A long stretch of drought followed by excessive rains created millions of dollars in damage to Louisiana growers, and Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards has requested a secretarial declaration of disaster from USDA Secretary Tom Vilsak.
With challenges already presented by historic input costs, Edwards said in a letter to Vilsack that Louisiana’s agricultural producers were dependent on a successful year. However, Edwards said extreme weather conditions have resulted in extensive losses to farmers this year.
The state’s producers faced abnormal drought conditions in the early half of the year, he said, and the harm this caused was then exacerbated by subsequent persistent and excessive rainfall from late July to early September, which flooded some crops and created significant quality issues.
“One preliminary estimate from the Louisiana State University AgCenter places the total economic impact on Louisiana’s agricultural output at nearly $500 mil1ion,” Edwards said in a Nov. 15 letter to Vilsack.
Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain has been working with Edwards on the disaster request, according to the agency. The Farm Service Agency’s State Emergency Board has already received designation recommendations from the local emergency boards, the agency said.
According to the USDA website, the secretary of agriculture is authorized to designate counties (or parishes) as disaster areas to make emergency loans available to producers suffering losses in those counties and in counties that are contiguous to a designated county.
