Flood

USDA Launches New Round of Disaster Aid: What Producers Need to Know to Sign Up

Fri, 21 Nov 2025 17:35:13 GMT

USDA is launching the next phase of its Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP) , aimed at farmers who suffered losses from natural disasters in 2023 and 2024 . This new round — Stage 2 — was unveiled on Monday and is expected to be significantly more complex than earlier programs and will likely include a surge in enrollment from specialty crop growers.

Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Richard Fordyce says this latest stage fills major gaps for producers who either lacked crop insurance altogether or whose losses didn’t quite trigger an indemnity payment. He also says this round of disaster aid is complex, and there are a few things producers can do in advance to make the sign-up process a little easier.

Stage 2 Designed for “Shallow Losses” and Quality Loss

Fordyce explains the scope of eligible disasters is much wider than many producers realize.

He says the qualifying events including everything from drought and wildfires to a derecho. He adds that the program is specifically geared toward losses that fell through the cracks of traditional programs.

“This supplemental disaster relief program is going to assist producers that either did not have crop insurance or their crop insurance didn’t trigger an indemnity, but it was close,” he says. “We call those shallow losses. And there’s also a quality loss component we haven’t really been able to address in previous programs.”

Fordyce says with this stage being more complex, there are two things he wants producers to know:

“I think I think number one, if you are in an area that had a weather disaster in 2023 and 2024, if you’re a producer, you think back, did I have a severe weather event, right? Hurricane, wildfire, derecho, freeze, drought, whatever, and it impacted my crop, then you’re probably eligible,” says Fordyce. “So just think back to 23 and 24. And then, contact that local FSA county office, go to the website. There’s resources on that website as well, and then just be thinking about documentation that could prove that loss. And I mean, I think depending on the crop, depending on the geography, you know, that documentation’s gonna be different.”

Specialty Crops Expected to Be a Major Share of Applicants

What crops will be covered? Fordyce emphasizes many specialty crop operations will find Stage 2 particularly valuable.

“What we think will be crops that will probably have a higher subscription rate through this program are gonna be specialty crops. So it’ll be again what you think of as conventional specialty crops, you know, grapes, so it’s trees, vines, bushes would be you know, probably more more of those crops that would be included,” he says.

He notes that Stage 1 was largely focused on crops with well-established crop insurance data streams, such as major row crops.

“This one’s going to be harder, more complicated, because the data isn’t as uniform and the crop mix is so diverse,” he says.

Producers MUST Enroll in Person, Fordyce Urges Them to Prepare Now

One of the biggest changes in Stage 2 is how growers must apply. Unlike Stage 1, USDA is not mailing pre-filled applications. Producers must go to their FSA county office and work through the application with staff.

Fordyce says with this round being more complicated, preparation is key, but USDA has created a clear and concise checklist to help .

“We’re asking folks to call the local county office to set up an appointment,” he says. “We want to use the producer’s time in the best way we can. This is not something where you just walk in and hope to get it done quickly. There are documents we need, and the more a producer gets ahead of that, the smoother the process will be.”

USDA has published a detailed checklist at FSA.usda.gov/SDRP , and Fordyce encourages producers not to wait.

“It’s a list of documents you really should start getting your hands on, and if you don’t have documentation for something, the checklist also lays out acceptable ways you can substantiate the loss,” he says. “Depending on the crop and the geography, what counts as documentation is going to be different. That’s why we want folks to look at it now, not when they’re sitting in the county office.”

He stresses early preparation will matter because demand will be high.

“This one’s more complicated than Stage 1, no question, and it’s going to take more work from producers and from our county offices,” he says.

Billions Already Distributed And Billions More to Come

SDRP Stage 2 is part of the $30 billion disaster and economic assistance package Congress authorized.

Fordyce explains: “SDRP Stage 2 is part of the $30 billion Congress appropriated back in December. The first $10 billion was the economic aid program, then $6 billion for SDRP Stage 1. When we wrap up SDRP Stage 2, we will have administered all $30 billion in disaster and economic relief.”

What Farmers Need to Know

1. You must enroll in person at your FSA county office.

No prefilled applications will be mailed.
Call ahead to schedule an appointment.
Expect longer processing due to program complexity.

2. Stage 2 covers 2023 through 2024 weather-related losses.

Includes “too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry, too windy” and other major events.
Eligibility includes shallow losses and quality losses.

3. Specialty crops likely benefit most.

Trees, vines, bushes, grapes and other specialty crops are expected to represent the majority of applicants.

4. Prepare documents in advance.

Use the SDRP checklist at FSA.usda.gov/SDRP .
Documentation varies by crop and region.

Market Loss Payments Still Being Debated, Prices at Harvest Are a Concern

Producers are still asking about potential market loss payments tied to tariff impacts and trade disruptions. While some hope an announcement will come before year-end, Fordyce cautions nothing is final.

“We’re having conversations almost daily with the Secretary’s office, the chief economist’s office, the White House,” he says. “When and if we do something, we want it to be well informed through the data we have. We want it to reflect where we are today, but also, it has to reflect where we were because many producers sold crops at harvest when prices were low. We know that.”

He stresses any decision must accurately reflect the full picture.

“There’s nothing decided yet, no imminent announcement I’m aware of, but the points producers are raising are the same ones we’re discussing internally,” Fordyce says.

Cotton Farmers and Other Struggling Commodities Are Part of the Conversation

Fordyce says USDA is closely tracking severe distress in cotton country.

“There are multiple commodities that are part of the conversation,” he says. “China is the big name because of soybean and sorghum exports, but there are other factors affecting other commodities too. When we make a decision, it’s going to be informed, it’s going to be representative of where we are, and it’s going to rely on the data we have access to.”

Borrower Limits Remain a Roadblock

As lenders warn of widespread stress, many producers want USDA to raise loan limits for beginning farmers and other borrowers. Fordyce says USDA cannot make that change without congressional action.

“Loan limits are statutory,” he explains. “We had a significant increase in 2018, but prices, land values and equipment costs have all shifted since then. We have champions in Congress who understand the inadequacies of our loan limits, and they want to increase them. We’ll see where that goes.”

USDA Leadership Knows the Stakes

Fordyce says USDA leaders understand, personally, the financial strain farmers face.

“My first operating loan was in 1983 at about 18% interest,” he says. “And I still wanted to farm. There are people up and down the hallways of USDA leadership who have farmed, who are farming or who have direct ties to a farm. There’s absolutely a 100% understanding of what’s happening both broadly and commodity by commodity, region by region.”

AgriTalk’s Chip Flory also talked to Farm CPA Paul Nieffer about the latest round of disaster aid. You can listen to that conversation as he outlines what farmers need to know.

When Farmers Can Expect the Next Round of American Relief Act Payments

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 13:51:12 GMT

USDA is currently in the trenches of issuing the nearly $31 billion in total disaster and emergency relief aid to farmers and ranchers in four stages. That money was appropriated by Congress as part of the American Relief Act, which was passed in December of 2024. In an exclusive interview with Farm Journal on Monday, USDA Deputy Undersecretary Brooke Appleton said the next round of disaster aid payments could be coming the first full week of July.

USDA began issuing the $1 billion in emergency livestock relief program payments last week, which is the latest in a series of disaster and emergency relief. Appleton told Farm Journal that instead of holding the money and issuing it all at once, USDA decided to issue the payments in four phases, as USDA wanted to get assistance out to producers as quickly as possible.

“We had ECAP (Emergency Commodity Assistance Program) , we now have the Emergency Livestock Relief Program, we’re going to have supplemental disaster relief, and then we’re going to have another emergency livestock relief program to cover the flood losses that we saw in ‘23 and ’24,” Appleton said. “So, we’re kind of doing it in stages, it should stream out all through the summer really, and so I’m hoping that that kind of can relieve some of that financial stress.”

Appleton said USDA has issued $7.7 billion out of the appropriated $10 billion in direct payments under ECAP so far, which was the first stage of payments. Sign-ups for that program began in March. USDA initially issued 85% of a producer’s projected payment, with the remaining 15% expected after sign-ups close on Aug. 15.

