The devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina are predicted to soon extend to Iowa agriculture and area farmers’ pocketbooks.

“The hurricane’s effect in the next six months will be lower grain and corn prices and higher fuel prices, causing a revenue squeeze on area farmers,” said Timothy Eggers, field specialist for the cooperative extension office.

Other results are expected include higher prices for nitrogen and pesticides, Eggers said.

These predicted adverse effects on area agriculture are largely because of hurricane-damaged export elevators, missing or damaged barges and the loss of electricity in the Port of New Orleans, Eggers said.

One of the most concerning problems facing Iowa farmers is the potential inability to export existing surplus goods to make room for the upcoming harvest.

“With nowhere for new harvests to go, prices for area farmers will fall,” Eggers said. “This is especially true for farmers in central and northern Iowa.”

New Orleans area ports make up one of the most important avenues used for transporting Iowa corn and grain via the Mississippi River, and are now largely damaged by hurricane-induced floods and other damages, said Chris Bonura, spokesperson for the Port of New Orleans.

“The largest volume of Iowa corn and grain actually moves mostly through the Port of Southern Louisiana,” Bonura said.

The southern port has suffered extensive damage from the hurricane, resulting in drastically decreased transport of Iowa goods, he said.

This Port is one of the world’s largest ports in total tonnage handled, encompassing a 54-mile stretch of the lower Mississippi River above the Gulf of Mexico.

Before the hurricane hit the southeastern United States, New Orleans-area ports handled approximately 70 percent of the nation’s total corn exports and 80 percent of the nation’s total soybean exports, Bonura said.

Experts and employees from the Port of Southern Louisiana were unavailable for questioning because of Katrina’s effects on phone lines.

With significantly decreased access to New Orleans-area ports, the costs to transport Iowa goods will increase exponentially, and cause an increased supply of corn and grain, resulting in lower revenues for area farmers.

Another primary concern troubling area farmers is the soaring prices of energy.

Iowa farmers’ need of agricultural diesel fuel is highest during the harvest season, and has been significantly displaced because of the loss of southern refining, a result of Katrina-related damage, said Drue Sander, director of member relations with the Iowa Institute of Cooperatives.

“Energy costs were already steadily rising from 2003 to 2004,” Eggers said. “Now we are seeing energy costs at about twice the rate we used for our annual forecast.”

The ISU extension’s all-concern hotline, which has handled emergency management concerns regarding weather, crop conditions and other financial concerns from Iowa citizens and area farmers since 1985, has recently experienced a heightened level of concern regarding the adverse effects associated with Hurricane Katrina, said Margaret Van Ginkel, resource management field specialist and hotline coordinator.

Van Ginkel said the difficulty of transporting surplus supplies of Iowa grain and corn because of hurricane damage in New Orleans-area ports to make way for newly harvested crops is only a concern at this point.

“From what I’ve read recently, there are 10 major grain exporting facilities around the Port of New Orleans. Eight of those 10 are back up and running in some fashion,” Sander said.

Another concern voiced by area farmers is Iowa’s ability to export corn and grain to foreign countries.

“It’s possible that the foreign countries we export to will find other markets for their grain and corn this year,” Eggers said.

Providing lines of credit and building long-standing relationships with foreign countries have been top priorities for the state, and losing their business for one year should not have any long-term effects on agricultural economy in Iowa, he said.

“This is an open marketplace. If we lost the ability to export to other countries this year, we would expect those opportunities to be available to us next year,” he said.

Though resulting in production costs going up, these adverse effects will not be devastating, Sander said.

“With Iowa farming and grain agriculture, profit margins are very thin, and things will get tighter,” he said.