The German Coast soon became the granary of New Orleans. The German colonists planted corn, rice and vegetables on their small farms. Rice required more work and specific skills to prepare the land, plant the seeds, control the water and perform the tricky task of hulling the grain with mortars and pestles. Following official requests to France for more German labourers, in addition to the usual demands for enslaved people for land cultivation and soldiers for protection, a second wave of German colonists arrived during the 1750s (Merrill, 2005, p. 31). Ambroise Heidel and his wife were mentioned in the 1724 census of the German Coast. He grew corn but did not own any enslaved people at that point. The 1731 census listed Ambroise, his wife, two children and one engagé (indentured servant). As well as corn, it is very likely that he grew rice since he owned three enslaved Africans (Maduell, 1972, p. 40, p. 117). Between 1724  
and 1731, 12 slave ships had arrived from Africa. All but one of these vessels had come from the Concession of Senegal (Hall, 1992, p. 60).  
Indigo became the chief export of Louisiana in the 1750s, accounting for 20 per cent of the total value of its trade with France. Production increased steadily and the crop of 1760 was valued at 1,350,000 livres (Villiers du Terrage, 1903, pp. 147-148). Indigo became a significant part of the landscape of the German Coast in the 1770s, but some planters, including Ambroise Haydel, had entered the indigo business much earlier. The 1766 census of St. John the Baptist Parish indicates that his property had grown from 6 to 11.5 arpents and his labour force was comprised of 20 enslaved individuals. By 1800, many regions of the Western Hemisphere had either abandoned indigo production altogether or had reduced international trade because of unfavourable political and economic environments or natural events. In 1803, no more than 30,000 pounds of indigo were manufactured in Louisiana, as the planters had turned to more lucrative staples such as cotton and sugar cane.