Herbs, hibiscus and okra, but what you won’t see at Judia Dugas’ produce stand are veggies like broccoli, spinach and collard greens.
“Since there is no rain, we’ve planted twice already, and the seeds haven’t come up,” Dugas explained.
Farmers Judia Dugas, William Fletcher and Kacie Luckett have had a pretty rough year.
“I dumped a half-inch of dust from my rain gauge,” Fletcher said. “So it’s very dry at my house.”
Right now, dozens of parishes in Louisiana are facing a drought.
“In the spring, it was extremely wet. Then we went from extremely wet to extremely dry,” said Luckett.
This year, farmers had to turn to other methods to keep their crops alive, like pumping water into their land.
“There’s ways that we can irrigate the crops,” Fletcher explained. “We can keep them alive, but we can’t make them thrive.”
“It cost a lot of money to put our irrigation system in, and our water bill is very high right now,” said Luckett.
The US Department of Agriculture wants to step in and help. Farmers in more than 40 parishes are now eligible to apply for assitance with USDA’s drought disaster aid.
“I think that would be great. I am not sure what exactly the drought relief package would cover, but I would be interested in taking a look at it,” said Fletcher.
“My husband and I are first generation farmers. There are a lot of expenses in farming that people don’t understand. So whenever you rely on that for your only source of income, it’s great to see that the USDA is going to help us out a little,” said Luckett.
Farmer Eric Morrow said those type of assistance programs tend to help those who harvest commodity crops, like wheat and soybeans, instead of specialty farmers like him.
“It’s always a struggle for us,” Morrow said. “If we fail, it doesn’t matter.”
However, one thing all these farmers really need.
“We’re hoping for rain,” said Luckett said.
“Rain!” Dugas explained.
East Baton Rouge, East and West Feliciana, Livingston and Pointe Coupe are some of the parishes eligible for aid.
If you want to learn more about it, just head to the link below:
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/or/home/?cid=NRCSEPRD334210