Louisiana Drought Could Cause Rice To Be More Expensive For Gumbo

The drought we have been having in Louisiana for the past couple of months could be causing a problem with the rice crop. And that could mean prices are going up.

The drought has let salt water push north into many waterways and that's leaving rice farmers with the dilemma of letting the rice die for want of water or hurting the crop with too much salt.   Some farmers use wells to flood their rice fields, but some coastal farmers get water right out of canals and bayous.  When those canals drop so low.....salt water from the gulf pushed into them.  So some farmers are actually pumping salt water into their rice fields.   Some of the acreage in the marshland is just beginning to recover from the salt water push that happened during the hurricanes in 2005 and 2008.  Experts say it can take years for the salt water to be washed out.  Some of the rice might survive, but farmers are not optimistic.