11 Parishes in Louisiana Designated Disaster Areas Due to Excessive Rains June - November 

Louisiana. – The USDA's Farm Service Agency will provide assistance to agricultural producers in 11 parishes in Louisiana who suffered losses due to excessive rains and resulting crop disease and deterioration from June to November 2022.

The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry announced on December 27, 2022, that agricultural producers in 11 parishes who suffered losses due to excessive rains from June 1 to November 2, 2022, may be eligible for assistance from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA).

Many regions of the state, including Louisiana's most important row crop-producing parishes, received 18 inches or more of rain in a matter of days. The downpour was followed by overcast, damp, stagnant days, which increased crop disease and deterioration. This awful mix of factors may result in total crop loss for certain Louisiana farmers.

The disaster designation, announced in a letter to Governor John Bel Edwards from U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on December 20, 2022, encompasses the following principal parishes in Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi, as well as another 30 neighboring parishes and counties:

Primary Parishes in Louisiana:

• Ascension
• Avoyelles
• Calcasieu
• Cameron
• Franklin
• Iberville
• Madison
• James
• Tensas
• Vermilion
• West Baton Rouge

Contiguous Parishes:

• Acadia
• Assumption
• Beauregard
• Caldwell
• Catahoula
• Concordia
• East Baton Rouge
• East Carroll
• East Feliciana
• Evangeline
• Iberia
• Jefferson Davis
• Lafayette
• Lafourche
• LaSalle
• Livingston
• Pointe Coupee
• Rapides
• Richland
• John the Baptist
• Landry
• Martin
• West Feliciana

“In Louisiana, the weather is always challenging for agricultural producers, and this year is no different. In the height of harvest for soybeans, rice, corn, grain sorghum, and cotton, most of our state experienced extreme weather systems, with excessive rain over a short period of time, severely diminishing production in prime agricultural areas,” said LDAF Commissioner Mike Strain, D.V.M. “This emergency declaration acknowledges those losses and opens the door for producers to access the resources they need to begin recovering from these weather challenges.”

Farmers have eight months after the designation date to apply for these emergency loans. Producers can get more information about eligibility requirements and application procedures by contacting their local FSA office.

The letter from Secretary Vilsack can be found by following this link.