The LSU AgCenter estimates Hurricane Laura caused 525-million dollars in damage to Louisiana farmers and one-point-one billion dollars to the state’s timber industry. AgCenter economist Kurt Guidry says wind damage to buildings and facilities carried the biggest part of the damage estimate at 403-million dollars.
“Not only where it made landfall, but through the whole path throughout Louisiana, causing a significant amount of infrastructure damage and timber damage,” said Guidry.
In comparison, agricultural losses from Hurricanes Rita and Katrina totaled one-point-five billion dollars. But Guidry says crops were not as affected this year as in 2005.
“We feel like at this point and time preliminary that the impacts are going to be relatively minor, somewhere in the neighborhood, depending on the commodity, from as low as a three to four percent yield loss,” said Guidry.
The state’s rice crop suffered the most with 74-thousand acres affected for an economic impact of 28.5 million dollars. Soybeans, cotton, and corn have seen a 10 to 15-percent yield loss. He says sugarcane has yet to be harvested, but right now they are looking at a three-percent yield loss.
“A lot of sugarcane that was lodged because of the weather conditions that followed the storm, a lot of that cane had to pick itself back up, so we are hopeful that the impacts are going to be relatively minimal,” said Guidry.
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