Hurricane

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.

Hurricane Helene: One Year Later

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 21:41:24 GMT

Chris White is 46 years old. For more than half of that time, he’s been a blueberry farmer in his hometown of Baxley, Ga. He’s seen a lot, both as a farmer and also as a resident in southeast Georgia, an area of the country that’s not quite hurricane ground zero but that can certainly find itself adjacent to the many tropical storms and hurricanes that make landfall each year.

But he’d never seen anything like what happened to his community the night of Sept. 26, 2024.

Located in the southeastern part of the state, Baxley was one of the many towns that took a direct hit from Hurricane Helene. Overnight, the hurricane pummeled the area with 100-plus mph wind gusts and rainfall that triggered flooding, resulting in 37 deaths in the state.

When White and his fellow farmers awoke the next morning, they were unprepared for what they saw.

One of the farms that makes up Appling Blueberry Farms had sat ripe with mature blueberry bushes just the day before. Now, it was decimated – the entire blueberry canopy flattened to the ground. Surrounded by debris, he recalls having to walk 3 miles on foot to get to his equipment shed.

“I drove the tractor back here to the field and when I pulled to the road and saw it, I just turned around and didn’t come back for six days,” White says.

“Just imagine the entire thing on the ground. “It was devastating,” he adds.

Down the road in the neighboring city of Alma, Randy Miller spent the morning with the same ache in his gut. Looking out on his family’s timber operation, Miller saw his 1,400 acres of timberland in shambles.

“We lost 300 acres of timber in the 30 to 40-year range,” he says.

Miller thought of his timber acres largely as his 401k — a savings he could grow to maturity and then harvest as a security blanket for retirement.

“I’m 64 years old, and that was basically my lifetime’s marketable timber that was gone,” he says.

Randy Miller had invested time and energy in growing a pinewood plantation that he hoped to market at maturity. Hurricane Helene’s 100-plus mph winds decimated 300 acres of his trees.

(Randy Miller)

The Clean-Up

While White remained in denial about his crop’s demise, Miller didn’t have the time. Even felled timber has a window where harvest remains possible, but time is critical. He started calling his timber cutting contacts, but he was already behind. Other landowners had called before him.

“It took months before they could get to us,” Miller says.

“Before the Hurricane, we sold 60 acres of timber worth roughly $4,000 per acre,” he says. “After it, we picked up 150 acres and got a check for $47,000.

“Some people got nothing, so we were lucky that we’d gotten $4 a ton for ours, which is basically nothing,” he adds.

In Baxley, White finally started ripping out his destroyed blueberry bushes. In order to plant more, he had to start from scratch and rebuild the field infrastructure, such as bark mounds and drip lines.

But then he couldn’t find plants.

“We called all over the U.S. to find plants,” he recalls. “We had plants come from Oregon and Florida. We really had to struggle to get them.”

Appling Blueberry Farms planted the last of its replacement bushes in February, which means that the new crop could not yield fruit this year. Grower Chris White will be able to harvest berries from the farm in the 2026 growing year.

(America’s Conservation Ag Movement)

White’s last new plant went into the ground in February. He says he’s not sure that any of that quick rebuild would have been possible without emergency assistance from USDA.

“The FSA Tree Assistance Program (TAP) was a very big blessing to put them back,” he says. “They paid an amount for the soil preparation and then so much per plant for the replant.

“It definitely wasn’t something that would bring you debt-free on it, but it was something that wouldn’t put you in a real financial bind,” he adds.

Planning for the Future

The devastation left in Helene’s wake wasn’t just plant loss for many farmers. The rushing water from torrential rain combined with the hurricane-force winds blew critical topsoil, sending it into nearby fields, ditches and roadways.

Part of the recovery for growers like White was moving and replacing dirt.

“We hauled in about 60 dump truck loads of dirt and put the soil back where it had eroded,” he recalls.

He wasn’t the only one. Neal Boatright, a fourth-generation farmer who grows more than 6,000 acres of cotton, peanuts and blueberries at scale, also had to get to work relocating soil on his farm. He noticed a difference in erosion in his no-till acreage and the areas where he harvest-tills crops such as peanuts.

“We brought it back from the lower side of the fields and put back and leveled and tried to fix it,” he says. “We have conventional tillage areas that wash worse.”

Growers such as White, Miller and Boatright have seen the weather changing around them. While they say they’d never seen a hurricane or tropical storm hit their region with such devastation as Helene did, they aren’t sure it is going to be the last one.

Their rebuilding plans are a combination of put-back and pre-planning for mitigation of future potential weather catastrophes.

