Louisiana Agriculture is mainly based on Forestry as 13.9 million acres of Louisiana is covered by Forest lands. But other than Forestry, Louisiana Agriculture produces important crops like Cotton, Sugarcane and rice. Louisiana holds good rankings for the production of these crops.
The Rankings acquired by Louisiana Agriculture are:
- 2nd ranking in United States for Production of Sugarcane.
- 3rd ranking in United States for production of Rice.
- 5th ranking in United States for production of Cotton.
Other than these crops, Potatoes and Soybeans are also grown in Louisiana. Louisiana Agriculture holds the 2nd place in the entire U.S in production of sweet potatoes.
Another agricultural product which contributes good earnings to Louisiana Agriculture is Tobacco. Louisiana Agriculture is renowned for growing Perique Tobacco which is used all over the world for adding flavor to other tobaccos.
The Fruit Crops produced by Louisiana Agriculture are Citrus, Blackberries, Blueberries, Strawberries and Peaches.
So, in short we can say that Louisiana Agriculture produces not only food grains but also fruit crops, different types of vegetables, nursery crops. So, from this fact one can understand that Agriculture is the backbone of Louisiana Economy.
But, this dominant sector of Louisiana Economy lost some its strengths because of the devastations caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. the disturbances continued in 2006 also because of Saltwater Intrusion and over all damage of Agricultural Infrastructure. Forestry, which is the main strength of Louisiana Agriculture suffered a lot as huge amount of Timber were damaged by the storms.
The only relief is that some agricultural crops managed to survive as their growing and harvesting season were over before the storms devastated the state of Louisiana.
But, the most astonishing fact is that in spite of the large devastations of 2005 and continued effects of the storms even in 2006, the Louisiana Agriculture managed to produce some Agricultural Crops at such levels that topped past five year averages. In this way, even in the bad days of agriculture, the sector continues to be a major contributor to Louisiana Economy.