This tells about La crops & cattle after Katrina.
By Neil Melancon
Staff Writer
FLOODED. A Plaquemines Parish citrus operation completely innudated by water is representative of conditions in that area. Beyond the damage done from flooding and wind, the saltwater will likely kill most of the vegetation, including fruit trees, in the affected areas.
For the City of New Orleans, most of the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina has come after the storm passed. For agriculture, it's the same story.
Sugarcane appears to be the hardest hit row crops, as Katrina's high winds knocked the cane to the ground in Iberville, Assumption, Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes. The storm surge has likely wiped out the state's citrus crop in Plaquemines Parish, where thousands of head of livestock roam free, belly deep in salt water.
Across the storm's path ag officials are surveying the damage, trying to get a handle on what may be the greatest assault on Louisiana agriculture since the great flood of 1927.
"We will start evaluating agriculture to determine how much loss we have," said Bob Odom, Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry. "We've been talking with Willie Cooper at the Farm Service Agency and Paul Coreil at the LSU AgCenter to figure out what's been hit and how badly, and make a determination from there."
Odom said however that the immediate damage might pale in comparison to the economic loss that will stem from lost production, harvest delays, fuel shortages and shipment difficulties.
"It will take us some time to find out what the real impact will be," he said.
For many producers the immediate concern is fuel. All across South Louisiana lines at gas stations are lengthening. In some areas it's "cash only." In other areas it's no gas at all. Diesel supplies are being taxed to the limit to power generators for hospitals and the make shift refugee shelters that have popped up all across South Louisiana.
"I've been trying to get to buy diesel for my farm and was unable to get through to my supplier," said Ronnie Anderson, an Ethel rancher and president of the Louisiana Farm Bureau. "One producer I talked to needed 1,000 gallons to finish planting his sugarcane and was told there was none to be found. It's getting really critical and I think it's only going to get worse."
Another concern for producers is the delay in grain shipments from Port of New Orleans. Dry weather in the Midwest has already caused delays due to low river levels along the Mississippi. Although most facilities are still intact in New Orleans, the condition of loading facilities is still unclear.
"The most critical thing I can see right now is we need an all-clear from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the condition of the shipping channel of the Mississippi out to the Gulf," said David Bollich, a grain marketing specialist with the Louisiana Farm Bureau. "Until we can start loading ships we won't be able to offload barges, and right now they're piling up waiting to unload."
LODGED. Sugarcane producer Gene Adolph sits in a field of his cane flattened by Hurricane Katrina near Napoleonville. Adolph said the cane will stand itself back up in a few days because the root boxes are still intact.
Assumption Parish sugarcane producer Gene Adolph, as well as other South Louisiana sugar growers are busy scouting their crop and wondering about possible delays in the beginning of the grinding season.
"We didn't see a whole lot of rain, though, which was good because it didn't damage the stubble box of the cane," Adolph said. "Hopefully with a few days of good sunshine this cane will begin to stand itself back up."
Adolph said the problem in the next few days will be the application of ripening agents to the sugarcane.
"It's going to be at least a week before we can put the ripener our," he said. "We're also not sure what this is going to mean for harvesting. If mills don't have power, we don't have any place to take the sugar once we do start harvesting it."
The storm continues to take its toll on livestock as well. Thousands of cattle in South Louisiana are stranded, surrounded by salt water and running out of things to eat. Assistant State Veterinarian Martha Littlefield said her agency has been busy organizing the shipment of cattle out of the area and even out of the state, while contemplating what to do with the many dead animals that will start to decompose.
"Right now we're working with assessment teams to find out what's going on inside New Orleans and the surrounding parishes," Littlefield said. "The animals still alive in those outlying areas are hardy and we can get them hay. We're really more concerned with the death and its effect on the people in that area. We want to minimize that as much as possible."
Dairyman Eugene Robertson has seen his fair share of storms in 30 years at his farm in St. Helena Parish, including Hurricane Camille. Katrina took two sheds from him this time, one of which housed Holsteins only 30 minutes previously. However, Robertson said his fortune is tied to New Orleans, the No. 1 destination for milk from most Florida parish dairy producers.
"It looks like the silos are full in the Southeast area," Robertson said. "Many of these are still out of power. It looks like we're going to have to dump a lot of milk.
"It may be 20,000 pounds a day for the next five days," he continued. "That's 100,000 pounds at $15 a hundredweight. We're going to start losing $15,000 a week and those New Orleans markets aren't going to open up any time soon