In his rebuild, White worked to secure grants that would allow him to experiment with cover crops in between his blueberry rows. The farm that was lost totally last year now has a diverse cover crop mixture locking his soil in place.

Appling Blueberry Farms uses a diverse mixture of cover crops in between blueberry rows to protect soil from erosion. After the first year, grower Chris White says he sees a reduction in nematode and weed pressure due to the cover crop.

(America’s Conservation Ag Movement)

At one point in the growing season, his cover crop mixture stood 6 feet tall, towering above his blueberry bushes. In addition to protecting the soil, White says the cover crop is yielding other benefits as well.

“It dries the middle out a lot quicker because you have so much sucking the rain and that helps a bunch,” he says. “Because we planted several different plants, our nematode pressure has been way down and the weed pressure too.

“We’ll keep a cover crop here twice a year now, one in the summer and one in the winter,” he adds.

Boatright has been cover cropping his land and sees the benefits in preventing erosion as well as building organic matter in the soil.

“It not only saves erosion by that cover crop growing, it helps retain some nutrients for the next year, builds up organic matter and helps with suppressing weed pressure,” he says. “All that added together makes a good cover crop worthwhile.”

Lasting Impact

While growers and landowners have spent this past year cleaning up and putting their land and assets back together, many worry that the devastation of Hurricane Helen may have generational impact.

Kevin Eason didn’t have to destroy many of his blueberry plants, but even though they survived, the yields this year seem to be suffering.

“What we’ve come to realize is some fields that we didn’t think were damaged, production was down significantly,” he says. “What’s going to happen a year from now, two years from now, three years from now?

“What are going to be the lingering effects of what happened with the Hurricane?”

As he drives down the road on his land and in his community, Boatright can still see areas that harken back to the immediate aftermath of the storm a year ago.

“There was probably more wind damage from that one storm than all the wind damage I’ve ever seen in my whole life added together in this area,” he says. “This was devastating to the timber industry and will have years of effects.”

Miller is keenly aware of the generational impact that his timber losses will have for his family.

“It’s just a sickening feeling because you have totally lost your hearts, not just in the pocketbook,” he says. “I have a kid, and he has two kids that are coming up, and we want to turn it over to them in good shape.

“It’s not a one-year quick fix.

“This is going to take years,” he says. “Probably five years from now, we’ll still be able to ride through and see where this Hurricane hit us.”

Florida citrus growers brace for Hurricane Milton amid 'complete destruction' forecast

Wed, 09 Oct 2024 12:43:22 GMT

Hurricane Milton strengthened into a Category 5 storm on a path toward Florida, with Gov. Ron DeSantis declaring an emergency and millions of residents ordered to evacuate.

“Unless we get extremely lucky, Milton will be one of the biggest hurricane disasters in history,” leading Fox Weather hurricane meteorologist Bryan Norcross predicted Monday, shortly after the hurricane was upgraded to a Category 5 storm with winds of 180 mph.

Milton is forecast to make landfall on Florida’s west coast on Wednesday, likely between 6 p.m. and midnight. The center of the cone is near Tampa, but there is still uncertainty in the exact track. Norcross said it is too early to call where the storm will hit when it makes landfall Wednesday, but that if it follows the current trajectory and strikes Tampa Bay directly the city “will go underwater.” Meanwhile, Tampa’s mayor issued a dire warning before Hurricane Milton: “If you choose to stay … you are going to die.”

A forecast from the National Hurricane Center predicted storm surge for Tampa Bay could hit up to 15 feet. The storm is expected to cross the Florida peninsula and move into the Atlantic Ocean afterwards. There is an increased risk of tornadoes, with 11 million people under threat of tropical tornadoes on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Hurricane Milton is threatening to be one of the largest ever hurricanes with wind gusts already topping 200 miles per hour — leading to calls for a new Category 6 designation for such an intense superstorm. “This is nothing short of astronomical,” Florida meteorologist Noah Bergren said late Monday as Milton reached sustained winds of 180 mph and “gusts [of] 200-plus mph.” “I am at a loss for words to meteorologically describe to you the storm’s small eye and intensity,” he said. “This hurricane is nearing the mathematical limit of what Earth’s atmosphere over this ocean water can produce.”

Milton threatens to inflict wind damage in the northern two-thirds of Florida’s citrus belt this week, according to Commodity Weather Group. Orange juice futures rose up to 4.3% on Monday due to the threat to Florida’s citrus industry. U.S. natural gas futures fell over 4% in anticipation of reduced demand if power outages occur. Various events have been canceled, including a championship ring ceremony for the Florida Panthers hockey team.

