BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Hurricane Ida’s winds and floods did A minimal of $584 million in damage to agriculture in Louisiana, specialists On the LSU AgCenter estimate.

Greater than half of that — $315.9 million — is timber damage, with ancompletely different $207 million, or 35% of The complete, in damage to buildings, gear and completely different infrastructure, economist Kurt Guidry said.

The estimate doesn’t embrace extreme damage to the seafood enterprise, which Shall be estimated by the Division of Wildlife and Fisheries, Based mostly on an AgCenter information launch Thursday.

“This storm was a monster,” said Thomas Hymel, an agent with the AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant. “It has simply blown aside The current chain, the infrastructure and the docks. A pair of Of these places will take A very Very prolonged time to recuperate.”

Vital damages seem restricted to 21 parishes, Guidry wrote.

His complete embraces estimates for damages nonethemuch less To return, collectively with probably elevated manufacturing prices and lowered yields for crops nonethemuch less Inside The sector.

Winds damaged about 168,000 acres (680 sq. kilometers) of timber, the state’s most profitable crop, snapping pines and damaging exhaustingwood timber in 11 parishes That accounts for extra than $300 million in damages, about half of it in Tangipahoa Parish, Guidry said.

It’s exhausting to salvage such timber earlier than illness and completely different factors make them unusable — Just one% to 2% of timber felled by final yr’s hurricanes Laura and Delta Might be purchased, AgCenter economists have estimated. As properly as, their earlier report said, Tons fallen timber floods the market, harming prices and gross sales.

Guidry’s report was based on information from agricultural extension brokers and commodity specialists round Louisiana, As properly as to the state Division of Agriculture and Forestry and the U.S. Forestry Service.

He estimated $169.2 million in damage to farm buildings and gear, with ancompletely different $37.9 million in damage to fences.

Reduced yields on about 139,000 acres (56,250 hectares) of sugarcane is More probably to value farmers about $35.4 million, he wrote. The acreage is about one-quarter of Louisiana’s complete and the probably damage about 7% of The complete annual worth, he said.

Cane that was blown down can rise as quickly as extra, however that makes use of power, leaving much less sugar at harvest, said Renee Castro, an AgCenter space agent.

As properly as, he said, “A pair of of the leaves are shredded, the tops are brown And since of that, the ripener thOn they’re spraying on the cane Presently earlier than harvest Will not take.”

That would make harvests prolongeder and More sturdy, growing prices, Castro said.

Hurricane damage and interruption and operations will harm some sugar mills, Guidry said, although he Did not have an estimate for that.

He estimated that Ida will value produce And ornamental horticulture about $9.5 million, collectively with $5.9 million in damage to greenhomakes use of and completely different infrastructure.