There are already eight states in North America that farm olives: Hawaii, Arizona, Georgia, Texas, California, Florida and Louisiana. The latter has been incorporated into the mix most recently. Olive trees are usually a part of gardens and recreational or commercial areas, as they are medium-sized trees, which are easy to trim and people are enamored by the green color of their bountiful fruits.
The interest in olive growing in this state has been created by the LSU AgCenter, an institution of the University of Louisiana that has an agricultural experimentation field where 100 olive trees have been planted in an acre of land in order to carry out a study and evaluate the adaptation of this crop in the ‘defiant’ climate of Louisiana, with its humid and cold winters coming from the Arctic and its heavy rainfall.
There are 15 varieties that have been selected for this study:,After two years of study and monitoring, together with the climatological challenges, varieties such as Anglandau, Arbequina, Bouteillan, Grossane, Manzanilla and Picual, better tolerate these conditions. Boutelle, Grossana and Picual have had the best adaptive results thus far.
This study has shown that olive trees are a possible alternative crop with great potential to become established in the southern fields of Louisiana.