Citrus producers are urged to keep accurate records to document any damage or loss, including dated photos. It’s critical for growers to report farm damage to their local USDA Service Center before starting any cleanup or repair activities. This documentation is essential for potential financial assistance from USDA.

The Florida Department of Transportation has suspended size and weight restrictions for vehicles transporting emergency equipment, services, supplies, and agricultural commodities, including citrus. This emergency measure allows these vehicles to travel at all hours and is set to expire on Oct. 21 or upon rescission of the executive orders.

Hurricane season generally lasts through November.

Of note: New estimates reveal Hurricane Helene caused more than $47 billion in losses for property owners. The price tag for climate-related disasters is growing. Last year, storms in the U.S. caused $93.1 billion in damages, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Their cumulative toll, dating to 1980, now stands at $2.6 trillion.

New Hurricane Idalia report takes stock of significant agricultural damages

Mon, 25 Sep 2023 19:48:37 GMT

The dust has settled since Hurricane Idalia made a devastating sweep over northern Florida in late August, but farmers, ranchers and food producers in are still picking up the pieces from the storm’s destruction.

The recent expansion of the USDA’s hurricane crop insurance policy to include 2023 storms is welcome news. So far, the USDA has provided farmers with $854 million to help in the Hurricane Idalia recovery, with an additional $84.8 million paid out in indemnities for hurricane-related losses through the USDA’s new Tropical Storm Option for its Hurricane Insurance Protection-Wind Index program, endorsed earlier this year.

In total, through the USDA program, producers have received total of over $170 million in crop insurance payments that will directly help farmers and rural communities recover from Hurricane Idalia, according to the agency.

While $170 million can do a lot of good, how does it compare to the most recent assessment of Hurricane Idalia’s damage?

Crop damage, by the numbers

According to a recently released preliminary assessment report of agricultural losses and damages from Hurricane Idalia by the University of Florida and Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, a total of 3.3 million acres of agricultural land were affected by Hurricane Idalia.

“These numbers give us an idea of the significance of the damage and the parts of the state that were affected by Hurricane Idalia. I think it also brings a voice to those communities,” Christa Court, director of the University of Florida’s IFAS economic impact analysis program and assistant professor in the Food and Resource Economics Department, said in a briefing.

Related news: Hurricane Idalia slams Florida’s Big Bend region, spares most specialty crop growers

The report’s assessment seeks to shed light on the broad footprint of agriculture in this affected region, the value of agriculture and the importance to the impacted communities, she continued.

“We’re trying to get these communities back into production since they’ve been so significantly impacted,” Court told reporters.

According to the assessment, affected acreage for fresh produce includes:

Citrus — 186,700 total affected acres, including bearing and nonbearing acres.
Fruit (noncitrus) and tree nuts — 5,100 acres.
Vegetables and melons — 54,100 acres.
Greenhouse and nursery — 37,300 affected acres

What’s more, the commodity groups most affected — in terms of economic value — by hurricane conditions include:

Animals and animal products — value of production on affected Florida acres totaling $1,232,200,000.
Field and row crops — production value of affected acres totaling $313,600,000.
Vegetables and melons — production value of total affected acres totaling $750,100,000.

The total losses for all commodity groups totals $3,929,000,000. These production loss estimates, according to the report, convey the percent value of annual production for the calendar or marketing year, depending on the crop.

In addition to production losses, infrastructure is another sizable area of loss for Florida’s food producers. In the report, survey respondents reported damage or destruction to infrastructure such as greenhouses, growing structures, irrigation systems, farm buildings, equipment fences and other structures. The total damages were assessed at a value of $2.55 billion of estimated buildings at risk from the hurricane and $568.8 million estimated value of machinery and equipment at risk from the impact of Hurricane Idalia, according to the report.

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.

World Central Kitchen serves up hurricane relief, partners with retailers and restaurants to scale up efforts

Thu, 06 Oct 2022 18:28:34 GMT

International Fresh Produce Association keynote speaker, Chef Jose Andres, puts his mission — to change the world through the power of food — into action in Florida this fall.

In Cape Coral, Florida, we've set up a food truck 🚚 park where families can come enjoy meals from a variety of WCK partners—yesterday we served 8,000 here! In addition to hot meals cooked on site, people take home sandwiches for later. #ChefsForFlorida pic.twitter.com/v6jrZ76Q4N
— World Central Kitchen (@WCKitchen) October 4, 2022

Within hours of Hurricane Ian’s passing through the southeastern U.S., Andres’ hunger relief non-profit, World Central Kitchen, began distributing sandwiches and cooking hot, nourishing meals at non-profit’s relief kitchen sites. This week, WCK is providing meals in community distribution points in Port Charlotte, Cape Coral, and Fort Myers, multiple Lee County hospitals, Sanibel and Pine Islands, as well as additional food truck placements across several severely impacted communities, according to a news release.

