have and in the last 7 seven years they have had to start all over twice. These are hard working people who would give you anything they have to help you out, or at least that's how I felt today!
We are now headed to Baton Rouge for a tour of the LSU Ag Center and a Steak Dinner. I'm going to leave you with some of my favorite quotes of the day, I would have to start a whole new blog to share them all.
Question to Phillip, "How do you identify your cows after a storm?", Phillip, " I look at the cow and say, 'Thats my cow!"
On the levy system, " it would be easy for us "locals" or as he said "coon asses" to solve, but then you would have to hire an architect and engineer".
Day 2 Down on the Bayou
We are headed down this morning to Empire, LA. The main event today will be watching cattle being loaded on barges and taken to marsh islands for grazing. Phillip Simmons of Armstrong and Simmons Farms is our host today. After touring the islands in the Bayou we will be headed to Baton Rouge for lunch at the LSU Ag Center. Coach Les Miles will be addressing us about his upcoming game this weekend against Alabama, just kidding! But, I wouldn't put it past Nate and David Smart though as these tours go the extra miles for the beef tour participants.
I would like to give a special shout out to a friend of Nate's, Chef Vincent Sciarrotta of Mr. B's Bistro for a great meal last night. Be sure to check out our pics on www.flickr.com/photos /beeftour2012 and follow us on twitter @mdurdin, @NateJaeger, @H3Cattle and @DouglasChill
Day 1 of Alfa Beef Tour 2012 is in the books
We are off to a Great start on the 2012 Beef Tour. We had a sunny day to get out and look at some very nice looking bulls and heifers at 7L Farms and Land Co, in Wiggins, MS. Jimmy and Lucy Levens had a nice lunch prepared for us as we arrived at their sale barn. I have posted pictures of day 1 at www.flickr.com/photos/beeftour2012. Funniest comment I heard today from one of our members was" I didn't think the wind blew out of the north this far down here." Looks like we will have another windy day on Monday as well. We will be heading south on Monday, down into the delta where cattle are fed on grass islands. Be sure to check back through the week and remember to look at Flickr and again post any comments of advice and recommendations for me as I continue to try my hand at blogging for #beeftour12
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Welcome! Alfa Farmers Beef Tour 2012
Welcome to the Alabama Farmers Federation 2012 Beef Tour. This year we are touring " The Sportsman's Paradise State", along with a couple of stops in Mississippi too. On the tour we have 70 farmers representing 23 Alabama counties on 2 Trailways buses. Today's 1st stop will be at 7L Farms and Land Company, in Wiggins, MS. I encourage you to check out their website www.7Lfarms.com
Ps- bear with me as this is my first go as a blogger. I will try to provide some highlights each day along with photos. If you have any suggestions please let me know. Also follow myself and Nate on twitter @mdurdin and @NateJaeger #beeftour12
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