Excessive heat, drought may lead to Ag economic losses
Soybeans in a field in Evangeline Parish north of Eunice weather another day of 100-degree heat on Tuesday. (LSN photo by Harlan Kirgan)
BATON ROUGE — Extreme heat and periods of drought this summer will likely lead to losses in several of Louisiana’s agricultural sectors.
Economists from the LSU AgCenter expect the worst losses in the beef cattle sector as reduced hay production, the forced downsizing of cattle herds and other factors could lead to estimated losses of $135 million to $290 million.
“Certainly, the entire agricult…