Not only is WCK busy on the ground in Florida, serving hot meals and cold sandwiches, the organization is also building partnerships with area retailers and restaurants to scale efforts as quickly as possible. Bolstering the aide effort, specialty retailer The Fresh Market launched a three-week fundraiser, committing to match all register donations up to $100,000, with 100% of the proceeds donated to WCK. The Fresh Market fundraiser runs Oct. 5 – Oct. 25.

“Hurricane Ian has directly impacted many team members of The Fresh Market, their families and the communities we have served for the last 40 years,” Jason Potter, CEO of The Fresh Market, said in the release. “We understand the importance of fresh food and the comfort it brings and are proud to support World Central Kitchen’s efforts to assist the people who are experiencing the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.”

Related news: Hurricane Ian causes inbound freight rates to rise in Florida

WCK was founded in 2010 by Chef José Andrés on the simple yet powerful idea that when people are hungry, you send cooks. World Central Kitchen provides fresh meals in response to crises with a Chef Relief Team mobilizing to the frontlines to start cooking and provide meals to people in need as soon as possible. Deploying its model of quick action, leveraging local resources and organizations and adapting in real time, WCK provides freshly made, nutritious meals quickly and effectively.

Learn more about Jose Andres keynote session at IFPA on Oct. 28 2022 .

Direct Hit to Key Export Elevators, 22 Barges on the Loose: Logistical Nightmare Unfolds from Hurricane Ida

Wed, 01 Sep 2021 15:00:53 GMT

Hurricane Ida’s destructive winds are wreaking havoc on a vital export shipping vein, as grain elevators and barge traffics continue to be tangled from the impacts of the hurricane this week.

Monday, reports surfaced that Hurricane Ida damaged a Louisiana grain export elevator owned by Cargill Inc. It was said to have “sustained significant damage.” Ken Erickson, senior vice president of agribusiness with IHS market, focuses on transportation and infrastructure. He says as the destruction continues to surface, it’s apparent that the U.S. export program could run into some serious delays as the area works to recovery from the impacts of Hurricane Ida.

“We’ve got a couple of them that are going to be down for a while, especially with Cargill having just lost some of its elevation to the ships, they’ve got capability to load two ships there,” says Erikson on AgriTalk. “There are others that are going to be without power for awhile, and power is the big story down there with two to four weeks, if not longer, of no power just across the entire region.”

Plagued with Power Outages

While there was good news that no levees had topped from the storm surge, the issue of power could plague a key U.S. export area for weeks.

“Thankfully, all the work that went on after Katrina with the levees held it in place and we didn’t have major topping and breakthroughs. But it’s this power thing,” says Erikson. “And where this this hurricane came through, thankfully, it kind of hit in some not as populous areas, but boy, the winds just did some serious damage, and we had a direct hit on those expert elevators. That’s going to be hitting our complex at perhaps the worst time going forward here.”

Erikson says the U.S. is entering a critical time for exports, especially soybeans, and recovery will need to be swift to prevent any further erosion to the U.S. export program this year.

“In many respects, if there’s ever a bad time, this is about as good as it gets to have this take place. The one thing for the major destruction at reserve is going to be one that’s going to be down. If you think about the U.S. center Gulf, they have handled nearly 3 billion bushels of exports a year. That’s nearly 60% of U.S. corn, wheat, sorghum and soybean exports. They’ve got the capability to do about 3.6 billion bushels, almost 4 billion bushels, annually. They’re running at a fairly high level of capacity utilization as it is.”

Critical Time for Exports

The grain elevators that took a direct hit from Hurricane Ida this week weren’t small facilities. Erikson says it will be imperative for those facilities to recovery quickly.

“When you start taking out like a Cargill reserve, that probably is about 8% to 10% of center Gulf capacity. CHS Myrtle Grove is down for a few weeks here without power, and it is a similar size facility with about 7% to 8% capacity share, those get to be important,” says Erikson. “We’ve seen inspections, the last few weeks been very anemic, and we’re not seeing big flows moving at the moment. This is perhaps the best time for something to happen. And by the time we get the power back on and stuff going, that’ll be great. It’s just that we’re gonna have with some big destruction, and we may learn of others as well. That could be the problem going to this fall when we need everything running really well to get this Expert program moving that we’ve got plugged in right now.”