Just last week, USDA announced the details surrounding $1 billion in Emergency Livestock Relief Program payments , which is the second phase of the American Relief Act. Those payments are being dispersed now, and it covers grazing losses due to eligible drought or wildfire events that happened in 2023 and 2024. That round of the program doesn’t require producers to sign up, as USDA is using existing information. Since the program was announced on May 29, USDA says it’s dispersed more than $641 million in payments to livestock producers who suffered grazing losses during that time.

“FSA is leveraging existing livestock forage disaster program data to streamline these payments and calculations to expedite that relief. So this was unlike most of our programs, farmers and ranchers didn’t have to go into the office to sign up,” Appleton said. “We already have the information. So those emergency relief payments were automatically issued to producers who had already had their data into their FSA office. And those payments started going out in earnest last week, so May 30.”

The next round of American Relief Act disaster aid payments is the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program, which is the larger amount appropriated by Congress. Appleton told Farm Journal details surrounding those payments are being prepared now, and USDA expects to issue those payments next month. The amount of money that will go out during the next round isn’t known at this time, as a USDA official says the agency is still “working diligently to balance the needs with the available funding.”

“The larger supplemental disaster program that is part of that is making its way through the process right now at USDA and other government agencies,” Appleton said. “The timeline for that, we’re targeting to sign up farmers by the first full week in July, so maybe the week of July 7. That will be literally every crop production loss that has happened for ‘23 and ’24, and that’s just additional disaster assistance that was legislated by Congress.”

Once those payments are released, USDA’s final phase of the American Relief Act will be another emergency livestock relief program, but this covers flood losses producers saw in 2023 and 2024.

Appleton says that’s been the most difficult program to outline and detail, as USDA has never administered a disaster program for livestock that covered losses due to flooding.

“We’ve never had a disaster program for livestock that triggered on flooding, so that piece of it is going to take us a little bit longer,” she said. “And that’s something that’s another piece of this larger disaster package. It’s going to roll out later this summer, but as these programs are ready to go and ready to roll out, we’re focused on doing it as soon as we can, rather than holding them all and doing it all at once. We want to make sure as soon is the assistance is ready to go, we are getting it out and we’re getting it to the folks who need it.”

Congress earmarked $2 billion for livestock losses due to droughts, wildfires and floods. The first livestock disaster aid announced last week totaled $1 billion, which means another $1 billion should be dispersed through the livestock disaster payments that cover losses due to flooding.

USDA says it is fully committed to expediting remaining disaster assistance provided by the American Relief Act 2025. On May 7, it launched its 2023/2024 Supplemental Disaster Assistance public landing page where the status of USDA disaster assistance and block grant rollout timeline can be tracked.

Rollins Says USDA Will Announce Application Process for $21 Billion in Disaster Aid Within Days

Wed, 07 May 2025 18:44:02 GMT

In her first hearing on Capitol Hill since the confirmation process earlier this year, Secretary Brooke Rollins faced the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, fielding questions on everything from USDA’s bold budget cuts and frozen funding to the fate of the nearly $21 billion in disaster aid.

Rollins fiercely defended the cuts, continuing to argue that it is a way to make USDA more effective and more efficient. She also told the committee that farmers will be able to sign up for the disaster aid by the end of May.

Congress approved the disaster aid on Dec. 21, 2024. While the $10 billion in Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP) was passed the same day, it was separate and came with a clear deadline on when USDA had to disperse those funds. In the hearing this week, Rollins admitted the disaster aid program has been more complicated to roll out.

“That one’s a little more complicated than the ECAP, the disaster or the emergency relief payments, but we’re really close and within a matter of days or weeks, certainly by the end of this month, that money will begin moving,” Rollins said on Tuesday.

The nearly $21 billion in disaster aid targets agricultural losses from natural disasters in 2023 and 2024, which includes:

Droughts
Hurricanes
Floods
Wildfires
And other extreme weather events.

Of those funds, $2 billion is earmarked for livestock losses attributed to droughts wildfires and floods. There is also an allocation of $220 million that will be distributed through block grants to smaller agricultural states with limited farm income and acreage.

“We are within days of announcing the application process,” Rollins said. “Of course, that’s a little more complicated because we don’t have the specifics, and it isn’t, as [Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D.] mentioned, in North Dakota, 15,794 of your farmers and ranchers have received money through that first tranche, through the first $10 billion, the emergency aid. On the weather-related programs, that application opens in the next week or two. And we will be moving very, very quickly.”

.@SecRollins testifies before Congress: "When farmers prosper, rural America prospers." pic.twitter.com/rXwV12JPDD
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 6, 2025

According to Pro Farmer, the disaster aid is intended to cover losses in revenue, production quality, and infrastructure for crops, livestock and timber. And most of the aid is expected to be administered through USDA’s Emergency Relief Program (ERP), which has been used for similar disaster relief in previous years. However, USDA has indicated the new program will be more farmer-friendly than the Biden administration’s implementation of the last ag disaster funds.

Rollins says the rollout of the disaster aid funds is “a long time coming,” bacause it is related to disasters that happened as long as two years ago.

“And so ensuring that we get that out as quickly as we possibly can with the team that we have in place,” Rollins said. “I’m really proud of, I believe, how efficiently and how quickly the team moved out that first tranche. And I believe that you’ll see the same sort of efficiency and effectiveness with the second tranche, so it’s within the coming weeks.”

Rollins Fiercely Defends Cuts at USDA

Also in the hearing, Rollins defended recent budget and DOGE cuts, saying her team is eliminating what she called wasteful DEI spending, fraud and abuse in all USDA programs. She argued the plan is to rebuild USDA to put farmers first.

Rollins also discussed some frozen funds at the agency and when a review of them will be completed.

“We are working around the clock, going line by line, we’re down to the final 5 billion out of, I believe, almost 20 billion of frozen funds, but $5 billion is a lot of money,” Rollins said. “And when you think about that in terms of grant or contract and moving that out quickly, we’re very helpful to keep moving through that very, very quickly and have that done very soon.”

Rollins was also asked about the 15,000 USDA employees who have taken buyout offers from the federal government . Reports show that accounts for nearly USDA’s total workforece, and impacts farmer-facing agencies such as Natural Resources Conservation Service and Farm Service Agency.

“The 15,000 number, it is less than 15% of our total workforce,” Rollins said. “I realize that’s still a very, very big number. But I think it’s important to realize in the context that every year USDA, through attrition loses between 8,000 and 10,000 employees. So, it’s a massive government agency, but they’re refilled. Well, and that’s what we are looking to refill. The front liners, that’s I was talking about right now. So whether it’s FSA, APHIS, the Wildland Firefighters, those are through a memorandum I just signed, we are actively looking and recruiting to fill those positions that are integral to the efforts and the key front line.”

Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash., followed up and asked, “So, you let people go, and you’re looking for new people to fill the positions that they had experienced in?”

“We’re having those discussions right now,” Rollins said. “We are working with all of you around the country, in your states. We believe our firefighters are operationally ready for wildfire season. Our FSA offices, we are making things more efficient, but bringing on new people that could potentially be a game changer in those offices.”

The workforce reduction is part of the federal government’s current Deferred Resignation Program (DRP), which is the voluntary program that allows eligible federal employees to resign in advance while continuing to receive pay and benefits until Sept. 30.

Rollins then clarified and explained the 15,000 USDA employees who accepted the buyouts, weren’t employees who were fired, they were resignations.

“None of those people were fired,” she added. “So, if they want to come back, and if they were in a key position, then we would love to have that conversation.”

Rollins said the latest round of DRPs, which happened in April, USDA didn’t accept some of the resignations, specifically if those employees were in what Rollins called “key positions,” which includes APHIS, FSA, etc.

“We are very intentionally approaching this,” she said. “Have we done it perfectly? No. Any type of whole scale change, and big effort to basically realign an entire government agency is difficult. And we know that, and we know it hasn’t been perfect, but we’re working every day to solve for a lot of this, and I think we’re making a lot of really good progress.”

USDA Spends $400 Million a Day on Food Assistance Programs

The other hot button topic during the hearing was food assistance. The secretary pointed out USDA spends more than $400 million a day on food assistance programs and said ending COVID-era funding programs doesn’t mean defunding food assistance.

You can listen to her pointed comments in the video below.

USDA alone spends $400+ MILLION each day on food assistance programs.

