Table 3.8. Lengths and areas of oil production related canals for each basin and the total for the Chenier Plain. 



3.2.3 AGRICULTURE 



Production. The magnitude of the agricultural 

 industry in the Chenier Plain is indicated by the 

 total farm acreage, the acreage of rice and other cul- 

 tivated crops, and the total number of famis (fig. 3-4). 

 About 147,000 ha (363,492 a) were being fanned in 

 1975. Forty percent of this was cropland; the rest was 

 pasture. Of the cropland, 87% was rice. In 1974, rice 

 area was 48,600 ha (120,093 a) and the average yield 

 was 3.9 t/ha (1.75 tons/a) (Fielder and Guy 1975). 

 The Mermentau and Sabine basins are the major agri- 

 cultural producing areas (plate 3B). 



The total market value of the region's agricultural 

 products in 1974 was about $28 million. About $20 

 miUion of this was derived from crop production, 

 chiefly rice (table 3.9). These figures are estimates for 

 individual basins, calculated from parish (county) pro- 

 duction figures. An average value per hectare of fann- 

 land was calculated from the parish (county) infor- 

 mation. This value was used with the fann area (de- 



tennined from 1975 U.S. Geological Survey ortho- 

 photoquads) to estimate the total value of agricul- 

 tural products. The data (U.S. Department of Agricul- 

 ture 1975) indicate there is a wide discrepancy across 

 the Chenier Plain in the market value of agricultural 

 products per hectare of farmland. This value varied in 

 1974 from a low of about $126/ha ($51 /a) in the 

 Sabine Basin to a higli of $370/ha ($150/a) in Ver- 

 milion Basin. The reason for variation is unclear but is 

 probably related to the proportion of the total farm 

 area in rice production and the proportion which was 

 fallow in 1974. For instance, Cameron Parish, Orange, 

 and Galveston counties, all had low ratios of harvested 

 cropland to total cropland [0.35, 0.32, and 0.42 re- 

 spectively, (U.S. Department of Agriculture)], and 

 low ratios were associated with low market values per 

 hectare. The Mermentau and Sabine basins produce 

 the highest total values of farm products because of 

 the large areas involved, in spite of the relatively low 



Table 3.9. Estimated farm area and value of all agricultural products 

 and of crops by basin in 1974. 



*U.S. Department Agriculture 1975. See appendix 6.2 for details of data conversion from parish-based (county-based) basin. 



Calculated as in a) using parish values for value per acre of total cropland (Orange $61; Galveston $79.7; Jefferson $205,1; 

 Chambers $181.6; Calcasieu $145.6; Cameron $90.8; Jefferson Davis $201.4; Vermilion $180.4). 



33 



