Hurricane Zeta did a lot of damage to crops in southeast Louisiana, the most hurricane damage suffered in the area since Katrina in 2005.
LSU Ag Center Horticultural Agent Joe Willis said growers lost 75 to 90 percent of the fruit in impacted areas.
“The fruit was all knocked off the trees, the larger fruit like the oranges, the grapefruits, and things like that. Now the satsumas hold onto their fruit a little longer so the fruit wasn’t on the ground but it was all bruised up,” said Willis.
Farmers were either mid-harvest for some fruits like satsumas or just weeks away from picking their harvest.
Willis said the late timing of the storm was brutal for vegetable farmers who had already transitioned to their fall crops. He says the damage is less than for the fruits, only about half were lost.
“Because the vegetables are lower to the ground and with our crops we plant and harvest and then we plant another crop, so that is succession planting,” said Willis.
Cauliflower in particular took a beating, with the top leaves being torn from the plants leaving them alive, but discolored and difficult to sell.
The worst damage was in the poinsettia crops. Willis said 95 percent of the holiday staple crop was lost in southeast Louisiana.
“The greenhouses were opened up and then there was wind damage and subsequent sun damage to the crops,” said Willis.
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