{
  "id": "RL33075",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL33075",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 308835,
      "date": "2005-10-05",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T19:30:27.393029",
      "title": "U.S. Agriculture After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: Status and Issues",
      "summary": "On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast region coming ashore just east of\nNew\nOrleans. On September 24, 2005, Hurricane Rita hit the Gulf Coast region making land fall near the\nborder of Texas and Louisiana. Both hurricanes left behind widespread devastation. Rita appears\nto have done most of its damage to energy infrastructure off-shore in contrast to Katrina which\ndevastated large swaths of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. This report examines the impact\nof these hurricanes on three important factors affecting the U.S. agricultural sector: marketing\ninfrastructure based on the Mississippi River waterway and Gulf ports; production losses for major\ncrop and livestock producers in the affected region; and potential consequences for agricultural\nproduction as a result of high energy costs. It also discusses the federal government response to\nagricultural concerns.\n Agricultural producers from the states directly impacted by Katrina have suffered economic\nlosses, although this varies greatly by crop and locality. Preliminary estimates by USDA is that\nHurricane Katrina contributed to $882 million in total crop, livestock, and aquaculture losses. Those\nactivities most affected were aquaculture ($151 million), sugar cane ($50 million), and cotton ($40\nmillion). The damage estimate does not include losses in timber and nursery and greenhouse\nproducts. No preliminary estimate has been released by USDA concerning agricultural damage from\nHurricane Rita. \n Hurricane Katrina temporarily halted the flow of agricultural trade through New Orleans -- a\nmajor gateway for U.S. oil imports and agricultural exports -- causing commodity prices to decline\nin interior markets along the Mississippi River waterway. Although partial recovery of marketing\ninfrastructure occurred soon following Katrina's passage (with a brief shutdown in late September\ndue to Hurricane Rita), substantial congestion and high costs continue to plague the Mississippi\nRiver grain transport network. This traffic bottleneck and its depressive effect on farm commodity\nprices could persist into the spring of 2006.\n Energy prices jumped substantially in early September 2005, as a significant portion of U.S.\npetroleum and natural gas production, import, and refining facilities were damaged and shut down. \nThere is considerable uncertainty surrounding the permanency of energy price rises and their\npotential impact on the U.S. economy in general, and U.S. agriculture in particular. By raising the\noverall price structure of production agriculture, sustained high energy prices could result in\nsignificantly lower farm and rural incomes in 2006. \n Certain ongoing federal programs, primarily crop insurance and disaster loans, are available to\neligible producers. The combination of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita with a Midwestern drought\nmight also cause Congress to consider supplemental crop and livestock disaster assistance. This\nreport is intended as an overview of how the hurricanes have affected and are likely to continue to\naffect the agricultural sectors of both the impacted regions and the United States. It is not intended\nto provide a day-to-day update of events. It will, however, be updated as events warrant.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "encoding": "utf-8",
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL33075",
          "sha1": "959d2c726ee1331e031a55a8e17478769e0eae90",
          "filename": "files/20051005_RL33075_959d2c726ee1331e031a55a8e17478769e0eae90.html",
          "images": null
        },
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "encoding": null,
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL33075",
          "sha1": "522d727690dea86411c0393fe4f53e53b6d18669",
          "filename": "files/20051005_RL33075_522d727690dea86411c0393fe4f53e53b6d18669.pdf",
          "images": null
        }
      ],
      "topics": []
    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs7808/",
      "id": "RL33075 2005-09-12",
      "date": "2005-09-12",
      "retrieved": "2005-11-18T11:25:27",
      "title": "U.S. Agriculture After Hurricane Katrina: Status and Issues",
      "summary": null,
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "filename": "files/20050912_RL33075_ba1d8fdd563841ad28290c1f782442fb030313a1.pdf"
        },
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "filename": "files/20050912_RL33075_ba1d8fdd563841ad28290c1f782442fb030313a1.html"
        }
      ],
      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Agriculture",
          "name": "Agriculture"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Agricultural industries",
          "name": "Agricultural industries"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Hurricane Katrina (2005)",
          "name": "Hurricane Katrina (2005)"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Emergency management",
          "name": "Emergency management"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Business",
          "name": "Business"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Foreign Affairs"
  ]
}