Welcome to the final installment of our podcast series recorded in Louisiana. In this episode, we speak to two farming families, reflect on the highlights of our trip, and discuss regenerative agriculture, black bears, the environmental benefits of cotton tighty-whities, and more.

Join us as we visit a multi-crop farm near the Mississippi River in Morganza which has recently opened its doors to tourists. Matt and Marty Frey and their families grow soybeans, rice, and sugarcane, raise cattle, produce hay, and harvest crawfish. We chat with them about what it takes to run a 365-day-a-year operation. We also catch up with Marshall and Mead Hardwick, fourth-generation soybean and cotton farmers from Newellton, northeast Louisiana. We interviewed the brothers and their dad for our launch episode, so it was a pleasure to catch up with them and hear about their regenerative cotton partnership with a top fashion brand.

Tune in now for sustainability insights from two families on the frontline of Louisiana agriculture.

12-minute listen

Louisiana’s coastal wetlands, which cover approximately 11% of the state, are under threat. Natural and manmade factors have already claimed vast swathes of the coastline, and scientific models predict that even a moderate land loss scenario over the next 50 years could put an additional 2,250 square miles at risk.

The good news is that work is already underway to adapt and preserve Louisiana’s coast in the face of future environmental change. In the latest episode of This is U.S. Sustainability, we travel to the Center for River Studies in Baton Rouge to meet the organization spearheading the efforts. Join us as we speak with Greg Grandy, Deputy Executive Director of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, and learn about some of the agency’s pioneering projects.

The United States is proud of its land grant universities which provide vital research-based resources to their local communities on various topics, from agriculture and natural resources to personal finance and youth education. In the latest episode of This is U.S. Sustainability, we look at the special relationship between academia and agriculture and how it drives innovation, using the example of the Louisiana rice industry. Join us as we head south to the world-renowned Rice Research Station near Crowley, where researchers have boosted the sustainability, nutritional value, quality, and profitability of the state’s top grain crop for over a century. We also meet fifth-generation farmers Paul and Fred Zaunbrecher in nearby Rayne to hear how the Station’s work has benefitted their rice and crawfish operation. Tune in for the latest developments in Louisiana rice and crawfish production, and soak up the atmosphere on the farm.