LSU AgCenter Estimates $110 Million In Crops Lost In Flood

Homes and vehicles were not the only things lost in the recent flood, as the LSU AgCenter reports hundreds of thousands of acres of crops were lost. Kurt Guidry with the AgCenter says the total value of crops lost is about $110 million.

“Rice and soybeans being the two major commodities that make up the majority of that $110 million impact, some replanting costs in terms of sugar cane, a little bit of yield loss with sweet potatoes,” Guidry said.

Guidry says soybeans crops had about $46 million in yield losses, and rice wasn’t far behind at $33 million in losses. He says it could be a while before we know exactly how much farmers lost in their yield because of the flood.

“In some instances, we’ll have to wait a week or two to see how weather conditions materialize to determine really the true exact nature of this damage,” Guidry said.

Guidry says about $3 million worth of sugarcane will have to be replanted, and it’s still not clear what the livestock losses are. He says during the flooding in north Louisiana this spring, ranchers lost upwards of 500 to 600 cattle.

“It’s perceivable that we lost that much here in the southern part of the state with this latest event,” Guidry said.