Future bright for Vermilion Parish farmers thanks to China

The outlook for farming in Vermilion Parish is bright, according to the LSU Ag agents, who spoke at the Abbeville Rotary Club.
From rice, to cattle, to crawfish, production is on the positive side, the agents said.
LSU Ag Agent Andrew Granger informed the Rotarians 1.3 billion people across the Atlantic Ocean are going to help the ag industry in south Louisiana.
The $17.8 billion that China buys in U.S. agricultural and food products is more than any other country. China’s middle class is more than 11 million people and they all have money, driving up the demand for quality products.
“The new golden age of agriculture is being driven by China,” said LSU Ag Agent Andrew Granger. “China has a lot of people and they have a little bit of money. We are seeing unbeleivable prices for our product across the board. It is a good time to be in farming. It looks like the future is bright for agriculture.”
One ag product that looks to be bouncing back is rice. Since Hurricane Rita in 2005, rice acreage in Vermilion Parish has dropped off because of salt water intrusion due to storm surges of hurricanes Rita and Ike. Over the last six years, rice fields are returning to normal as the salt gets less and less in the soil, letting farmers return to planting rice.
This year, acreage for rice is up in Vermilion Parish. There are 47,500 acres dedicated to rice. “The idea that the rice acreage is up is good news,” he said. “Over the last few years, we have been losing 10 percent of our acres. It looks like it is leveling off. That is mostly driven by economics.”
Andrew said rice farmers had an excellent year, producing 40 barrels per acre.

Sugarcane prices down

For the first time in a few years, sugarcane farmers see a drop in prices for sugarcane.
There are 33,000 acres of sugar- cane planted in Vermilion Parish.
The price is 21 cents per pound, which is four cents lower than last year’s price. The reason for the lower price is because Brazil, the number 1 producing sugarcane country in the world, and India, the No. 2 producer, overproduced sugar, bringing down the prices.

Cattle farmers doing well

One market that is seeing good prices is the cattle industry.
Vermilion Parish has 600 cattle farmers for 35,000 head of cattle. The 600 cattle farmers in the parish is the most farmers of any other crop in the parish. If you combine rice and sugar cane farmers in the parish, it does not total the amount of cattle farmers in the parish.
“There are a lot of people who have a lot of interest in beef cattle,” Granger added.
Because the price is cattle is high, more and more farmers are getting back into the cattle industry.