Work by the LSU AgCenter was instrumental in a U.S. Department of Agriculture program that has compensated sugarcane producers with $40 million for losses caused by hurricanes Rita and Katrina.
Sugarcane specialist Ben Legendre said payments were recently distributed, and he said several individuals in the LSU AgCenter and other agencies worked to provide information that helped farmers.
Part of the compensation program was dedicated to losses from Hurricane Rita’s storm surge that flooded sugarcane fields. LSU AgCenter scientists, using geographic information systems technology, produced digital maps of the area inundated in seven coastal parishes. These were provided to the federal Farm Service Agency to determine which fields were flooded and to calculate affected acreage so sugarcane farmers could receive payments for their losses.
Willie Cooper, state director of the FSA, said the interagency cooperation involved in administering the program is not unusual in the state.
“Louisiana has the best working relationship of any state in the country when it comes to the agriculture industry – both governmental and non-governmental entities,” Cooper said.
Paul Coreil, vice chancellor for the LSU AgCenter’s Extension Service, said the mapping work “is just another example of putting research to work on the ground to help farmers and communities recover from storm damage from Hurricane Rita.”
Read more about this compensation program.
Bruce Schultz
(This article was published in the spring 2007 issue of Louisiana Agriculture.) |