BATON ROUGE, La. – In 2010, Louisiana agriculture contributed $9.9 billion to the state’s economy – up 20% from 2009, according to the latest figures compiled by the Louisiana State University’s (LSU) AgCenter in its annual Ag Summary. The 2010 biggest gainers were the same sectors that declined the most in 2009 – poultry and forestry – said John Westra, LSU AgCenter economist.

Louisiana’s poultry industry, which is Louisiana’s largest animal industry, experienced a bad year in 2009 primarily because of the steep increase in the cost of grain or corn products used to feed the birds. Also, a broiler processing plant in Farmerville was open only part of 2009, whereas it was open all 12 months of 2010.


In 2010, the poultry industry recovered as demand for meat products, particularly poultry, worldwide went up, especially as incomes rose in Asian countries, Westra said. Poultry contributed about $1.6 billion to the state’s economy – up 80% from 2009.

Contributions from the state’s cattle industry – $411 million – were up slightly from the year before.