Ending COVID-era funding programs doesn’t defund food assistance. It ensures we’re good stewards of taxpayer dollars. pic.twitter.com/3lT7Fu6or9
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) May 6, 2025

Salinas Valley growers get nimble to address supply gaps

Mon, 08 May 2023 12:42:23 GMT

If the salad bowl of the world were a bustling restaurant, the chef would be in the weeds right now.

Assessing demands and lining up a steady supply of orders timed perfectly, amid a rush of customers, demands the laser focus and nimble creative problem-solving skills of a masterful chef — or farmer.

That’s essentially the scenario playing out for growers in California’s Salinas Valley. Consecutive floods during Salinas Valley’s typical early planting periods have caused harvest delays that will continue to ripple through the supply chain in the coming months.

That’s making central California growers put their skills to the test to ensure a steady supply despite downstream challenges.

Tallying storm damages

In addition to keeping up with supply, growers are scrambling to assess the cumulative damage to acreage and infrastructure affected by recent flooding. Accounting for losses presents a complex web of factors for growers, agency officials and lawmakers to consider in the recovery from the unprecedented weather events.

The Monterey County Agriculture Commission will have to take into consideration not only the January flooding event, where most of the damages were attributed to future crop loss, but also the second storm in March, Grower-Shipper Association of Central California President Christopher Valadez told The Packer.

“[The March storm] flooded not only those same lands again, but also affected more and different acreage,” Valadez said. “In March, many farmers had crops planted, unlike January. Whether you had crops planted or you didn’t have crops planted, you were either were flooded again or flooded anew. It basically extended the clock and lengthened the delay to when you can get in that field again.”

The kicker is that, unlike commodity crops, most specialty crops like lettuce and short-season vegetables don’t have crop insurance to cover losses.

Related news: What’s ahead for California table grapes, strawberries and cherries

“There’s a gap regarding relief services or direct financial relief for farming operations that were directly impacted by floods. The type of row crop grown … corresponds to what the income is for that acreage which bears that crop,” Valadez said. “The [crop insurance] programs that appear to exist don’t fit well with the disaster related needs — they’re getting missed.”

Avoiding supply gaps

While U.S. lawmakers are currently pressing for a disaster relief package in Congress to help farms and ranches recover from storm and flooding damage, many growers are finding creative ways to solve for gaps in harvest.

“[Growers] are going to have to flex out and identify some other options so that we care for our customer base and to continue to offer and provide the supply that we’re contracted to provide,” Valadez said.

Growers in the Salinas Valley are nimble and are accustomed to creative problem-solving. An unexpected silver lining in the recent impatiens necrotic spot virus crisis in Salinas during the 2022 season was that it incentivized growers to diversify their planting regions, according to Valadez.

Related news: Grower-shipper group aids farmworker community in flooding aftermath

“For those that were able to accelerate their diversity, the disease issue pushed to them to step up the pace of that acceleration. That happened before the flood,” he said. “Even though [the flooding and recent INSV issues] are different, both ultimately negatively impacted yield.

“So, you have farming operations — fortunately or unfortunately — that have very recent experience knowing where they’re able to reduce their risks by diversifying the variety of [growing] regions from which they’re deriving their supply,” Valadez continued.

While none of the adjacent growing regions will replace the Salinas Valley supply, largely due to sheer scale and magnitude of the region, these supplementary regions can help alleviate gaps in years like this one, he added.

“Growers that have flexibility have been working through these challenges and some have put themselves in better positions — relatively speaking — from a resiliency perspective,” Valadez said. “They’re able to continue to work with their customers to identify where the continuity of their supply is coming from.”

The Nunes Company’s John Amaral is confident that they will get through what is shaping up to be a challenging transition this year, reporting that the company is currently harvesting vegetables out of the Oxnard and Salinas growing regions under the Foxy and Foxy Organic brands.

“Everyone has had differing degrees of losses due to the weather in the Salinas Valley,” Amaral told The Packer. “Our operations were impacted like many within the industry. We are dealing with planting delays but overall are in good shape and anticipate no issues in the ability to provide quality products to our customers.”

Unseasonably cold temperatures in February and March disrupted the normal growing cycle, putting the grower behind schedule, Amaral added.

“Every year is different, and each transition is different with its own challenges and opportunities,” he said. “The transition from Yuma [Ariz.] to Salinas has been unprecedented due to the colder-than-normal temperatures and greater-than-normal rainfall.”

Muzzi Family Farms, which grows in central California, Yuma and Mexico also anticipates a challenging few months ahead.

“When fields are flooded by the river in January, food safety protocol requires waiting 30 to 60 days. That waiting period clock started over when we got the second flood in March,” Paul Mocettini, vice president of sales at marketing at Muzzi Family Farms, told The Packer.

To ensure a consistent supply, like The Nunes Company, Muzzi Family Farms delayed the transition to California, keeping the desert rotation active during the bridge period.

“We stayed an extra week in Yuma and moved north on Easter weekend,” to avoid gapping, Mocettini said.

Reeling from another round of storms, California growers fight to recover farmland from flooding

Thu, 23 Mar 2023 15:27:29 GMT

California residents, farmers and ranchers have endured two intense storm systems in recent months that brought significant rainfall, snow and flooding to many areas. Storm-ravaged Californians are now bracing for another round of late-season weather with potentially more rain, wind and flooding in the central and southern parts of the state, according to the National Weather Service.

What does this onslaught of extreme weather mean for California growers kicking off their spring growing season?

“Farmers in the Salinas Valley were picking up the pieces from January’s flood event when hit by the March storm and subsequent flooding,” Chris Valadez, president of the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California, told The Packer. “We also know some areas didn’t suffer direct flooding in January that flooded this time around; thus, the number of acres flooded will be more significant.

“People are hurting,” Valadez continued. “An extraordinary effort has been and remains underway to pick up the pieces from not one but two successive devastating flood events that impacted farms, farmworkers and the services sector that depend upon a viable, operating agricultural economy.”

Related news: California Strawberry Commission shares update on devastation from river flooding

President Joe Biden, at the request of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, recently declared a state of emergency for 43 counties across the Golden State and is working to provide economic relief to the farm and food workers who need it, regardless of immigration status and storm damage.

“These farmers are highly resilient and will come back stronger,” said Valadez said.

What to expect out of California fields this spring

The tenacity and determination of growers notwithstanding, it’s inevitable that the back-to-back storms will affect what growers are able to harvest and ship in the weeks ahead.

“Weather has very much hurt our Salinas-area growers, with delays and disaster meaning lost fields due to flooding and other setbacks,” Andy Martin, president of A&A Organic Farms, told The Packer.

Not only is it challenging to farm under storm and flood conditions in much of California right now, once harvested, transporting perishable produce through the state could be hindered.

“Business is also off due to all the road closures from the excess water and flooding,” Martin said.

Flooding events have caused an issue not often seen in California in recent years: oversaturated soil. After so much precipitation, farmland across many parts of the state is like a sponge that has soaked up all the water it can possibly hold.

“Many Salinas-area spring and summer plantings were washed out or not planted because it was too wet. We could see some shortages of some products in a few weeks,” Martin said.

In the meantime, the Watsonville-based A&A Organic Farms is leaning on its strong supply of organic tomatoes, strawberries, bell peppers, oranges and garlic from Mexico while its California growers recover. Not all the organic grower’s California produce has a gap, however, as Martin said A&A Organic Farms has a supply of turmeric available from Santa Cruz County, Calif. along with its Fiji-sourced turmeric.

Where consumers will likely see shortages

“Leafy greens harvest season generally starts in April and May in the Salinas Valley,” April Ward of the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement told The Packer. “January and March rains and flooding will likely have an impact on supply in the spring and early summer.”

Valadez from the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California believes the majority of Salinas Valley lucked out this time. In early March 2023, the Salinas River that runs through the center of the valley carried more water than it could handle within its channel, forcing water to move laterally into adjacent agricultural areas, he said.

“More than three-quarters of all crop acres were not flooded,” he continued. “So, you will see crops harvested and shipped from the Salinas Valley for the spring harvest.”

Related news: From fresh berries to lettuce, what we now know about potential California crop losses from flooding

However, it’s not all good news for Salinas Valley growers.

