A preliminary estimate by Louisiana State University’s AgCenter says the historic flooding will cost the state’s ag sector $110 million in lost and reduced-quality crops, increased production costs, and infrastructure damage, The Advertiser reports.
Kurt Guidry, an economist at the AgCenter, told the newspaper that “that figure is expected to grow as farmers realize the full extent of flood damage.” AgCenter says it will have a “more detailed assessment” of the loss in a few weeks.
The soybean crop is expected to bear the brunt of the damage, “with about $46 million in yield losses expected. Very little of the 420,000 acres of soybeans in affected areas had been harvested before the flood, Guidry said.”
The state’s rice crop is estimated lose about $33 million from lower yield. “Much of the south Louisiana crop was already harvested, but about 20 percent, or 72,000 acres, remained in the field during the flood,” The Advertiser says. Even if those fields aren’t a total loss, “any rice that is harvested will likely sell for lower prices,” Guidry said, and “[f]armers may not be able to produce a ratoon, or second, crop.”
Guidry said that “at least $3 million worth of sugarcane will have to be replanted,” and that it was too early to know “how many livestock deaths the flood caused.” He estimated that damage to pasture and “reduced forage availability” would cost around $2 million.