Hurricane Gustav Hurts Louisiana's Horticulture Industry

Louisiana's commercial ornamental horticulture industry received significant but not major damage from the effects of Hurricane Gustav, according to experts at the LSU AgCenter.

"Initial statewide estimates are very rough at this point, but it seems to indicate the wholesale nursery crop loss is in the range of $5 million," said Dr. Allen Owings, a horticulturist at the LSU AgCenter's Hammond Research Station in Hammond.

"Most damage seems to be in the field-growing operations that produce trees and shrubs," he said. "Plants have been lost due to blow-over, and some remaining plants in the field were damaged, which will result in a quality loss once plants are of salable size."

Owings said structural damage, facility damage, container-yard damage, irrigation-system repairs, cleanup costs and labor involved in pre-storm preparation and post-storm recovery will add to economic losses for wholesale growers.

He estimated structure damage in the range of $3 to $4 million, primarily confined to greenhouses, shade-growing structures and storage buildings.

To make matters worse, Owings reported wholesale nursery growers in Louisiana and across the Southeast have been facing a significant market slowdown during the past year, with wholesale sales decreasing by some estimates of up to 20 percent from previous years.