“Many farms have suffered damaging flooding and, unlike the January flood, had crops planted and suffered direct crop losses. Therefore, economic damages are likely to be more significant when compared to the impacts tallied from the January flood event,” Valadez said.

How the industry can support growers dealing with disaster

“Our growers are resilient and fight hard to keep the food coming for us to sell. We appreciate all the support our customers give to them,” said Martin of A&A Organic Farms.

“The LGMA and other organizations have been providing growers and shippers with a variety of resources to help them navigate the situation,” Ward said. “Specifically, LGMA has provided food safety resources related to flooding, including a webinar featuring Dr. Trevor Suslow and a fact sheet outlining steps to take.”

Valadez says individuals wishing to further support the California farm and grower community can donate to The Community Foundation for Monterey County’s storm relief fund.

“[You] can designate relief to victims from this flood event and specify funding towards exact areas, like immediate [or] basic needs — which include clothing, diapers and wipes — and personal care products, as well as help with immediate financial needs,” he said.

The Grower-Shipper Association of Central California also has partnered with Clinica de Salud Del Valle De Salinas to provide shelter to residents from flooded areas, Valadez said. This includes residents in the farmworker community of Pajaro, where the association and the health care provider are actively providing “medical care, including general screenings, as well as medication replacement for those who were forced to evacuate their homes quickly to escape fast-rising water.”

“GSA was recently awarded an emergency grant to help with medical care for farmworkers, including those impacted by recent storms. GSA thanks Clinica for continuing to partner with us as we work to achieve our mission of advancing families, food and farming in our region,” Valadez said.

California farm groups praise governor’s actions to recharge aquifers

Wed, 22 Mar 2023 15:11:54 GMT

Amid more heavy rain and snow throughout California, Gov. Gavin Newson signed an executive order March 10 that would make floodwater capture to basins easier for groundwater storage.

The order suspends regulations and restrictions to enable water agencies and water users to divert flood water to boosting groundwater recharge.

“California is seeing extreme rain and snow, so we’re making it simple to redirect water to recharge groundwater basins,” Newsom said in a news release. “This order helps us take advantage of expected intense storms and increases state support for local stormwater capture efforts.”

Related news: Western growers seek new ways to safeguard crops, secure stable water supply

California-based industry groups Western Growers and the California Farm Bureau praised the decision, citing the long-term benefits of taking quick action to replenish and store valuable water resources.

“Our groundwater basins are critical for supplying drinking water for our communities as well as helping our farmers produce the food supply for Californians,” California Farm Bureau President Jamie Johansson said in a news release. “We applaud Gov. Newsom’s courageous decision to divert floodwaters from this year’s storms to replenish our depleted groundwater basins. This can help protect life and property during our continuing storms.”

In August, Newsom’s administration released a plan, “ California’s Water Supply Strategy: Adapting to a Hotter, Drier Future ,” calling for investments in new sources of water supply, accelerating projects and modernizing how the state manages water through new technology.

“We strongly support efforts to enhance California’s long-term water supplies during wet years, including recharging our groundwater and capturing and storing surface water for our reservoirs,” Johansson said in the release.

Western Growers President and CEO Dave Puglia also commended Newsom’s water supply strategy, saying in a statement that the governor’s plan “recognizes the urgent need to build new and improve existing infrastructure and to streamline and improve the practicality of the regulatory processes that govern them. Critically, that means new and expanded surface and groundwater storage to capture wet year flood flows that are too infrequent to be missed.”

California fruit growers relieved by projected increase to water allocation

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 15:13:27 GMT

The California Department of Water Resources announced modest increases in forecasted State Water Project deliveries this year, in part because of early gains in the Sierra snowpack. The department now expects to deliver 35% of requested water supplies, up from 30% forecasted in January, according to a news release.

According to the department, record-breaking atmospheric rivers that flooded the state in January gave way to a mostly dry February that saw less than an inch of precipitation statewide.

The Fresno, Calif.-based California Fresh Fruit Association expressed relief in response to the initial water allocation of 35%.

“After two years of receiving an initial 0% allocation, the California Fresh Fruit Association and our members are grateful for the 35% that will go to the Central Valley Project contract holders,” Ian LeMay, president of the association, said in a news release.

Having a reliable water supply is critical for California’s fruit growers, packers and shippers to continue growing fresh fruit for the nation, LeMay added. The association said in the release that it will continue to advocate for needed changes to water regulations, along with additional water conveyance and infrastructure solutions at the federal and state levels.

Related news: Will There Be A Lettuce Shortage This Year As Parts of Drought-Plagued California Are Now Flooding?

“After experiencing significant rainfall in December and January, it has been made even more apparent California’s need for improvements to our storage and conveyance infrastructure, as well as changes to the regulations that manage our water systems. I cannot help but wonder how much higher this allocation could have been with the ability to capture more water during the wet periods,” LeMay said in the release.

The California State Water Project will continue to optimize water storage in Lake Oroville to support environmental needs in the summer and allow for carryover storage for next year if the spring becomes extremely dry, according to the release from the state water resources department. Additionally, the forecasted allocation could be lowered if extreme dry conditions warrant.

“We’re hopeful that more storms this week are a sign that the wet weather will return, but there remains a chance that 2023 will be a below average water year in the northern Sierra,” California Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth said in the release. “Careful planning and the use of advanced forecasting tools will enable the department to balance the needs of our communities, agriculture, and the environment should dry conditions continue this spring and into next year.”

University of Florida tallies the state’s agriculture losses from hurricane at over $1 billion

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 18:16:08 GMT

After devastating severe weather catastrophes, communities and business typically roll up their sleeves and begin the hard work of surveying the wreckage and rebuilding what was lost.

Despite evaluating the losses firsthand with boots on the ground, tallying the sheer extent of monetary damages can still cause sticker shock. Exhibit A: After months of research and analysis, University of Florida economists have recently estimated agricultural losses due to Hurricane Ian at $1.03 billion.

The university’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences’ Economic Impact Analysis Program published its survey of the damage in a comprehensive report, “Estimated Agricultural Losses Resulting from Hurricane Ian.” The grand total figures represent an estimate of the total value of seasonal crops, livestock, nursery and aquaculture products that will not be harvested or marketed because of the hurricane, according to the report.

The Category 4 storm made landfall on Sept. 28, 2022, bringing damaging winds and floods to millions of acres of agricultural lands as it swept across the Florida peninsula.

Related news: Florida’s orange estimate lowered again

A portion of the $1.03 billion in estimated losses could be offset by insurance or other risk management tools available to producers, Christa Court, director of the EIAP and an assistant professor in the UF/IFAS food and resources economics department, said in a news release.

“If a grower was expecting to harvest $10 million in crops this year and the storm destroyed $6 million worth, we report a $6 million loss. That farmer might recoup some of that through insurance, but we don’t have a good way of accounting for that in our estimates,” Court said.

The $1.03 billion in final estimated losses breaks down into commodity groups, with citrus facing the greatest losses:

Citrus: $247.1 million.
Vegetables and melons: $204.6 million.
Greenhouse and nursery: $195.4 million.
Non-citrus fruit: $137.7 million.
Field and row crops: $130.2 million.
Livestock and animal products: $119.8 million.

The five counties with the greatest agricultural losses include:

Manatee: $126.4 million.
Hillsborough: $104.4 million.
Palm Beach: $88.8 million.
Hardee: $72.5 million.
Hendry: $72.0 million.

Cumulative weather damage

While the report presents a clearer picture of Hurricane Ian’s impacts to Florida agriculture, it does not include costs associated with asset damages or production losses that might occur in future seasons, Court said.

Hurricane Ian’s impacts to Florida agriculture have been further compounded by Hurricane Nicole and hard freezes that occurred in January 2022 and December 2022, Court added.

“The same areas affected by Ian were hit, in some cases, by multiple weather events that each would have affected the agricultural yield on their own in an ordinary year,” Court said. “Our survey only covered damages and losses from Hurricane Ian, so this report is not a view of the total impact to agricultural production of all 2022 events that have impacted the sector.”

To evaluate agricultural loss estimates, the EIAP uses multiple layers of data gathered from multiple sources. The complex process includes overlaying the storm’s path, windspeeds, rainfall and flooding with the acreage, value and seasonality of the agricultural commodities grown or raised in the counties affected by the storm, said the release.

