Power outages alongside mangled trees, ruined crops and damaged grain elevators were early indications of Hurricane Ida's impact on Louisiana's agriculture industry.
The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry did a flyover Thursday across parishes hard hit by the storm. Commissioner Mike Strain saw some stranded livestock and flooding in some orchards in Plaquemines Parish, but it's too early to estimate the total cost of damage.
Read MoreHurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana exactly 16 years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast. Ida’s 150 mph winds make it equal in strength and intensity as 2020’s Hurricane Laura and the 1856 storm that hit the community of Last Island. All three are tied as the strongest hurricanes to ever make landfall in Louisiana. Ida’s winds toppled electrical transmission lines that provide power to grain export facilities and small family farms alike. Ida’s storm surge sent cattle to higher ground along levees with hardly any forage and even less fresh water. Homes are damaged or destroyed. Our farmers and ranchers will feel the economic and psychological effects of this storm through this harvest season and beyond.
Read MoreGrain shippers on the U.S. Gulf Coast reported more damage from Hurricane Ida to their terminals on Wednesday as Cargill Inc confirmed damage to a second facility, while power outages across southern Louisiana kept all others shuttered.
Global grains trader Cargill Inc said its Westwego, Louisiana, terminal was damaged by Hurricane Ida, days after confirming more extensive damage at its only other Louisiana grain export facility located in Reserve.
Hurricane Ida barrelled into the Louisiana coast on Aug. 29, bringing 150 mph (230 kph) wind gusts, torrential rain, and widespread power outages to New Orleans and the surrounding region. It also brought all shipping traffic through the mouth of the Mississippi River to a grinding halt, snarling supply chains at the start of a crucial period for US grain exports.
The US Coast Guard closed the Mississippi to barge traffic ahead of the storm on Aug. 28, and the New Orleans International Airport shut down passenger and cargo traffic on Aug. 29. The Port of New Orleans closed its container shipping terminals on Aug. 30 and stopped all “breakbulk operations,” which refers to moving cargo from large ocean freighters to smaller barges for transport up the Mississippi River.
Read MoreLSU AgCenter agents are beginning the arduous task of damage assessment and recovery from Hurricane Ida.
Given the geographic area affected, the biggest economic impact is likely to be to agricultural infrastructure and timber, said Kurt Guidry, LSU AgCenter region director and agricultural economist. But sugarcane, livestock, soybeans, fruit and vegetable crops, and the horticulture industry also experienced losses.
Read MoreThe President is closely monitoring recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Ida. He has directed that the Federal government take prompt and specific actions to respond to the needs of Americans who are suffering from the storm’s devastating impacts. President Biden has spoken twice with the Governors of Louisiana and Mississippi and with mayors and parish leaders from areas most affected by Hurricane Ida. He made clear there will be a robust Federal response in support of state, tribal, and local officials, and that the Federal government will closely coordinate with local and private sector partners. On Tuesday, the President specifically authorized a series of actions to assist with urgent power restoration efforts in the Gulf Coast. He spoke with national and regional electricity sector leaders to make clear that the Administration will provide whatever support and resources are needed for ongoing power restoration efforts. The FEMA Administrator has already traveled to Louisiana and Mississippi to survey storm damage and discuss recovery efforts with state and local partners.
Before Hurricane Ida made landfall, the President approved Emergency Declarations for the States of Louisiana and Mississippi. These declarations authorized FEMA to provide assistance for emergency measures to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety in Louisiana and Mississippi and fund emergency protective measures. The Federal government also proactively pre-positioned resources across the region before Hurricane Ida made landfall, including search and rescue equipment, meals, water, generators, equipment, and personnel to assist states with impacts from the storm.
Two large sugar refineries in Louisiana, which were shut down before Hurricane Ida hit the state, were still not operational on Tuesday as the companies assessed damages and waited for power lines to be restored.
There were also reports of damage to sugarcane crops in the state, the second largest producer in the country after Florida, but it will take some days for agronomists and farmers to evaluate the situation, an expert said.
