Drought in Upper St. Martin, Louisiana

The drought of 1998 continued in the month of August across southwest and central Louisiana. Between four and five inches of rain fell in the entire month of August across this region, which was actually the most in a month since April 1998. Total dollar figure losses by southwest and central Louisiana farmers was nearly $138,000,000. The hardest hit parishes were Avoyelles and St. Landry Parishes, where over $55,000,000 was lost. By product, the worst loss was soybeans, with an estimated $40,000,000 lost, followed by sugarcane at $25,000,000, and corn grain at $24,000,000. These statistics were tabulated by the Agricultural Center at Louisiana State University.