Richland Parish farmers need help from Washington
As I watched the recent flooding in South Louisiana, I felt sadness for our neighbors, but selfishly, I felt relief that Northeast Louisiana was spared from the effects of the storm.
However, this relief soon disintegrated after the torrential downpour upon soon to be harvested local crops.
The result was severe damage to early planted soybeans, extreme delay of the corn and rice harvest, and massive reduction to potential cotton production. To make matters worse, all of this damage occurred during the bottom of the commodity price cycle.
Most of the damage to the state’s agricultural sector involved the South Louisiana rice crop, where about one-third of the crop is either totally gone, or so damaged that it will be very difficult to sell. We have not even scratched the surface of the effects to the crawfish and sugar cane business.
Estimates of loss to Louisiana farmers could be as high as $400 million, which would cripple family farms and related businesses.
Congressman Abraham has lead the charge to include farm aid in the Louisiana disaster relief package. Dr. Abraham hit the nail on the head by stating that any relief package must connect both the March and August floods, as Northeast Louisiana suffered loss from both disasters.
The main focus in Washington and Baton Rouge is to provide funds to those in South Louisiana who literally lost every possession that they own, which is most certainly understandable. However, Abraham has requested $400 million in federal and state funds in an attempt to prevent a total collapse in Louisiana agriculture.
It is our belief that these funds earmarked for agriculture should only go to those farmers who sustained damage in the weather events. This is not a golden parachute, but rather a life boat needed to save many hardworking people, some of whom claim Richland Parish as their home. Without these funds, we fear that many family farms, unfortunately, will be unable to continue their profession.
Farming and Ag related businesses are to Northeast Louisiana what the oil and gas industry is to South Louisiana.
Our local economy cannot sustain an industry-wide collapse, as additionally it would impact the banking, retail sales, construction, insurance and real estate sectors as well. We must do everything possible to prevent this bleak outlook from coming to fruition.
We are confident that Louisiana officials will be in our corner on this matter, but please don’t let that stop anyone from applying constituent pressure upon our politicians. Also, if you have friends or relatives that live outside the state of Louisiana, please ask them to contact their federal officials and request support for the Abraham proposed agriculture disaster relief portion of the Louisiana flood aid package. Now, more than ever, we need to come together in support of our farmers.
If you are interested in becoming a member of the Richland Parish Chamber of Commerce, please email us at richlandparishchamber@gmail.com. Also check out our Facebook page and give us a like! We greatly appreciate your support.
Scott Franklin is chairman of the Richland Parish Chamber of Commerce.