Why isn't Louisiana an agricultural powerhouse?

Good question.
Ranking surprises.

Small state, large part is swamp and there’s a smaller area up north of hilly pine country

poor education and corruption

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I grow my own celery me

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What about pepper and onion?

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You would think

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Why would you think that?

Louisiana is like 30% water, another 20% is too wet to use...and does anyone really want to mow down those forests just for some cropland or ranches?

It's pretty miserable weather-wise as well.

Most of the state is feted, salt water intrused, oil soaked shite dirt or red clay and pine trees. That’s why the NE corner, with its Mississippi alluvial plain, is the greatest part of the state.

between sugar and timber it is, if you only use food production as your metric for “agriculture”, it makes sense numerically. I’d guess Iowa and Louisiana are similar in size, but plotted acres is probably a third of Iowas

because the AG commissioner in Louisiana is a walking talking buffoon

Sugar cane is prevalent throughout south LA. Rice and crawfish are big in the SW. most of the other land is forested with some cotton and other crops like soybeans being grown. Forestry is huge in Louisiana. 34th is about where I figured it would land. You gotta think, there’s a lot of farmland in middle America. Those Midwest states make a killing. Then you’ve got Florida with all of the citrus production. Don’t get me started on how big of a player California is in agriculture. Those people can grow literally anything due to their climate.

Why isn't Louisiana [fill in the blank]?

1) Centuries of corruption at every level of government
2) Centuries of inefficiency and waste in government
3) A culture that embraces laziness and doing just enough to get by
4) Army Corps of Engineers
5) Demographics