Industry leaders still assessing Hurricane Ian's damage to Florida crops 

By Tom Karst and Brooke Park

Hurricane Ian struck Florida in late September, creating a path of destruction for crops in southwest Florida that agricultural leaders are still tallying.

Citrus focus

The damage was heaviest to citrus in southwest Florida, but not so bad in counties adjacent to the storm path, said George Hamner, longtime president of Indian River Exchange Packers and now affiliated with Egan Fruit Packing LLC, Fellsmere, Fla.

Wind shook trees and caused fruit to drop, and water damage was possible to tree roots for growers who didn’t remove water from groves within 72 hours.

“Fruit loss varies from 40% to 70% in impacted counties while surrounding counties probably will average 10% to 12%,” he said. 

Hamner said growers in the Indian River region near Florida’s east coast did not experience any structural damage to facilities, just trash from trees along edges, leaf loss due to salt spray in the air, and some fruit drop of about 10% of the crop on the tree. Fruit drop could go up another 5% in the next couple of weeks, he said. 

Fresh shipments might start by later October, giving time to allow trees time to finish dropping any damaged fruit.

The hurricane’s impact will reduce Florida citrus output, Hamner said.

Oranges will be the most impacted by the storm because most of southwest Florida has more oranges than grapefruit groves, he said. It is too early to put a number on potential losses.

The follow-on effect of the hurricane can’t yet be known, Hamner said. 

“In groves weakened by “greening,” the additional stress of wind and rain will have negative consequences for the future,” Hamner said. “Some groves will be abandoned while it will take those in most severely hit areas several years to fully recover. At best, production will be down in those areas for years to come.”

The Florida Agricultural Statistics Service on Oct. 3 reported on crop conditions in the state. The report said Hurricane Ian made landfall Sept. 28 in southwest Florida as a Category 4, then making landfall in mainland Florida, just south of Punta Gordo (Charlotte County). 

The path took it directly through the heart of the citrus region, the report said.

“After ripping thorough Charlotte County with wind speeds recorded as high as 140 mph, Hurricane Ian traveled directly over four of the five largest citrus producing counties (Desoto, Highlands, Hardee and Polk), continuing its strength as a hurricane,” the report said, noting that the entire citrus area was inundated with heavy winds and excessive rainfall as Hurricane Ian made its northeastward movement over the state. 

Rainfall totals in several citrus counties were over 12" within a two-day span. According to the Florida Automated Network Weather (FAWN), Joshua (Desoto County) accumulated 20.3" for the week, Ona (Hardee County) had 17.9" of rainfall, Babson Park (Polk County) received 13.8" of rainfall.

Normal grove operations were halted in all areas due to the storm. For the remainder of the week, groves were flooded or extremely wet making it impossible to conduct grove care of any kind. Because of the severity of the storm, and by the weekend, federal and state field personnel had not had the opportunity to make any assessment of groves, structures or grove road conditions. Early reports from growers indicate damaged screening of CUPS (Citrus Under Protective Screen), heavy fruit drop and excessive water, according to the report.

“Complete damage assessment due to wind and flooding is uncertain,” the report said. 

The report also stated strawberry, tomato and watermelon fields suffered significant damage and loss from Hurricane Ian.

“Planting of leafy vegetable fields were expected to be delayed with conditions too wet,” the report said. 

In response to questions from The Packer, the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association said Hurricane Ian brought heavy rains and strong wind to virtually every part of the Florida peninsula, but the most significant impacts were felt in southwest Florida. 

“The extent of any impact will vary greatly by crop and geography around the state and even field location within the same area,” the FFVA said. “Growers saw significant rain and flooding in areas that were hundreds of miles away from the storm’s center.”

In terms of vegetable crops, FFVA said the timing of Hurricane Ian means plantings for the fall crop could be affected — the extent to which will be unknown for several weeks. 

“Generally speaking, while there were significant impacts for growers in some pockets of the state, we are starting to hear that other areas were not as badly impacted as some first thought,” the FFVA said. “For growers who were able, they were out in the fields over the weekend planting and getting ready for the fall season once again.”

FFVA said the group is watching for impacts on citrus and other specialty crops, including green beans, sweet corn, tomatoes and more. 

“Hurricane stress impacts citrus tree performance for years into the future,” the FFVA said. “The impacts of Hurricane Irma in 2017 are still with us today. Citrus trees are impacted by cumulative stresses that effect their ability to produce a quality crop. Any damage to structures and overall infrastructure, standing water and fruit drop will be of concern and are some of the things we are watching for in the industry. 

The FFVA said the extent of Hurricane Ian’s impact on the specialty crop industry as a whole might not be fully realized for several more weeks.

Based on early feedback, the FFVA said it will be seeking state and federal assistance for growers. 

“It’s incredibly important that growers complete the UF/IFAS survey, which is assessing the impact of Hurricane Ian on the agricultural sector,” the FFVA said, noting that the data obtained from this will be critical and is a first step in possible financial assistance. That survey is available here.