LSU: Ida agriculture damage at least $584M in Louisiana

BATON ROUGE, La. – Hurricane Ida’s winds and floods did at least $584 million in damage to agriculture in Louisiana, experts at the LSU AgCenter estimate.

More than half of that – $315.9 million – is timber damage, with another $207 million, or 35% of the total, in damage to buildings, equipment and other infrastructure, economist Kurt Guidry said.

The estimate doesn’t include severe damage to the seafood industry, which will be estimated by the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, according to an AgCenter news release Thursday.

“This storm was a monster,” said Thomas Hymel, an agent with the AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant. “It has just blown apart the supply chain, the infrastructure and the docks. Some of these places will take a long time to recover.”

Significant damages appear limited to 21 parishes, Guidry wrote.

His total includes estimates for damages still to come, including likely increased production costs and reduced yields for crops still in the field.

Winds damaged about 168,000 acres of timber, the state’s most lucrative crop, snapping pines and damaging hardwood trees in 11 parishes. That accounts for more than $300 million in damages, about half of it in Tangipahoa Parish, Guidry said.

It’s hard to salvage such trees before disease and other problems make them unusable – only 1% to 2% of timber felled by last year’s hurricanes Laura and Delta could be sold, AgCenter economists have estimated. In addition, their earlier report said, that much fallen timber floods the market, hurting prices and sales.

Guidry’s report was based on information from agricultural extension agents and commodity specialists around Louisiana, as well as the state Department of Agriculture and Forestry and the U.S. Forestry Service.

He estimated $169.2 million in damage to farm buildings and equipment, with another $37.9 million in damage to fences.

Reduced yields on about 139,000 acres of sugarcane are likely to cost farmers about $35.4 million, he wrote. The acreage is about one-quarter of Louisiana’s total and the likely damage about 7% of the total annual value, he said.

Cane that was blown down can rise again, but that uses energy, leaving less sugar at harvest, said Renee Castro, an AgCenter area agent.

In addition, he said, “Some of the leaves are shredded, the tops are brown, and because of that, the ripener that they’re spraying on the cane at this time before harvest might not take.”

OLIVIA MCCLURE/LSU AGCENTER VIA AP Renee Castro, LSU AgCenter area ag agent, examines shredded and browned tops of sugarcane that was impacted by Hurricane Ida’s strong winds in St. John the Baptist Parish, La., on Sept. 8. Many cane stalks in this field were bent due to the wind impact.