VIDALIA, La. &045; The cotton crop looked great this year.

But that was before two hurricanes came through the area with strong winds and drenching rain, severely damaging the cotton and rice crops in the parish.

&uot;It was goint to be a really good crop, somewhere near two bales of cotton per acre,&uot; Concordia Parish County Agent Glen Daniels said.

Had Hurricane Rita not drenched Concordia Parish in several inches of rain Saturday and Sunday, the local cotton crop might have been headed for a strong year, with yields in the 1,000 pound per acre range, considerably more than the 800 pounds per acre the area averages.

A significant portion of the parish’s 14,000 acres of rice was also damaged.

Daniels said it’s still too soon to know just how much damage was done by wind and rain.

&uot;The ground is still too wet in a lot of the parish to harvest again,&uot; Daniels

said. &uot;We probably have 20-30 percent that was blown on the ground, but until they get out in the field we won’t get an idea of the loss.&uot;

As it is, about half of Concordia Parish’s cotton crop was &045;&160;and still is &045; out in the fields. Some farmers went out again Wednesday, and more will begin harvesting again later this week as the ground dries out enough to do so, Daniels said.

Local cotton farmer A.J. Vangilder said he will likely experience a 35-40 percent loss in his crop this season.

&uot;We were going to have a pretty good yield this year,&uot; Vangilder said. &uot;But the first hurricane &045; I probably lost 100 pounds (per acre) to wind and rain there.&uot;

Like many area farmers, losing such a large part of his crop at this time of year will ruin any chance Vangilder had of making a profit.

&uot;It’s not going to any good for me. The production cost of too high to take that kind of a loss when it hits you at this time,&uot; Vangilder said. &uot;Normally a lot of cotton is picked in October.&uot;

At Angelina Plantation and with other rice growers in the area, the rice crop was hit hard &045;&160;literally. Much of the 2,200 acres of rice that had not yet been harvested was

knocked down, making harvesting difficult and time-consuming.

&uot;It blew it down close to flat,&uot; Angelina’s Lee Bean said. &uot;I’m out sitting in the combine right now. We’re cutting it about one-third of normal speed.&uot;

Harvesting the blown-down rice will take several weeks and reduce yields considerably &045; by 20 percent or more &045; Bean said.

&uot;The longer it takes, the worse it’ll be,&uot; Bean said.