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In mid-August the United States Fish & Wildlife Service released its data and findings of their 2023 Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey. If you’re a waterfowl hunter, the news wasn’t good.
The survey, except for the 2020 and 2021 COVID-19 years, has been conducted in the U.S. and Canada since 1955. The study is the largest and most sophisticated research of its kind in the world, where great stock is placed on its results when it comes to waterfowl management.
This year’s total breeding duck population came in at an estimated 32.32 million ducks, down 5% from the 2022 survey of 34.21 million and 9% below the USF&WS long term average. The 2022 survey was down from the 2019 survey’s 38.90 million ducks.
These numbers reflect a trend that isn’t good when considering just under a decade ago in 2015, the breeding duck population reached an all-time record estimate of 49.5 million ducks.
According to a Delta Waterfowl Press Release issued Aug. 18, “The numbers might seem discouraging on the surface, but Dr. Frank Rohwer, president and chief scientist of Delta Waterfowl, puts forth an important reminder: ‘We don’t hunt the breeding population. We hunt the fall flight, which is made of the breeding population, plus this year’s duck production. Duck production is the key to the upcoming season.’”
Other data from the survey indicated that pond numbers were also down, estimated at 4.98 million. This habitat number is considered 5% below the long-term average and is down considerably from the 7.8 million ponds counted a decade ago, when breeding numbers were hitting record highs.
There are numerous reasons for declining duck numbers. There’s ethanol, where farmers have and are opting out of placing their land in the Conservation Reserve Program. The CRP. administered by the Farm Service Agency, pays farmers yearly rental payments for agreeing to remove environmentally sensitive land from agriculture production and plant species that will improve environmental health and quality. Contracts typically run 10 to 15 years. The thing about CRP is, it provides wildlife an opportunity to flourish.
There’s even hybrid corn that withstands cold allowing for states like North and South Dakota, which have shorter growing seasons, to produce a higher yield crop. Additionally, that crop is often still on the field when duck seasons are either closed or close to closing as winter arrives on their doorsteps.
No one can fault a farmer for trying to make a buck and opting out of CRP to plant more corn for ethanol production. Every little bit helps when putting the kids through college.
Then there’s poor to marginal habitat caused by severe drought, like the most recent 2020-21 period during COVID. Ducks need prairie grasses for nesting. During drought years there’s a huge decline in quality nesting habitat.
There’s also wetland loss in critical wintering habitat, like here in Louisiana. Coastal marshes provide valuable food resources that sustain ducks, preparing them for their return flight to the breeding grounds. If those ducks are lacking the fatty reserves required for spring migration, it impacts nest production.
Along the Louisiana coastline agricultural practices have changed as well. When I moved to Louisiana in 1984, rice was king, from Abbeville to Bell City along La. 14 in the southwestern part of the state. Now sugarcane is being grown right up to the doorstep of Gueydan.
I like sugar in my coffee and desserts same as any man, but sugar cane has no redeeming value from a wildlife standpoint. Unlike rice.
Ducks are also pressured today more than ever. There are surface drive motors that get hunters into locations where the ducks want to be. There are motion decoys. There are online migration sites that track waterfowl up and down the flyway, following their every movement.
Waterfowl need places to feed, rest and preen during the winter. Constant pressure is an important part of the equation when managing duck populations.
Perhaps the biggest issue with respect to duck harvest is climate change. For the past two years, I have been making at least one out-of-state hunt to try and experience waterfowl hunting different from Louisiana.
I hunted Kansas and Oklahoma in November and December, respectively. It was amazing how many ducks and geese are wintering in the mid-continent portions of the country. Number-wise, it reminded me of what duck hunting was like here in Louisiana in the late ’80s and ’90s.
Nonetheless, it is true, the breeding population survey isn’t an indicator of what the fall flight will ultimately be when the duck season opens in November. Rest assured, like a lot of diehard waterfowl hunters, I’ll be in the marsh come opening day.
Speaking of opening day, the special September teal season opens Friday, Sept. 15. With drought conditions and high temperatures across the southeast this summer, Louisiana being no exception, much of the state is dry.
I spent time in southwest Louisiana this past week, and many rice fields and crawfish ponds were void of water. Unless something changes in the next few weeks, like some serious rains, my guess is whoever has water will have ducks come opening day of teal season.
John Flores is the Morgan City Review’s outdoor writer. He can be contacted at gowiththeflo@cox.net.

Melvin Hunter, 59, a native of Morgan City and resident of Lafayette, died Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023, at his residence.
Visitation will be Saturday from 10 a.m. until services at noon at Jones Funeral Home Chapel in Morgan City. Burial will follow in Morgan City Cemetery.
He is survived by his daughter, LaKeisha Johnson of Foley, Alabama; brother, Grant Wesley of Patterson; and seven sisters, Doris Wiggins of Donaldsonville, Stella Lewis of Verdunville, Margaret Dugar and Wanda Jackson, both of Houston, and Linda Dearing, Mary Hunter and Frankie Broussard, all of Lafayette.
He was preceded in death by his parents, maternal and paternal grandparents, six brothers and two sisters.
Jones Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Bayou Horseshoe Pitchers
Tuesday Night
Doubles League Bash
Aug. 22
First place, Julius Lovell and Kevin Kinslow, 5 wins-2 losses, 23.9 ringer percentage; second place, Travis Bourdier and Glen Caillouet, 4-3, 30.9; and third place, Dwain Arceneaux and Mary Guzdial, 4-3, 24.0.
After regulation three teams were tied for second place. A 4-shoe pitch off (down and back) was in place.
Bourdier/Caillouet defeated Arceneaux/Guzdial and Hayles/Vaughn for second place, while Arceneaux/Guzdial defeated Hayles/Vaughn for third place.