This overlay is combined with information about how the event affected those commodities. Finally, economists refine their estimates using survey responses submitted by agricultural producers and Florida Cooperative Extension faculty.

Salinas Valley infrastructure needs a makeover: Q&A with Jim White at Growers Ice

Fri, 20 Jan 2023 17:26:13 GMT

The Salinas Valley often evokes images of images of endless rows of salad greens thriving under a sunny California sky. The region nicknamed “Salad Bowl of the World” is known for producing the bulk of lettuce and leafy greens in the U.S.

Less common images of the Salinas Valley, however, include the vast stretches of cooling facilities and the complex post-harvest infrastructure that dot the region and are critical to transporting delicate greens from fields to grocery aisles with freshness and quality intact.

Jim White wants to change that perception. As CEO of Growers Ice, a real estate company that specializes in processing, cooling and cold storage of fresh produce, White runs a 400,000 square-foot cooling facility in South Salinas, and he thinks it’s high time to shine a light on infrastructure in his region.

Related news: Rain brings long-term gain but short-term harvest delays for California citrus

White met with The Packer to discuss the pressing need for infrastructure updates in the Salinas Valley, a need made more urgent by recent flooding that has tested aging facilities. With water lapping at the doorstep of businesses, White remained optimistic, crediting the benefits of long-term thinking that doesn’t rattle too easily.

Editor’s Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The Packer: I appreciate you connecting with us during what I imagine must be a stressful time for you as your business and your community face severe flooding.

Jim White: It’s busy, no question about that. We’re just implementing all the protocols that you put in place for years and then make sure everybody is following when these situations occur. We’re fine, it’s just managing everything.

As we speak, the Salinas River is probably going to start coming over [state] Highway 68, which is between Monterey and Salinas. The big issue for us — for our facilities and our people, all the grower-shippers that have processing and co-storage facilities — is the industrial waste. Salinas has their ponds, which [are] in close proximity to the Salinas River. We don’t want that to breach, because that’s where all the industrial waste starts clearing before it goes over to the processing plant in Monterey, Calif.

That said, these things have always been an issue and it’s always been an issue for infrastructure, and we’re looking to how we upgrade our infrastructure within the industry.

[Growers Ice] is in the process of upgrading and designing a new facility, which is about a $250 million investment. We’re going to be breaking ground here at the end of the year. Of course, we’re looking at the things that we can do to get ahead of the curve. We’re looking into what can we do to put in new facilities, upgrade the industrial waste, upgrade water, power and those type of things.

The recent extreme weather in the Salinas Valley puts a wrench in many companies’ timelines and plans. How has the flooding impacted your facility build out at Growers Ice?

I don’t think it’s going to impact our build out. We plan on closing the current campus, which is 28 acres in Salinas, Calif., at the end of the 2023 growing season. We’ve been master-planning this for almost five years. I don’t see any issue based on the weather issue that we’re facing right now.

As I say that, I’m going say there’s a big “however” to that statement. The however would be — what impact does this flood have some on some of our growers, as far as the ag land itself? Will the flooding affect production capabilities? This is still unknown at this point in time. We won’t know that for sure until probably March or April of 2023 at the beginning of the growing season.

There is some ag land along the Salinas River — Braga Fresh and Taylor Farms have some places in this area. But I think we’ll be okay. I don’t want to read a crystal ball, but I think we’ll be okay as far as our build out. I’m not concerned about it at the moment.

It seems like, lately, lettuce and salad mix can’t catch a break in California — there are challenges on all fronts right now.

Yes, it has been a challenging year. When you go pick up that bag of salad in the grocery store, please send a word of appreciation, because you don’t know what goes into that bag of salad. There’s a lot of effort that goes into that bag of salad.

Absolutely. What are you most hopeful about in the weeks and months ahead?

I am very optimistic from the investment community. It’s taken the about three years to really introduce institutional investors and educate them on exactly what precooling cold storage assets are. For us in the industry, the concept is pretty familiar. But if you’re not in an industry, it’s not. We have spent a lot of time and a lot of effort just broadcasting education nationwide, and I’m very optimistic because we’ve received a lot of the interest.

In Salinas alone, there’s 4,200,000 square feet of facilities that are an average age of 42 years old. We must deal with that. It’s an important time for us, but we’ve gotten a lot of interest from institutions and other funding capabilities.

I think as an industry we’ve got to continue to come together as the industry to support the education of our workers. We also have got to make decisions and invest in our infrastructure. Sometimes we ignore that, but we’ve got to start putting some money back into our industry, because it’s not going to continue to produce the way it needs to forever.

Will There Be A Lettuce Shortage This Year As Parts of Drought-Plagued California Are Now Flooding?

Mon, 23 Jan 2023 20:51:05 GMT

After three consecutive years of drought, relentless rains have hammered California for the past three straight weeks. From flooding to mudslides, the unforgiving weather is wreaking havoc on agriculture and infrastructure in the state. The culprit? An atmospheric river. Even with the intense moisture, the rains hit ahead of the area’s main growing season, which is good news for crops like lettuce and strawberries.

“One of the areas that’s been hardest hit has been the Salinas Valley, which is a northward draining river that starts in southern California, drains northward through some very fertile land in central California, and then exits the northwestern coast of California,” says Brad Rippey, a meteorologist with USDA.

Livestock producers worked to get their livestock to higher ground, while produce fields in some areas flooded as levees caved to rushing waters. California is finally getting a break from the back-to-back storms, Rippey says an atmospheric river is nothing new, but it is rare during a La Niña year.

It’s been like this every day since New Year’s Day. #California #flooding #eldoradocounty #CaliforniaStorms

It’s been hard and the livestock is having a bad time as well but I’m thankful, our house almost burned down 2 years ago. This should help the drought. 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/7sJmPOcll7
— 🌷 LIZZIE🌷REFORMED (@farmingandJesus) January 14, 2023

“It’s something that’s been going on since the beginning of time,” Rippey explains. “It’s a very concentrated area of moisture originating in the tropical Pacific, and then pointed like a fire hose at the west coast of the United States.”

Rippey says it causes a series of individual storms, and as California saw, the atmospheric river repeatedly hammers an area with intense moisture.

While the rain might eventually be good news for water allocations for growers, today, producers are wading through the damage.

“It continues to be an evolving situation where not only industry but the emergency response officials and system within the region are still assessing the ongoing nature of those impacts,” says Chris Valadez, president of the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California .

As Rippey mentioned, one of the hardest hit areas is the Salinas Valley. The flooding concerns remain along the Salinas River in Monterey County, as well as portions of Mariposa and Merced counties in the Central Valley, all of which are big growing areas. Monterey County grows 61% of the nation’s leaf lettuce and 57% of the celery. The area is also home to 56% of the country’s head lettuce supply.

“This is a primary region for the production of leafy vegetables and fresh berries, namely strawberries for the U.S. consumer over the spring, summer and fall period of time,” Valadez says.

It’s not clear how long the flooding will last, but the good news is the area is in between growing seasons right now.

“We’re in between seasons right now, a lot of that area is used for late winter and spring production for crops, like strawberries and lettuce crops,” Rippey explains. “Right now, a lot of the lettuce, for example, is coming out of the desert Southwest like Yuma, Arizona, so we’re still a couple of months away from affecting California’s production for some of those specialty crops.”

Related Story: Salinas Valley infrastructure needs a makeover: Q&A with Jim White at Growers Ice

Valadez says the last large flooding event the area had was in the mid-1990s. At that time, the rains and flooding came in March, which hammered fields already planted. As a result, the rains then did flood out many crops that year.

While flooding is never good, and infrastructure will take time to repair, Valadez says this year’s rains hit before the main growing season.

“Those crops largely aren’t impacted because they’re not quite yet into production. However, there are situations here were some of those crops, namely on the leafy vegetable side, were planted,” Valadez says. “I would also perceive, admittedly, there may be some acres that could have suffered so much damage they are not planted. If and where that’s true, I would anticipate that being a very small percentage of the overall available productive acreage or irrigated productive acreage here in this region.”

Timing is key, but the floodwater is still sprouting doubts on when the crops will get planted.

“I believe there’s confidence that as waters recede most of the acres that were impacted should get planted this year, they will be delayed,” Valadez says.

