“It wasn’t a hurricane that struck Louisiana early in March, but some after affects were about the same,” reports Don Molino (Louisiana Farm Bureau Agri-News Radio Network). “Heavy and slow moving thunderstorms dumped more than 20 inches of rainfall in parts of the state, causing flash flooding and inundating freshly planted corn fields, turning them into lakes,” Don said. “Several thousand head of cattle were threatened by the fast moving water, but most of them were saved thanks to the quick efforts of Louisiana cattlemen and the Department of Agriculture.” He noted that the Louisiana Farm Bureau started a movement to find and distribute hay to livestock producers who were flooded out. “At last count, thousands of bales of hay had made it to ranchers in all parts of Louisiana. Almost 30 parishes across the state were declared disaster areas by the federal government.” Dr. Dan Fromme, the state corn specialist, guesstimated between 30 thousand and 50 thousand acres of the 2016 corn crop will have to be re-planted if farmers can find seed this late in the season. “Some producers may be forced to switch their corn acres to soybeans, especially if Louisiana gets more heavy rainfall this spring,” Don predicts. “Hurricane season will be here before too many more weeks. It’s been several years since Louisiana was stuck by a hurricane and hopefully, it will be at least another year before that happens again,” he said. Louisiana farmers and ranchers have responded to the call to help flooded Louisiana cattlemen by donating more than 5,000 bales of hay. The Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation set up its Hay Clearinghouse webpage and hotline number shortly after record amounts of rainfall turned many Louisiana hay fields and cattle pastures into farm ponds. Many of those pastures are still holding flood waters.
