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LSU AgCenter urges replanting, grants and new cultivars for Plaquemines citrus recovery
Summary
Anna Timberman of the LSU AgCenter reported the parish has roughly 6,000–7,000 mature citrus trees left and is pursuing state, federal and nonprofit grants, experimenting with cold‑hardy cultivars and distributing protective tree 'bags' to boost survivability after recent blizzards and disease losses.
Anna Timberman, an ANR agent with the LSU AgCenter serving Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes, updated the council on citrus recovery efforts, saying the parish’s historic plantings have been severely reduced. “We are in replant mode,” Timberman said, reporting that the parish’s inventory of mature citrus trees is now estimated at roughly 6,000–7,000.
Timberman described several strategies to restore the industry: applying for Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry specialty-crop block grants to supply individual protective tree bags that increase early survivability; a USDA specialty-crop block grant proposal with the University of Florida and Southern University Extension Services to trial cold‑hardy and disease‑resistant cultivars; and local budding workshops to build nursery capacity. She said the parish has increased tree-assistance payout estimates for replanting from about $14 per tree to roughly $113 per tree to reflect current input costs.
Council members and growers asked whether cultivars would come from Florida and whether genetically modified rootstock or CRISPR-based approaches would be used. Timberman said the University of Florida is sharing plant material and that some trial selections include genetically modified or gene-edited rootstocks being investigated nationally; she emphasized the research-use-only status and patent considerations for proprietary rootstock.
Timberman offered application help to growers seeking Sprout NOLA and American Farmland Trust viability grants and said mapping of remaining tree locations via Google Earth will help target future programs. The council thanked Timberman and asked staff to continue coordinating grant support.
