LOCKPORT, La.-- It doesn't take long to see how a lack of moisture can lead to a lack of grass -- especially for the Dr. Sheila Pitre's 90 cows.
"Unfortunately, in our area, it's been in the last two years either feast or famine," said Pitre of Triple P Farms.
Pitre and her family have been cattle ranchers in Lafourche Parish for three generations. However, the past year has proven to be one of the trickiest.
"The big thing is rain," she said.
In Lafourche Parish, ranchers usually have to work to keep water off their lands. Nowadays, it's the opposite.
"We normally have an abundance of moisture, more than what we usually need," said Mike Hebert with the LSU Ag Center.
Lately, though, ranchers have been dealing with a lack of rainfall. It's affecting not just the landscape here, but the cows as well. Less rain means less grass and fewer cows, too.
"We normally run at about 90-92 percent calving rate," Pitre said. "This year, we're down to about 80-81-percent."
The cows that do give birth are bearing lighter calves, which go for less on the market: a trickle down effect on the 12,000 cattle that are part of the agriculture economy there.
Cattle ranching in Lafourche Parish has about a $27 million economic impact. The parish itself is the seventh largest cattle producer in the state.
"It's a significant economic boost to the parish," Hebert said. "So, anything that affects the weight of the calves, the hay that's being made, does affect the bottom line."
For Pitre, so far, that means a loss of $10,000 to 15,000 in cattle production and another $80,000 in hay production.
"If we could get a steady amount of rain, an inch every week or two, would be nice of us," she said. "The best we can do is stick it out, depending on Mother Nature."
