Narrative: e. 2.

According to the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center (LSU Ag) yearly reports and their analysis focusing on the animal, forestry, fisheries, plant and wildlife commodities that comprise the State vital agricultural industry. Agricultural and natural resource industries contribute significantly to the state’s economy with the potential for increased economic benefits and job creation through value-added processing in urban and rural communities throughout Louisiana.

Many Louisiana communities depend on agriculture, forestry, fisheries and wildlife for local jobs and their economic well-being. However, for those who work in it day in and day out, agriculture, forestry and fisheries are far more than a business, a major job contributor and an economic engine. It truly is a way of life. Families have lived on many of these farms, forestlands or fishing villages for generations following a preferred way of life even though it means hard work, many hours, high risks and sometimes low incomes.

Farmworkers in Louisiana are always expressing concerns about the following issues;

-Economy – commodity prices in the global economy.

-Weather conditions and threats – unpredictable floods, droughts, hurricanes, and tornados that cause losses in the millions of dollars in agricultural commodities every year.

-Lack of qualified or interested workers. The H-2A program is the prefer method of hiring agricultural workers in the state.

The State of Louisiana is divided into 8 regions (see map).

Regions 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8 accounts for 90% of the MSFWs in the state.

Louisiana high season for agricultural activities is in the fall, to be more specific, October of every year. The number of applications for temporary agricultural employment raises during the fall months each year in order to maintain the yearly-established rotation of workers. There are workers on the ground year around.

According to the latest statistics, the geographic area of prime activity is Region 4, composed of the following parishes; Iberia, Evangeline, St. Landry, Acadia, St. Martin, Lafayette, Vermillion, and St. Mary.

Top five labor-intensive crops are:

Crop                                      Planted Acres                   Harvested Acres

Soybeans                            966,116.6                           958,683.4

Corn                                      496,329.4                           490,800.2

Sugarcane                           496,230.6                           466,457.5

Rice                                       469,655.8                           465,101.5

Cotton                                  164,191.0                           163,029.9

The top five commodities with the highest total yearly value for the state of Louisiana are:

Commodity                       Gross Farm Value           Value Added                      Total value

Poultry                                $815,845,753                   $795,449,609                   $1,611,295,362

Forestry                              $844,828,698                   $2,534,486,094                $3,379,314,792

Sugarcane                           $663,729,720                   $460,628,426                   $1,124,358,146

Aquaculture                      $363,412,824                   $245,303,656                   $608,716,480

Rice                                       $418,069,211                   $139,217,047                   $557,286,258

Animal Enterprises

The following commodities are part of the animal enterprises in Louisiana.

Beef Cattle, Dairy, Horses, Poultry, Rabbits, Sheep and Goats, Swine, and exotic animals.

Gross farm income for all animal enterprises was over $1.59 billion for 2020, down 3.1 percent from $1.64 billion in 2019. Value added was over $925.3 million for 2020, down from $1.03 billion in 2019. Total value of all animal enterprises in the Louisiana economy was $2.51 billion, down 5.7 percent from $2.67 billion in 2019.

Poultry Broilers and Eggs Poultry production continues to be the largest animal agricultural industry in Louisiana and is second only to forestry in total economic value for all agricultural commodities. In 2020, 629 Louisiana growers (small producers and commercial operations) produced 994.1 million pounds of broiler meat with a gross farm value of $735.6 million. Commercial broilers are produced in 11 parishes: Bienville, Claiborne, Jackson, Lincoln, Natchitoches, Ouachita, Sabine, Union, Vernon, Webster, and Winn.

Fisheries and Wildlife Enterprises

Louisiana fisheries and wildlife enterprises are aquaculture, fisheries (freshwater and marine), fur, hunting lease enterprises, and honey.

Total farm value of all fisheries and wildlife enterprises during 2020 was $778.1 million, down over 8 percent from the $852.8 million in 2019. Value added in 2020 was $523.8 million, down from $568.7 million in the previous year. Total value of all fisheries and wildlife enterprises to the Louisiana economy for 2019 was $1.30 billion, down over 8 percent from the $1.42 billion in 2019.

Louisiana has long been recognized for supporting one of the most diverse aquaculture industries in the United States. Species and products such as crawfish, catfish, alligators, oysters, tilapia, baitfish, soft-shelled crawfish and crabs, ornamental fish, baby turtles, a variety of freshwater game fish and other minor species all have been commercialized successfully. Louisiana's producers continue to be among the leaders in the nation in crawfish, oyster, pet turtle and alligator sales.

Farm-raised crawfish continued to be the state’s most valuable aquaculture sector in 2020, representing roughly 63 percent of the total gross farm value generated across all commercial aquaculture enterprises

Plant Enterprises

The plant enterprises are cotton, feed grains (corn, grain sorghum, oats), forestry, fruit crops, commercial greenhouse vegetables, hay, home vegetables gardens, nursery crops, peanuts, pecans, rice, sod and turf grass production, soybeans, sugarcane, sweet potatoes, vegetables commercial (tomatoes, watermelons, bell peppers), and wheat.

The gross farm value of all plant enterprises was more than $3.58 billion in 2020, an increase of 4 percent from the $3.44 billion in 2019. Value added was $3.52 billion for all plant commodities during 2020, down slightly from $3.63 billion in 2019. Total value of all plant or crop enterprises to the Louisiana economy was $7.10 billion in 2020, up marginally from $7.07 billion in 2019.

Forestry

Like many facets of the state's agricultural sector, timber industries in Louisiana have experienced an unprecedented disruption stemming from COVID-19 in 2020. The projected Louisiana gross farm value of harvested forest products fell by nearly 9% in 2020, from $921 million dollars in 2019 to $841 million. There are two major factors in play that could account for this apparent decrease, decreased hardwood timber demand and the remaining low timber prices.

Sugarcane

The gross farm value of the 2020 sugarcane crop was $663.7 million for sugar and molasses. The gross farm value represents 60 percent of the value of the sugar and 50 percent of the value of molasses produced. The remaining percentages are for processing and marketing, which amounted to $453.2 million. Total value of the sugarcane crop to Louisiana producers, processors, and property owners at the first processing level was $1.12 billion.

In 2020, sugarcane was grown on 496,232 acres in 24 Louisiana parishes. An estimated 466,458 acres were available for harvest for sugar. The 11 operating raw sugar factories in the state processed 16,600,000 tons of sugarcane.