Ranchers, Sugarcane Farmers Recovering from Hurricane Francine
By Keely Ana Dillon
Louisiana Farm Bureau News
Many were left without power and others were devastated by flood waters and damaging winds after Hurricane Francine made landfall earlier this month. This storm was a major setback for cattle ranchers and sugarcane farmers and left them with weeks of additional work.
Cattle ranchers Colleen Landry and her fiancé Cody Batiste operate H&M Ranch in Terrebonne Parish. Despite their pasture being flooded by Hurricane Francine, the couple had no choice but to head out to check on their cattle.
“That’s the number one source of our income,” Batiste said. “And, you know, cattle is going to come first before anything.”
A levee separates the pasture from the Intracoastal Canal, and since 75 of their 143 acres are flooded, it’s the only thing keeping their cattle on dry ground. It is expected to take at least a month or two to pump the water out. To make matters worse, their uncut hay fields are flooded, as well..
“That is basically our lifeline here,” Landry said. “We use the hay to get our cattle through winter, so that’s what is going to hold them. This was going to keep them and the calves fed. Our calving season is November through April, so we’re about to start having calves. We’ve had a few early, but that’s what feeds the mamas to support their babies.”
When Landry and Batiste went out to assess the storm damage, they found a pleasant surprise in the field- a newborn calf. They decided to name her “Francine,” because she was born during the storm.
Landry and Batiste aren’t the only ones with their work cut out for them as a result of the storm. Just up the bayou in Thibodaux, Francine left Andre Danos, overseer of Helena’s seed cane operation, in the same boat.
“This cane crop was going to be a bumper crop,” Danos said. “It was really good. We really could have used not having Francine because these guys would have made some good money. We’re still going to be alright, but it would have been nice to have a bumper crop.”
More than a foot of rain fell over a 10-hour span, which flooded the Helena Thibodaux office.
“That's why we had water here,” Danos said. “We've never had water in the office before here in Thibodaux, and this storm just dumped a lot of water in a short amount of time.”
In addition to the excessive rain, the high-speed winds scattered plastic tanks through the cane fields, blowing them through the fence near the office. The wind also blew the sugar cane crop down, with most of it in the same direction.
“She laid all of it down,” Danos said. “There's not any cane that's straight anymore. We had winds of 100 plus miles an hour sustained and wind gusts. I saw reports from people that were upwards in 120-mile an hour wind gusts. It's all down across the whole area, but the equipment we have can go and get it. It'll be a little bit slower, but the mills can grind it and it’s not going to be an issue at all. We'll still be able to make a good crop.”
Both sugarcane farmers and cattle ranchers will continue to feel the adverse effects of Hurricane Francine, but thankfully, things are not a total loss.
“We're still going to be able to make a crop, it's not going to ruin the whole crop,” Danos said. “Yields won't be what they could have been, but they'll still make a crop.”