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Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes remained
two of Louisianas most important sources of beef and sugar
cane in the year 2000.
According to statistics from the Louisiana
State University Agricultural Center, the two parishes
combined to raise more than 33,000 acres of sugar cane and
just over $10 million worth of beef cattle in 2000.
Lafourche accounted for most of that
production, ranking in the top 10 parishes in the state for
beef and sugar cane production last year, said Mike Hebert,
the LSU Agricultural Centers county agent for Lafourche
Parish.
While the price of beef has increased in
recent years, the price of sugar has been depressed by foreign
competition and other factors, and those changes are reflected
in recent production statistics for local farms.
Lafourche farmers produced cattle herds in
2000 with a value of approximately $9.4 million, Hebert said.
Lafourche raised 32,896 acres of sugar cane
in 2000, ranking it in the top six sugar-producing parishes in
Louisiana, he said.
"Were probably fifth or sixth
were close to Vermilion (Parish)," Hebert said.
Iberia Parish was the states largest
producer of sugar cane in 2000, raising approximately 63,000
acres.
Terrebonne farmers raised 12,041 acres of
sugar cane in 2000, according to the
Lafourche-Assumption-Terrebonne office of the U.S. Department
of Agricultures Farm Service Agency.
Terrebonnes 2000 sugar cane crop had a
total value of $7.7 million, said Barton Joffrion, the LSU
Agricultural Centers county agent for Terrebonne Parish.
The depressed price of sugar is reflected
in Terrebonnes production statistics for 1996, when
Terrebonne farmers raised fewer acres of sugar cane (11,194)
with a higher total value ($7.85 million).
Though Agricultural Center officials are
still tallying the number of cattle raised in Lafourche Parish
in 2000, Hebert said he doesnt expect much change in the
number from 1999.
In 1999, 287 farms in Lafourche raised
about 24,200 head of cattle with a value of approximately $8
million, he said.
That made Lafourche the sixth-largest beef
producer among Louisiana parishes in 1999; Cameron Parish
ranked first, raising cattle herds with a total value of $13.4
million.
An increase in beef prices accounted for
the fact that the value of the cattle raised in Lafourche
increased significantly in 2000 even though the number of
cattle raised in the parish didnt, Hebert said.
"Good calves were getting about 50
cents a pound five years ago," he said. "Today
theyre getting 90 cents a pound."
Terrebonne farmers raised approximately
4,600 head of cattle with a total value of $667,824 in 2000,
Joffrion said.
In 1996, when beef prices were lower,
Terrebonne farmers raised approximately 6,300 head of cattle
with a total value of $622,842, Joffrion said.
Terrebonne Parish, which also produced
$187,000 worth of citrus and $471,000 worth of vegetables in
2000, garners much more revenue from fish and wildlife
operations.
Terrebonnes commercial fisheries brought
in more than $85 million in revenue in 2000 - more than the
total value of its beef, sugar cane, vegetable and citrus
production combined, Joffrion said.
A CHANGING INDUSTRY
Changing prices for beef, sugar cane and
other commodities are facts of life for South Louisiana
farmers, things over which they usually have little or no
control, Hebert said.
Farmers often find themselves struggling to
overcome challenges brought on by such uncontrollable factors
as changing international trade policies and bad weather, he
said.
"If someone is in agriculture, their
whole future is at risk. Thats why, if they have a good
year, they have to save money. Because they dont know when
theyre going to have a bad year," Hebert said.
"Its a stressful job and one you really dont have a
lot of control over."
Hebert said U.S. farmers in todays
global economy have to compete with products from foreign
farms that dont have to follow stringent environmental
guidelines or pay workers a minimum wage.
Another obstacle for the farmer is the
threat of disease to crops or livestock.
Though beef prices have rebounded in recent
years, the industry could face a crisis if the current
foot-and-mouth disease problem in Europe spreads to the United
States, Hebert said.
"If that comes over here, then we
wont be able to export our product, and that will just
devastate people," he said.
SUGAR PRICE WOES
Sugar cane farmers are under added stress
these days, according to Charlie Melancon, president and
general manager of the Thibodaux-based American Sugar League,
a trade association that represents the states sugar
industry.
Melancon said the price of sugar has been
down for more than two years, and the drop threatens to eat up
domestic farmers profits.
"Our price is down about 16 percent
over the last two to three years, and that 16 percent is where
the profit is," he said.
Today, 19 cents per pound is "the top
side" of the market for sugar, Melancon said.
"Three years ago is was 22 1/2 cents,
and thats just about break-even for the farmer," he
said. "Now were losing family farms and sugar mills
because were going into our third bad year."
Tom Ellender, owner of Ellender Farmers
Inc. and a sugar cane farmer in Lafourche and Terrebonne for
16 years, said it had become harder in recent years for small
sugar farms to turn a profit.
The combination of decreasing sugar prices
and rising costs for everything from tractors to fertilizer to
diesel fuel means that smaller farms have an even harder time
making money than bigger ones, he said.
"Yes, some smaller farmers have gone
out of business, and more of them lately," he said.
Though improved technology has improved
yields, it hasnt been enough to offset increased operating
costs and decreasing sugar prices, Ellender said.
"Your costs go up, and the profit per
acre or per pound is fixed," he said.
Melancon said the combination of a bad
global trade agreement, ill-conceived federal farming
legislation and loopholes in import laws had put a squeeze on
family sugar farms.
The 1986 Farm Bill, also known as the
"Freedom to Farm," or "FAIR" act, let
farmers switch crops if they saw the potential for greater
profit in another commodity.
Melancon said that legislation hurt
Louisiana farmers who have to invest three to five years in a
sugar cane crop, and who often farm land that lacks the
flexibility to grow crops like corn or beans.
Further hurting sugar cane profits is a
loophole in federal law that lets Canadian importers bring
sugar into the United States packaged in syrup, he said.
These importers bring the syrup into the
United States under the pretense that it is for commercial
use, but it is really just a way to conceal sugar that
otherwise would be illegal to import, Melancon said.
"Weve got 3,000 to 5,000 tons of
sugar coming in from Canada through a loophole," he said.
"Its a loophole in customs laws, which are separate
from agriculture laws."
BEEF COMEBACK
Beef, like sugar, is susceptible to
dramatic changes in price brought on by events in other parts
of the country and the world.
In 1994, Lafourche Parish farmers raised
beef cattle with a total value of $9 million, Hebert said.
In 1995, without a significant difference
in the number of cattle raised, the total value of cattle
raised in the parish dropped to $6.8 million, and the value
dropped again the next year before beginning a recovery that
continues today.
The reason for the fluctuation in price was
"simple economics on a global level," Hebert said.
Unlike sugar, the market for beef is
currently on the upswing, though its likely to level off
soon, he said.
Hebert said droughts and floods in the
United States three or four years ago resulted in a dramatic
reduction in the number of cattle being raised and a
corresponding increase in price.
Now that the price of beef has rebounded,
farmers are restoring their herds to previous levels, and the
price of beef should stabilize, he said.
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