Travel down the winding, two-lane road where oversize houses with names like “Beau Regard” or “Ville Belle” have become the biggest cash crop, and you will come to a little gravel lane leading to some of the last farm land left in an area once known for agriculture.

Trellised vines dot the 20 or so acres of Pontchartrain Vineyards; by early summer, they will be heavy with white and red grapes. Soon after, John Seago will began harvesting and making another batch of wine.

“I have a very simple goal: to turn out a really good local wine that people can enjoy with our really good local food,” Seago said.

It’s a goal with pitfalls, including soil conditions, a tiny state industry, and a law requiring small wineries to find their own distributors.

One of six Louisiana-licensed vineyards, Pontchartrain Vineyards _ north of New Orleans, across Lake Pontchartrain _ is the only winery in the state producing table wines exclusively from traditional wine grapes. The others produce wine from Muscadine or other non-grape fruits.

Seago became interested in traditional winemaking while stationed in Europe with the military. A native of New Orleans, Seago thought the rolling hills north of the city would be perfect for producing wine.

As it turned out, the growing conditions were good, but a bacteria in the soil of the eastern United States is fatal to European grape vines.

Seago said the Louisiana State University agricultural department and extension service seemed uninterested in the problem and that he got help working with researchers at the University of California.

“On no level of the state is there interest,” he said. “It’s very discouraging. I’m growing a few vines here, and in Texas they are growing an industry.”

Neighboring Texas has 158 commercial wineries and 3,700 acres of family owned vineyard land contributing to a $1 billion economic impact, according to the Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association.

Texas is now the fifth-largest wine producing state, behind California, Washington, New York and Oregon. There are wineries in all 50 states now.

Pontchartrain Vineyards _ which uses vines perfected for the growing conditions by the University of Florida _ produces nine wines, three whites, a rose, and five reds.

One of the reds, the Rouge Militaire, is from grapes grown at the vineyard. The others are made from grapes Seago imports.

Seago said a state law passed in 2005, requiring that small wineries line up the distributors to sell their products, “makes it very hard to distribute wine on the level we’re on. It’s not really worthwhile for most distributors to fool with a little operation like ours.”

Pontchartrain Vineyards averages about 2,000 cases of wine per year, 12 bottles to a case. It has produced up to 2,900 cases.

Pontchartrain products are available in south Louisiana supermarkets, and restaurants in the area. They also sell through their Web site.

“The main problem we have is getting people to try our wine,” Seago said. “They say, `How can it be any good, it’s from Louisiana?’ Well, they never say that about our food. So they should find out about the wine too.”

___

On the Net:

http://www.pontchartrainvineyards.com

___

CROOKS, S.D. (AP) _ South Dakota lost a proportion of its dairy herds last year, but the remaining operations are becoming larger.

While the number of herds dropped 11 percent last year from 750 to 670, the number of cattle grew by 6 percent to 86,000, according to estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.

“We finally turned the tide and started expanding again,” said Don Guthmiller, South Dakota State University Extension educator in Hamlin County.

South Dakota remains a relatively small player in dairy, but the state is again increasing its numbers after decades of decline. The expansion in production is coming from the largest herds.

Nationally last year, the number of milk cows in herds of 500 or more grew from the previous 47 percent to 49 percent. In South Dakota, the climb was from 36 percent to 43 percent.