Top to bottom: More than 37,000 Louisiana students would lose their TOPS college scholarships next year under the worst-case budget scenario presented by Gov. John Bel Edwards, The News-Star reports. Edwards is leveraging the popularity of TOPS, which has quickly become the third rail of Louisiana politics, to pressure lawmakers into raising taxes to fully fund the program, as well as other higher education and health care priorities. The proposed cut from more than $250 million to $60 million would eliminate about 80% of students currently eligible for TOPS. It would also transform TOPS from a completely merit-based program to one that would be both merit- and needs-based. Read the full story.
Here’s the catch: Two programs have given Louisiana shrimp generally good marks for sustainability, a state official says. Damon Morris, strategic program manager at the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, tells The Courier that Louisiana’s shrimp fisheries got all green marks from the Audubon Nature Institute. He says the only negative marks were two from the Marine Stewardship and Conservation program, which wanted more detailed data. But, he says, those were in a “pre-assessment” and may have been cleared up. The Shrimp Task Force authorized the pre-assessments in December. Morris says sustainability assessments were first seen as a way into niche markets, but retailers now tell him products won’t sell at all unless a rating indicates that the fishery is being managed so that the species can thrive. Read the full story.
Food for thought: The average age of the American farmer keeps rising, and a substantial number of them will likely retire or pass away in the coming years. At the same time, the number of new farmers is dropping dramatically, The Town Talk reports. By mid-century, there could be an additional two billion people on the planet. Based on some consumption estimates, farmers will have to double the amount of crops currently produced to meet the demand for food. While it’s encouraging to see young people turning to farming as a trade, some say there are not enough of them to meet demand. Read the full story.