St. Jude’s Summer Horseshoe
Tournament
Fundraiser
Kemper Williams Park
Patterson
Aug. 26
Class A
First, Clay Canty (tournament champion), Morgan City, 5-0, 47.5; second, Tim Gilmore, Bayou Vista, 4-1, 62.5; and third, Clyde Landry, Pierre Part, 3-2, 49.4.
Class B
First, Dwain Arceneaux, Thibodaux, 5-0, 41.3; second, Neil Whitney, Waggaman, 4-1, 26.9; and third, Dale Pearce, Bayou Vista, 3-2, 27.5.
Class C
First, Glenn Caillouet, Raceland, 3½-1½, 22.5; second, Mack Thibodeaux, Lake Arthur, 3-2, 30.6; and third, Karl Vaughn, Bayou L’Ourse, 3-2, 28.1.
Class D
First, Mary Guzdial, Patterson, 5-0, 21.3; second, Joseph Thomas, Irwinville, 3-2, 18.1; and third, Warren Raymond, Patterson, 3-2, 16.3.
Class E
First, Tiffany Thomas, Irwinville, 4-1, 13.8; second, Ricky Pitre, Chauvin, 3½-1½, 14.4; and third, Al Graham, Berwick, 3-2, 7.5.

DUSON — Chad Hanks can sum up this sugar cane growing season rather succinctly. 
“Unprecedented,” Hanks said as he stood in a sugar cane field in Lafayette Parish. 
The field Hanks was in had cane that was barely 3 feet tall when it should have been 7 to 9 feet tall. Conditions in southwestern Louisiana are some of the worst in the cane belt. 
“We’ve got cane that looks like it might be the first of March,” Hanks said. 
Weather conditions have negatively impacted the crops in the field and are complicating planting. Most cane farmers put their plant cane in the ground during late July and August. They try to avoid planting and harvesting at the same time because of the stress it puts on both workers and machines. The harvest generally begins in September. 
Because of the cane being short and dry conditions in his fields, Hanks has yet to start planting. In fact, Hanks sent his workers home because it does not look like he will be planting anytime soon. 
In St. James Parish, Matt Gravois considers himself somewhat fortunate. He had stopped planting for a week because of the dry conditions, but he received 3/4 inch of rain Aug. 21. The rain allowed him to resume planting but he is unsure of how long the moisture is going to hold up. 
As of Tuesday, Gravois had about 700 acres to plant. He is planting billets, stalks that are cut into smaller pieces instead of whole stalks of cane. Planting billets allows him to use less labor, and he can plant faster. When conditions are favorable, Gravois believes he can plant nearly 40 acres a day. 
 Like everyone else, the heat and dry weather are taking a toll on his crop.  
“Last year, we had 34 to 35 tons to the acre,” Gravois said. “This year, I’m thinking around 30 to 31 tons. The cane is at least a foot shorter, and we’re on the verge of the tips turning brown.” 
Experts echo Hanks’ statement that the sugarcane industry is in uncharted territory. 
“We have failed acres due to freeze events in the wintertime and spring,” said Kenneth Gravois, LSU AgCenter sugarcane specialist. “Never had a failed acre, to my knowledge, from an extended dry spell.” 
In his lifetime, he has never seen weather this harsh during the prime months of growth for Louisiana sugarcane. 
"It’s unprecedented heat,” Gravois said. “I’ve seen dry Junes. I’ve seen dry Julys. I’ve seen a dry August. But never three in a row.” 
Last year, Louisiana sugarcane producers set a record, producing just more than 2 million tons of raw sugar. For the first time ever, Louisiana outpaced Florida in production. Growers will not beat that number this year. 
Gravois said there are pockets of good cane. This cane received a few isolated rain showers, which have been far less common this summer. 
“Sugar cane is a resilient crop, he said. “If we get some rain, we can add some tonnage to this crop and that will improve our sugar yields.” For Hanks, it may be too late for much of his crop. 
"I guess I’m looking at an overall 40% reduction in potential average yield,” Hanks said. “I’m not even talking about a bumper crop. We’re in dire straits, especially on the western side of the cane belt.”  
On the northern edge of the cane belt, things are not much better. Will Bain and his family farm in Rapides and Avoyelles parishes. The weather there is reducing yield and preventing planting. 
“We’re off close to 10 tons an acre,” Bain said. “We’re about 2 feet shorter than last year.” 
Bain is one of the few sugarcane farmers that can irrigate his crop. He can irrigate about 25% of his sugarcane acreage, and Bain believes that irrigation added about 10 tons. 
But even with irrigation, that cane probably will yield close to 25 tons an acre. Bain said his farm for the last three to five years was yielding in the mid-30s, and his better ground broke 40 tons per acre. 
Some timely summer rains allowed Bain to plant nearly 400 acres already. He has another 200 acres of soybeans to cut where he will plant cane. He will probably have to wait to plant until soil moisture levels go up.  
Hopeful for rain to come, Bain believes it will help the crop. 
“If we can get some rain, I think the crop can recover, and we can add some tonnage and improve our sugar numbers,” Bain said. 
 It appears there will be some acres that can’t be havested this year. Kenneth Gravois is working with raw sugar factories and crop insurance representatives to establish the process of determining failed acreage. With little chance of rain in the extended forecast, conditions could continue to deteriorate.  
 “It’s going to take more than one rain event to break a climatological drought,” he said. “We’ve been dry for a long time.”