$360 million in losses: Blame it on the rain

Entire fields of sweet potatoes, cotton and soybeans went unharvested in Louisiana this year and could mean $360 million in losses, thanks to the rain. Persistent storms during fall harvest season caused significant damage to several crops and brought more financial problems for farmers, LSU AgCenter economist Dr. Kurt Guidry says. “When you’re getting rain every other day, it really limits in terms of producers being able to get into the field,” Guidry says. “And in certain cases, that rain every other day was significant rain – 2 to 3 inches.” Guidry estimates revenue reductions from crop damage will top $360 million, with cotton losing the most at 63% of its expected value. Sweet potatoes lost 50% of their value, and soybeans lost 33%. Losses to rice and sugarcane are below 10%. This makes for another difficult year for sweet potato and cotton growers who were still struggling to recover from 2008 after Hurricane Gustav severely damaged those crops. “Those producers are not only going to have one year of carry-over debt, but now two years of carry-over debt as they head into 2010,” Guidry says. The LSU AgCenter economist believes those producers could have a hard time getting loans to begin planting their 2010 crops. Guidry does have a more positive message in his projections for 2010. He foresees an increase in cotton and rice acres in the state, since an increase in cotton prices could prompt more farmers to return to planting cotton. Acreage has been at record lows in recent years. Despite two bad years for several commodities, Guidry is optimistic heading into the new year. “We’re starting to see some commodity prices move up again,” he says, “and that gives us some hope that 2010 may be a more profitable year for our producers.”