Agriculture

One week after Hurricane Laura came ashore, Louisiana’s sugarcane crop is still showing some signs of the storm, but the damage is not as extensive as feared as Laura approached the state.
“We did have storm surge — maybe not to the extent with Hurricane Rita, but we do have some growers out there with significant impact,” said Kenneth Gravois, the LSU AgCenter state sugarcane specialist.
One of those who dealt with the storm surge is Ricky Gonsoulin, an Iberia Parish sugarcane farmer.

Although definitive results won’t be available for a few days, the effects on agriculture appear to be less destructive than most people feared before Hurricane Laura struck, but forests and residences sustained significant damage.
Blair Hebert, LSU AgCenter agent for sugarcane in the Bayou Teche area, said cane plants have been blown down, or lodged, throughout the area, and some plants were submerged in floodwater.
Much of the cane appeared to be laying in one direction, which could make harvest somewhat less difficult, he said.

North Louisiana farmers are rushing to get their corn crop out of the field before Hurricane Laura hits, and so far, the crop looks good.
 
Laura also has the potential to inflict serious damage to the state’s soybean crop.
 
Keith Collins, LSU AgCenter agent in Richland, Franklin and Ouachita parishes, said about half of the corn crop has been harvested in his area.
 
Yields are good. “We’re going to end up about where we were last year, maybe better, but not a bumper crop,” Collins said.