The other concern, for Rippey, is water contamination.

“Water tests will have to be done and soil testing, just to make sure it’s safe to grow these crops,” he says.

(Farm Journal)

Even with the recent rains, the U.S. Drought Monitor shows 92% of California is still covered in drought. The picture is improving, though. Three months ago, nearly 41% of the state was seeing D3, or extreme drought. Today, that’s dropped to 32%. The significant improvement is planting hope the state is possibly turning a corner and can start to recover some of the scars left from so many years of drought and dry weather.

Emergency declared as atmospheric rivers ravage Southern California

Tue, 06 Feb 2024 17:14:14 GMT

As atmospheric rivers continue to bring torrential rains and flooding to California, the state’s agricultural sector faces mounting challenges and uncertainties. These powerful weather phenomena, characterized by concentrated moisture-laden air currents, not only disrupt farming operations but also pose significant risks to crop yields, soil health and water management systems.

With California’s agriculture being vital to both the state’s economy and national food supply, the repercussions of these atmospheric rains reverberate far beyond the fields, impacting consumers, markets and global trade dynamics.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency for several counties in Southern California to support storm response and recovery efforts.

“California: this is a serious storm with dangerous and potentially life-threatening impacts. Please pay attention to any emergency orders or alerts from local officials,” Newsom said in a news release. “California is ready with a record number of emergency assets on the ground to respond to the impacts of this storm.”

The emergency proclamation covers Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. It includes provisions authorizing a California National Guard response if tasked, facilitating unemployment benefits for affected residents and making it easier for out-of-state contractors and utilities to repair storm damage.

Related: Lawmakers request disaster relief package for California farms damaged by storms, flooding

The inundation of farmland and irrigation systems exacerbates water management challenges in a state already grappling with water scarcity issues. While adequate rainfall is crucial for replenishing reservoirs and groundwater supplies, the intensity and duration of atmospheric rains can overwhelm existing infrastructure, causing flooding, channel erosion and sedimentation problems.

The resultant disruptions to water delivery systems not only hinder irrigation practices but also heighten concerns about water quality and availability for both agricultural and urban users, amplifying competition for this resource.

Related: From fresh berries to lettuce, what we now know about potential California crop losses from flooding

Beyond the immediate impacts on agricultural production, the ripple effects of atmospheric rivers extend throughout the supply chain, affecting market dynamics and consumer prices. Crop losses and supply chain disruptions can lead to scarcity-driven price spikes, impacting not only local consumers but also national and international markets reliant on California’s agricultural output.

From fresh berries to lettuce, what we now know about potential California crop losses from flooding

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 18:33:54 GMT

California farmers are facing another round of flooding , with fields still bearing fresh scars from January’s flood event . An area known for the production of fresh berries, as well as leafy greens, is bracing for the worst, and officials expect the March flooding to spread over more acres than January.

The Monterey County Ag Commissioner’s office conducted an assessment of the January floods, which projected the flood waters covered 20,000 acres in Monterey County, which is home to the Salinas Valley. The losses were pegged at $330 million, and that was at a time when the majority of the spring crops hadn’t been planted yet.

“Now we have March flooding, so those farms adjacent to the Salinas River, and in other low lying areas, which are at most risk for flooding again, I think the difference this time is kind of two-fold,” says Chris Valadez, the president of the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California . “One, you had crops planted in the ground for the upcoming spring harvest. So, there is direct crop damage this time more so than there was and would have been in the January event, and two, not only did you know virtually all of the 20,000 or so acres, flood again, but this weather system and the resulting flood and volume of water that was coming down the Salinas River and spilled over laterally into farm fields was more aggressive.”

Related Story: California Strawberry Commission shares update on devastation from river flooding

This week, the atmospheric rivers are having a larger cut due to a levee breach. The water is impacting fields planted in fresh berries, like strawberries and raspberries. Some of the low-lying area are also home to leafy green production like lettuce. While the damage will be severe for those in the flood water’s path, Valadez says the entire area includes close to 360,000 acres of productive farmland, most of which is expected to still be harvested this year.

“There are an array of different row crops, vegetables, and others that that are planted in that will be harvested and shipped come this spring. That is just kind of the good news, if there’s any to share from this event,” he says. “The bad news is there’s more acreage there’s going to be more direct crop loss, there’s going to be more negative impact onto the agricultural economy, families and farm workers that will continue kind of suffering through this region.”

Residents in the rural community of Porterville, California, say it took 15 minutes for floodwaters from a broken levee to devastate their homes. Some are now wading through the murky waters to feed their animals, as they say they had no warning that the flood was about to hit pic.twitter.com/UEjVyHUgTo
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 17, 2023

Valadez says this March flood event will have a negative impact on the farming communities, as well as the farm families and employees who rely on the production each year. That’s a concern Supervisor Luis Alejo of the California State Association of Counties in District 1, also told CNN.

“The pain is going to be prolonged for many weeks and months. This should have been the beginning of the harvest season,” says Alejo.

Related Story: California farm groups praise governor’s actions to recharge aquifers

There are concerns about what any crop loss will do to overall supplies this year, and the damage is still unknown.

“There will be more crop losses as areas that have not experienced flooding now are now experiencing it for the first time,” says Norm Groot with Monterey County Farm Bureau.

Valadez says if previous flood and drought events have taught the area one thing, it’s farmers in that part of California are extremely resilient, but Valadez says the weeks and months ahead will be hard for those producers, and they’re going to need help.

“In some cases, they’re going to need people to get out of the way, we’re going to need to cut some red tape at the local level, perhaps at the state level as well, regulatory speaking, to get berms and levees back up so that the river can handle appropriate water levels getting from point A to B, so that they’re not as at risk to flow laterally and on to ag fields,” he says. “And so reducing red tape, allowing farmers to kind of put the pieces back together and really allow them to rebound because they are naturally resilient and history has shown they’ll come back stronger than ever.”

Valadez says the area is confident they will be able to work together and overcome the challenges Mother Nature is throwing their way, as the ultimate goal is to get farms back to a healthy state so those fields can start producing valuable crops again.

California Strawberry Commission shares update on devastation from river flooding

Thu, 16 Mar 2023 13:20:22 GMT

California Strawberry Commission President Rick Tomlinson has issued a statement about recent flooding in areas around the Pajaro and Salinas Rivers.

The commission represents over 300 strawberry farmers, shippers and processors in the Golden State. In response to the extreme weather events, Tomlinson made the following comments in a statement:

This week’s flooding events along the Pajaro and Salinas Rivers have been devastating for those communities. Preliminary assessments estimate hundreds of millions in losses and thousands of people displaced in the town of Pajaro. The entire California strawberry industry would like to thank the first responders, aid organizations and volunteers who have helped begin the long recovery process. We are thankful that the Pajaro River levee breach is being repaired. Stopping the river from flowing into the community is the first priority. This is a good start toward a safer place to live, raise a family, and work. The foreseeable future will be challenging. Families will work to restore their homes, their jobs, and many other aspects of their lives. Farms face a massive cleanup. As soon as the cleanup is complete, farmers will begin the process of preparing the fields and starting over. For the farms that were flooded, this catastrophe hit at the worst possible time. Farmers had borrowed money to prepare the fields and were weeks away from beginning to harvest. Disaster relief and emergency financial assistance will be critical for both the residential community and the farming operations. California strawberry operations, most of which are multi-generational and family-owned, will remain vital to the damaged areas during the recovery and well beyond. California’s 400 family strawberry operations create 70,000 jobs in the state and invest 97 cents of every dollar back into the community. That commitment will only grow as the damaged area recovers. Despite the challenges, there will be increased shipments of California strawberries from Oxnard and Santa Maria to stores across the country to keep up with high demand. Times are tough, but the town of Pajaro, the surrounding communities and the strawberry farming families are more resilient than ever, and we will work together to recover.

Related news: California farm groups praise governor’s actions to recharge aquifers

Taylor Farms, Driscoll’s deploy $2M in disaster relief to flood-ravaged communities

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 17:02:08 GMT

Taylor Farms and Driscoll’s, produce companies headquartered in California’s Salinas Valley and Pajaro communities, are rallying support for these areas that were recently devastated by flooding and severe weather.

