Louisiana yielded 35% fewer bushels of sweet potatoes in 2016
On average, farmers harvested 290 bushels of sweet potatoes per acre — considerably less than the 450 bushels per acre harvested in 2015, said LSU AgCenter extension associate, Myrl Sistrunk.
“We were set up to have an excellent crop as far as yield all over the state,” he said. “It was shaping up to be good until the rains impacted us.”
Unfavorable weather conditions also led to some farmers being late to planting and did not finish until around July.
Sistrunk said some farmers struggled to find labor to plant and harvest their crop. And they will soon face stricter requirements from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on how they train workers who handle farm chemicals.
Louisiana had 9,296 acres of sweet potatoes in 2016, only a slight decrease from 2015’s 9,309 acres. Roughly half that acreage is located in Franklin and West Carroll parishes, Sistrunk said. The AgCenter-developed varieties Beauregard, Orleans and Bayou Belle, account for the vast majority of acreage.
source: richlandtoday.com
