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Rains ease drought conditions, help crops
By JARED LOVETT
Cooling rains Tuesday and Wednesday eased drought conditions and provided crops, lawns and gardens much needed moisture in Concordia and surrounding parishes.
Despite flooding on the Mississippi River side of the levee beginning in May, farmers have had to deal with little rain, scorching temperatures and winds that have caused drought conditions, which according to County Agent Nan Huff, were reaching a severe level.
Huff, who also serves as county agent in Catahoula, said it would take several inches of rain to remove cracks from the soil and take stress off the crops.
While this week's rains will offer relief, figures from the Louisiana Office of State Climatology show that rain levels locally and in areas neighboring Concordia Parish are approximately five to 13 inches lower than normal for this time of the year.
St. Joseph in Tensas Parish had received 24.34 inches of rain prior to Tuesday, 5.75 inches below the normal level of 30.09. Winnsboro in Franklin Parish was 6.38 inches below the normal level of 29.63 and Jonesville was 12.7 inches below its normal level of 29.52 before the rains came Tuesday.
According to rain gauges maintained by the Corps of Engineers, rainfall Tuesday ranged from .36 inches on Bayou Cocodrie at Wild Cow to 1.1 inches at Acme. Rainfall totaled .46 at Vidalia, .36 at Jonesville, .68 at Clayton and .42 at Larto.
The most common crops in Concordia Parish -- pastures, corn, soybeans, rice and cotton -- have all been affected by drought conditions. Even for the approximately 30% of farmers in the parish with irrigation systems, the lack of rain will leave its mark.
"The irrigated crops look good," Huff said, "but the input costs for the irrigation will affect the farmer's bottom line."For the full story, subscribe to the The Concordia Sentinel's NEW E-Edition! |
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