Read MoreHurricane Ida spared Franklin Parish much of its fury but pummeled south Louisiana Sunday night and Monday.
Locally, few lost power while only a few fallen limbs littered yards. Many rain gauges across the parish recorded less than an inch of rain.
Franklin Parish farmers worked through the weekend harvesting corn and soybeans in preparation of torrential rain and damaging winds that never came.
Carol L. Pinnell-Alison, LSU AgCenter extension agent, acknowledged local farmers dodged a bullet.
“I think we are in pretty good shape,” Pinnell-Alison said. “We had minimum impact with corn and soybeans from Hurricane Ida.”
Pinnell-Alison said the storm’s eastern trajectory buffered Franklin Parish from its worst impacts.
“We might have had a little wind damage to the corn but not much,” she said.
Read MoreSeveral Louisiana farms were flattened by Hurricane Ida this week.
“This has been a very difficult year for farmers, with the freeze and the unprecedented rainfall, and now a Category 4 hurricane,” says BREADA executive director Darlene Adams Rowland.
BREADA, which oversees the Red Stick Farmers Market and other local programs, has been trying to get in contact with farmers across the state. It wasn’t able to reach many until Tuesday.
“Our farmers to the east and south have suffered significant damage, with some still yet to be seen,” Rowland says.
And the worst could be yet to come.
Read MoreLouisiana residents still reeling from flooding and damage caused by Hurricane Ida scrambled for food, gas, water and relief from the sweltering heat as thousands of line workers toiled to restore electricity and officials vowed to set up more sites where people could get free meals and cool off.
Power and water outages affected hundreds of thousands of people, many of them with no way to get immediate relief.
Read MoreWith exports in doubt because of hurricane damage to grain elevators near New Orleans, prices for corn, soybeans, and wheat, the most widely planted U.S. crops, fell to their lowest levels in several weeks in futures trading on Tuesday. The fall harvest will begin soon and could glut the U.S. market if foreign sales are disrupted.
Cargill reported “significant damage” to an elevator about 30 miles upstream on the Mississippi River from New Orleans; Cargill has another elevator near New Orleans. Exporter CHS said its grain facility may lack power for weeks while Bunge and ADM were assessing damage to their export facilities, reported Reuters. About 60% of U.S. corn and soybean exports are shipped from the Gulf Coast, it said.
Read MoreGov. John Bel Edwards received word tonight that Pres. Joseph R. Biden has approved his request for a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration due to the severe impacts of Hurricane Ida, a category 4 storm that has caused widespread damage across Louisiana. Ida made landfall early Sunday afternoon in Port Fourchon with winds of 155 miles per hour. As the slow moving storm continues to impact Louisiana, more than 800,000 people are without power statewide. Surge and damaging winds are impacting areas along the coast and moving inland.
Read MoreThe Louisiana Farm Bureau Livestock Advisory Committee is again working to help ranchers through a natural disaster by reengaging its hay clearinghouse in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida.
Through the hay clearinghouse, the volunteers and staff of the Louisiana Farm Bureau connect ranchers who need hay or pasture for their cattle with people who have hay to donate, pasture space available or the ability to transport hay.
Read MoreWe are getting a glimpse this morning at the damage done so far by Hurricane Ida. It has been sixteen years to the day since Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans and this storm will be a test for the new levees and pump systems.
The heavy rain and flooding are a major concern for crops and livestock. Louisiana's cotton crop is notably at risk, with nearly 40 percent of the bolls opening.
Read MoreMore than 1 million people across south Louisiana lost power when Hurricane Ida made landfall Sunday afternoon, and utility officials say many areas could remain without electricity for weeks.
Many homes and businesses are relying on generators, and public safety officials say it's important to remember safe and effective ways to operate a generator.
Using a generator incorrectly can result in death. In 2020 during Hurricane Laura, several people in various parishes were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning from generators.
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