Many of the companies’ employees, independent growers and farmworkers have lived in these major growing regions for decades, according to a news release. Both Taylor Farms and Driscoll’s said that they have provided relief funds to local nonprofits that are working to meet thousands of affected residents’ needs, and the companies are asking others to give generously.

Taylor Farms has donated more than $1 million in relief funds to organizations such as Monterey County Food Bank, Community Foundation for Monterey, the Santa Cruz County Community Foundation and to Driscoll’s Charitable Fund, which is matching all public donations dollar for dollar up to $250,000, according to the release.

Donations can be made online via Driscoll’s charitable giving platform .

Driscoll’s has also raised more than $1 million in relief funds, which includes direct donations to Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes, the Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Cruz County, Community Bridges, the Santa Cruz County Community Foundation and the Casa De La Cultura Center, according to the release. In addition to the matching of public donations, Driscoll’s said its matching funds extend to employees and to Reiter Affiliated Cos., which contributed to the final investment.

Executives for Taylor Farms and Driscoll’s thanked the first responders, community partners and local and federal governments for their ongoing service to the affected population.

“Our communities have a tremendous amount of rehabilitation work ahead and we will continue to provide additional help,” Taylor Farms CEO and Chairman Bruce Taylor said in the release. “We remain committed to working alongside our industry, community partners, and first responders to ensure the safety and security of our community. Our thoughts are with everyone impacted and we thank everyone who has stepped in to help.”

“Our farming communities in the Pajaro and Salinas valleys provide a vast amount of the produce our nation consumes every day,” Driscoll’s CEO Miles Reiter said in the release. “It will be weeks until we fully understand the scope of damage as the flooding displaced thousands of people from their homes and disrupted many local farming operations. I am saddened by the destruction while remaining proud to be part of this community where so many people moved swiftly to help those most in need.”

Most Expensive U.S. Hurricane Season

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 06:04:54 GMT

This year’s U.S. Atlantic hurricane season is officially the most expensive ever, racking up $202.6 billion in damages since the formal start on June 1.

The costs tallied by disaster modelers Chuck Watson and Mark Johnson surpass anything they’ve seen in previous years. That shouldn’t come as a complete surprise: In late August, Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Gulf Coast, wreaking havoc upon the heart of America’s energy sector. Then Irma struck Florida, devastating the Caribbean islands on the way. Hurricane Maria followed shortly after, wiping out power to all of Puerto Rico. And the season’s not over yet: It officially ends on Nov. 30.
“Given our infrastructure today, the question is: Was 2017 unusual? I think we answered that pretty well,” said Watson, a modeler at Enki Research. “2017 wins no matter what you do. At one point I was working disasters in Asia, Central America, the U.S., and Ireland. It felt like I had jet lag even though I never left the office.”

As this devastating season draws to a close, here are a few statistics that show the extraordinary strength of this year’s storms:

The season delivered 17 named storms, 10 of which became hurricanes that altogether killed hundreds across the Atlantic basin. While 2005 still holds the record, with 28 storms, the intensity and dangerous paths of this year’s tropical systems caught even seasoned forecasters off guard.
For the first time in records, three Category 4 storms hit U.S. shores, with Hurricane Harvey becoming the first major hurricane to slam the country since 2005.
Harvey also set a new tropical rainfall record with just over 60 inches (152 centimeters) in Texas, according Michael Bell, a professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University.
Hurricane Irma , which bowled over the Florida Keys in September before threatening Tampa, set a record by maintaining Category 5 strength for 37 hours. That broke the old mark of 24 hours set by Typhoon Haiyan, Bell said.
Accumulated cyclone energy, a measure of storm power and longevity, also set a record in September, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center .
Worldwide, storms caused $369.6 billion of damage, the second-most costly year since 1960.

This hurricane season is “in the top 10 in most of the metrics we use to measure hurricane activity,” Bell said.

And we haven’t even mentioned Ophelia, a “crazy storm” that maintained hurricane strength within 12 hours of nearing Ireland, said Jeff Masters, co-founder of Weather Underground in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was the worst tropical system to threaten Ireland since 1961.

A construction boom along U.S. shores in recent years acted as a damage multiplier this year, when nature threw its worst at beach homes, waterfront resorts, power grids and Gulf Coast refineries.

Watson’s storm costs are based on physical damages, clean-up expenses and lost business activity that isn’t recovered within a year. To account for buildings, homes and factories that weren’t around 150 years ago, his models look at storms dating back to 1871 in the U.S. and 1960 globally, and project the damages they would inflict had they occurred today.

If every hurricane that hit the U.S. in 1893 were to strike now, the cost would be $185.6 billion.

The U.S. hasn’t been the only country feel the pain this year. Typhoons and hurricanes struck countries including China and Japan, Watson said. The totals are a testament to the damage storms that hit major cities can do.

“Megacities such as New York City, Houston, or Miami in the U.S., Tokyo in Japan, or the incredible dense infrastructure around Hong Kong in China, are susceptible to a single event causing in excess of $100 billion in damages,” Watson and Johnson, a professor of statistics at the University of Central Florida, wrote in a study.

Florida Orange Crop Seen Plunging to 71-Year Low After Irma

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 06:04:46 GMT

(Bloomberg) -- Florida’s orange production will plunge 21 percent to a 71-year low after damage wrought by Hurricane Irma devastated the harvest, while output of cotton also suffered in storm-hit areas, government figures showed.

Orange growers in Florida, the largest U.S. producer, will harvest 54 million boxes in the 2017-18 marketing year, the least since 1947 -- an era when citrus irrigation was rare -- the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report Thursday. A survey of analysts conducted by Bloomberg indicated a crop of 58.2 million boxes. A box weighs 90 pounds, or 41 kilograms.

Irma, which dropped as much as 17 inches of rain on citrus- growing areas in a 24-hour period, made it impossible for farmers to reach their groves, with trees destroyed and fruit dropping to the ground unharvested, the USDA said.

Still, the USDA’s forecast was ahead of the 31 million boxes predicted by Florida Citrus Mutual, the state’s largest grower group, on Oct. 10. Orange juice for November delivery in New York fell as as much as 3.7 percent, before settling 2.3 percent lower at $1.589 a pound on ICE Futures U.S.

Florida growers group disputes USDA’s Florida orange crop estimate

Prices are also under pressure because Brazil, the top supplier, has ample stocks, is harvesting more, and will compensate for lower supplies from Florida, Burak Kazaz, professor of supply chain management at Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management, said in a telephone interview.

Irma caused an estimated $2.5 billion in damage to agriculture, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said Oct. 4. Preliminary estimates show $760.8 million in damage to the citrus industry. Texas’s state farm agency has yet to release a damage estimate for Harvey, which hit the Gulf Coast region in late August.

“The path of Hurricane Irma could not have been more lethal than what it was,” Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said Wednesday. Groves are still under water in southwest Florida and state lawmakers are calling for immediate federal aid for producers.

©2017 Bloomberg L.P.

California May Usurp Florida's Crown as U.S. Orange King

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 06:04:33 GMT

It’s been a miserable few years for Florida’s orange crop. And now to add insult to injury, California is gearing up to steal the sunshine’s state crown as the king of U.S. citrus production.

After a decade of the citrus-greening disease devastating Florida oranges, Hurricane Irma smashed into groves this year, inflicting yet another blow to the crop. Farmers in the state are set to collect 46 million boxes of the fruit this season, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday. That would be the smallest since 1945 and would match California’s harvest. A box weighs 90 pounds (41 kilograms) for Florida, and California changed its weight since 2009-10 to 80 pounds.

Michael Sparks, chief executive officer for Florida Citrus Mutual, the state’s largest grower group, expects the situation for the crop “to get worse before it gets better.” If that’s the case, and California ends up with the bigger crop, it would be the first time in 73 years the state would best Florida.

“We think the actual size of the 2017-2018 crop will not be known until the season is over and all the fruit is picked” in the early summer, Sparks said. In October, the group said the crop could be as low as 31 million (90 pound) boxes, or about 2.79 billion pounds, while the current estimate for California points to a crop of 3.68 billion pounds.

Most of the oranges grown in California are used for the fresh fruit market, while Florida’s fruit is generally used to make fresh juice.

