Southwest Louisiana Counties are Rooted in Agriculture
Gross Farm Value for Southwest Louisiana Parishes
Jefferson Davis Parish: $187,798,828
Calcasieu Parish: $109,642,271
Cameron Parish: $103,301,513
Beauregard Parish: $92,275,736
Allen Parish: $80,473,693
Source: LSU AgCenter, 2014
Returning to Roots
The Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, located in Allen and Jefferson Davis parishes, is embracing its agricultural heritage with several ventures, including a hydroponics garden that grows tomatoes, lettuce and other produce using only mineral-infused water – no soil – and bees for pollination. The tribe sells food grown in its solar-powered hydroponic greenhouses at its farmers market in Elton and to restaurants at the Coushatta Casino Resort in Kinder. Along with its garden, the tribe also operates a crawfish farm, a mayhaw orchard and a five-acre bottomland hardwood planting reforestation program. Tribal leaders recently teamed up with agriculture experts at the University of Arkansas to explore the latest breakthroughs in food science and the best land management practices to plan for future growth of agriculture in the area.