Some Farmers Welcome Dry Conditions

The lack of a rainfall over the last month and a half is benefiting many Louisiana farmers. LSU AgCenter economist Kurt Guidry says we’re coming off an extremely wet August and September, and October was very dry for producers. He says for row crops like corn, soybeans, and rice, that’s welcomed news.

“The dry weather that we had in October is probably more of a blessing than anything else. It’ll allow producers to go in and harvest those crops in a more timely, more efficient manner,” Guidry said.

Guidry says farmers of these row crops needed the dry weather to harvest. But he says wheat producers will have a hard time because the drought is delaying their planting. He says this is discouraging for many farmers because the ag industry just took a $367 million hit because of the floods.

“Wheat’s already kind of struggling from a price scenario. The inability to plant wheat in a timely fashion may force some producers that were going to plant some wheat to just skip planting wheat this year”

While the drought will be a relief for many farmers, Guidry says livestock producers won’t be as happy about the dry period. The LSU AgCenter estimates $8 million worth of hay was damaged by the flood, and Guidry says the lack of rain is making it difficult for ranchers to plant winter forages and harvest good hay.

“We know producers are going to have some trouble. Producers in the most case have lower quality and lower quantity of hay heading into the winter,” Guidry said.