California strawberry industry tallies storm damage

Fri, 20 Jan 2023 15:03:18 GMT

From Ventura County in Southern California, north through San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, to Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, the onslaught of rain, wind and floods is approaching $200 million in potential damages to California’s strawberry farms, according to a news release from the California Strawberry Commission.

“We were fortunate that these storms came at a time when most farms are dormant and thus farm worker jobs have had minimum impact,” California Strawberry Commission President Rick Tomlinson said in the release. “We are thankful to the farm workers who have come back to work to help with the recovery.”

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While the majority of family farmers are cleaning up minor storm damage, some farms have experienced catastrophic conditions. Erosion has washed away an estimated 350 acres. Another 1,490 acres are awaiting flood waters to recede. In total, 1,840 acres face catastrophic losses that could reach $200 million from crop, property and equipment damage, according to the release.

The California Strawberry Commission estimates that the farms at risk for catastrophic losses include:

Santa Cruz and North Monterey counties (Pajaro River) — 573 acres
Monterey County (Salinas River) — 467 acres
Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties (Santa Maria River) — 500 acres
Ventura County — 300 acres

While the economic impact is significant, most strawberry farmers experienced minor storm damage, according to the release. For the majority of the 31,852 strawberry acres in California that experienced minimal damage, the rain is a welcome change from the drought.

“The rain washes the soil and improves plant health,” Tomlinson said in the release. “As soon as we get a few weeks of sun, the strawberry plants should recover in time to start harvest in the spring. With improved soil health from the rains, we should have a good season.”

The damage estimates are preliminary, and according to the California Strawberry Commission, all farmers have been asked to report damage directly to each county.

New York growers get disaster relief assistance

Mon, 11 Dec 2023 14:36:40 GMT

Following a cold snap in May and a wet summer in the Empire State, the USDA designated four counties in the state as natural disaster areas, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a news release. The governor’s office said the USDA bases this disaster designation on crop loss reporting to local Farm Service Agencies in the state.

“This past July was one of the wettest on record in some areas of our state, which was devasting for our farmers who experienced crop losses as a result,” Richard Ball, New York State agriculture commissioner, said in the release. “The extreme weather events we have been seeing as a result of climate change are causing a significant amount of stress for our agricultural industry — from the May frost event in the Finger Lakes to the tornado and excessive rain across the North Country and Central New York region in July.”

The governor’s office said primary counties covered under the disaster designation are Clinton, Franklin, Lewis and Onondaga.

The USDA also declared 10 counties as contiguous disaster counties, which means farmers in the contiguous counties could be eligible for assistance and emergency loans from the USDA’s FSA. Those counties include Cayuga, Cortland, Essex, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Madison, Oneida, Oswego and St. Lawrence, according to the release.

The governor’s office said farmers have eight months to apply for emergency loans at their local FSA office.

“As climate change continues to drive more frequent and extreme weather events in our state, New Yorkers faced unprecedented levels of rain in July that flooded our communities and devastated cropland,” Hochul said in the release. “This designation will help ensure New York farmers significantly impacted by this summer’s severe weather have access to the resources they need to help rebuild and recover.”

“The importance of our agriculture economy and community cannot be understated,” said Ryan McMahon, Onondaga county executive. “The severe weather experienced this summer resulted in significant losses to our local farmers. With this designation, the local agriculture community will have access to critical funding and assistance to aid in their recovery.”

The governor’s office said the Small Business Administration offers low-interest loans through a new program that provides additional financial assistance to those in rural areas impacted by disasters. The SBA said farmers in Clinton County are eligible for this program.

SpartanNash ships food to California residents affected by flooding

Mon, 27 Mar 2023 19:20:54 GMT

Michigan-based grocery retailer and distributor Spartan Nash recently shipped 24 pallets of food to residents affected by severe flooding in Southern California, in partnership with the American Red Cross.

“The flooding and displacement of residents from their homes is devastating,” SpartanNash CEO Tony Sarsam said in a news release. “As a food solutions company, we are proud to provide essential supplies and comfort in times of uncertainty. We appreciate the American Red Cross for their collaboration, and we will continue to monitor the situation to see how we can support future efforts.”

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The food was dropped off in Fresno, Calif., to be distributed to residents who are being forced into shelters because of flooding, power outages and landslides. The donation, valued at about $46,000, includes various essentials such as:

ready-to-eat breakfast foods.
sweet snacks.
salty snacks.
juice boxes.

Since the end of December 2022, 12 atmospheric rivers have impacted California with a series of aftereffects, including flash floods, river floods, levee breaks and high levels of snowfall. This has led to power outages and the destruction of homes and businesses, displacing thousands of California residents.

“California residents need our help recovering from these devastating and dangerous storms. We appreciate the generosity of SpartanNash and its dedication to helping us accomplish our goal of helping others in time of need,” Ron Horvat, division vice president of fundraising for the American Red Cross, said in the release.

The American Red Cross has deployed over 1,200 volunteers from across the country to help provide people with more than 12,000 overnight stays in shelters, according to the release.

“All affected by this disaster should receive care and hope, and through this timely donation, we are able to do that,” Horvat said.

How Tropical Storm Hilary impacted one California grower

Thu, 24 Aug 2023 14:55:52 GMT

When Tropical Storm Hilary hit Southern California on Aug. 20, the typically arid Palm Springs received nearly 50% of its yearly rainfall in a matter of hours. While the deluge caused flooding , one area farmer is cautiously optimistic his operations will emerge relatively unscathed.

“Our headquarters is in Coachella Valley, where the storm was worse than other areas, but it probably had the least damage,” Mike Way, CEO of Prime Time International , a Coachella, Calif.-based farming and marketing company, told The Packer.

The timing of the storm helped.

“It’s August in Coachella — a desert with on average temperatures of 115 degrees this time of the year, so we don’t have a lot of fresh vegetables we’re harvesting now. We are actively planting for the fall and winter crops, so there were a few things in the ground when the storm hit this weekend, but the majority of the damage was just water running through the fields and some wind damage where some of the transplants had blown over.”

Prime Time grows a variety of produce including bell peppers, green beans, corn, asparagus, tomatoes and artichokes. On Aug. 21, Way surveyed Prime Time’s bell peppers and artichokes that are in the ground.

“I expected to see much more damage on the roadways and in the access to the ranches, but the valley held up pretty well under the amount of water it got,” he said. “People did miss work on Monday and Tuesday because the ground was too wet, but other than that everything seemed to be pretty good.”

Outlook on Tropical Storm Hilary’s impact

As to the storm’s longer-term effect to vegetables in the ground in the Coachella Valley, Way isn’t overly concerned.

“Here the impact is probably minimal,” he said. “We’ll do some replanting in some areas where the water came through, but there doesn’t seem to be [any issues] with bell peppers, corn and winter vegetables.

“The guys who might have some issues would be the date guys, who are harvesting dates in the next six weeks, but as for the veg guys in this valley, maybe just some replanting that will have to be done because of washout in parts of the field,” he added.

The largest bell pepper shipper in California, Prime Time also has 1,000 acres in Ventura County and just outside of Bakersfield.

In these farms, standing water could present problems down the road.

“In Oxnard and Newhall, we’re concerned that in the next few weeks [we might see] waterborne illness by powdery mildew affecting the bell pepper crop,” he said, adding that

Bell peppers don’t like rain, he says.

“We’re probably a quarter of the way through harvesting our crop there, so we’re going to have to watch out for disease because of this rain,” he said.

Way says the biggest problem created by the storm was picking delays.

“We haven’t picked since Saturday, and we won’t pick again until Thursday or Friday, so we’ll have four days where we haven’t picked a pepper, which is kind of tough on us, as we pick every day,” he said. “That’s four days off for all the employees and most everybody else, and we’re holding trucks trying to cover orders for the weekend.

“But for the long-term outlook it’s waiting to see if we get some waterborne diseases or some soil diseases because of the standing water. We fight diseases all the time, but this is one that we weren’t expecting to have to fight.”

Way says it’s too early to tell if Hilary will create a shortage or higher prices for bell peppers.

“We have enough peppers to cover most of [our orders],” he said. “If we lose 20% yield, 50% yield or the whole crop, in the long run we might see some higher prices and shorter orders, but we were ready to handle this. Our concern right now is waterborne diseases.”

More on these topics: California | Flooding | Weather