The Soybean Transportation Coalition (STC) notes that while August isn’t a key time for soybean exports, there’s still a healthy amount of corn typically loaded onto barges this time of year. During the week ending Aug. 19, STC notes 464,138 metric tons (18.3 million bushels) of corn, 141,859 metric tons (5.2 million bushels) of soybeans, and 71,696 metric tons (2.6 million bushels) of wheat were exported from the terminals along the lower Mississippi River. In total, 487 barges of grain were unloaded in the area that week alone.

Runaway Barges

It’s more than just power outages that could influence the recovery timeline. On Monday, officials reported 22 barges on the loose with one hitting a bridge in Laffite, La. Leaders believe the bridge is now structurally unsound, but no word on how that could impact barge traffic moving forward.

Insurance Losses Mount as Hurricane Ida Could Become Top Five Costliest Hurricanes in History

Fri, 24 Sep 2021 02:04:27 GMT

Work continues on cleaning up from Hurricane Ida with logistical problems remaining for moving grains through Louisiana’s Gulf Coast.

Now, the Wall Street Journal is putting a dollar amount on the damage. The report shows the storm is poised to be one of the top five costliest hurricanes based on insurance losses. Risk Management Solutions is estimating insured losses between $31 billion and $44 billion.

The storm had a long tail, not just hitting Louisiana, but also causing damage in the Northeast as it moved on after making landfall.

Reuters reports the costs are also adding up for grain handlers who tell them Gulf shipping issues are causing the cost for barge freight to rise along rivers in the Midwest.

25M boxes lost to Hurricane Hilary, California table grape growers report

Fri, 01 Sep 2023 19:11:54 GMT

Hurricane Hilary delivered wind and rain to many of California’s table grape vineyards during peak harvest for most of the 90 varieties grown in the state, and problems were compounded as many growing areas were hit with additional rain and humidity from the storm’s aftermath, according to a news release.

“The impact of the hurricane and its aftermath is devastating and heartbreaking,” California Table Grape Commission President Kathleen Nave said in the release. “To say that the grower and farmworker community is in shock is an understatement.”

With approximately 30% of the crop harvested when the hurricane hit, it is projected that 35% of the remaining table grape crop — 25 million boxes — have been lost, the release said.

“The revised estimate for the California crop is 71.9 million 19-pound boxes,” Nave said. “The last time the crop was under 75 million boxes was 1994.”

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

Noting that it is typical for California to ship over 65% of its crop after Sept. 1, Nave said that based on the revised estimate there are still over 45 million boxes of grapes the industry plans to ship.

“Reaching consumers at retail stores is a major focus of the work done by the commission,” Nave said. “Partnering with retailers to get grapes on store shelves and to promote them to consumers is work that will continue throughout the season.”

Nave said that retailers understand the damage the storm caused and the ways that labor costs will increase as a result.

Related news: Hurricane Idalia slams Florida’s Big Bend region, spares most specialty crop growers

“Retailers understand that even with skilled workers it will take more time to harvest much of the remaining crop and that accordingly, to keep grapes on the retail shelves throughout the fall, the price paid to growers will need to be enough to make it worthwhile to harvest,” she said.

The industry plans to continue assessing the situation in the weeks ahead and providing updates as needed, while the commission will continue its retail promotion activities and consumer advertising campaigns throughout the season, Nave said.

Florida's Hurricane Ian Losses Total Over $1 Billion

Tue, 25 Oct 2022 20:14:00 GMT

Florida’s Department of Ag issued preliminary loss figures from Hurricane Ian. Losses to Florida ag and infrastructure total between $1.18 billion and $1.89 billion, according to the preliminary assessment.

The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Ag Services (UF/IFAS) last week said that the preliminary losses for Ian were around $1.56 billion, while the government update issued this week takes into account citrus tree replacement, animal infrastructure damage and forestry.

Hurricane Ian Disaster Aid

Florida Commissioner of Ag Nikki Fried said the preliminary assessment is a “first step” in trying to get federal disaster aid for affected producers, noting the state would continue working with industry partners to “gain further insight into the depth and breadth of Ian’s damage.”

Detailed figures from the state on Hurricane Ian include:

$676 million for citrus, including fruit loss (up to $304 million) and tree loss ($371 million).
Storm is likely to have destroyed 8% to 11% of Florida citrus trees, which would be more than 6.1 million trees.
Other fruit and vegetable losses are pegged at up to $231 million, a loss of about 10% to 15%, while losses for row crops were put at about $160 million with horticultural crops seeing losses of around $297 million.
Losses for animal agriculture are seen at around $492 million which includes damage to things like barns, fences, equipment and roads besides losses of livestock and damage to forage production areas.

Loss Estimates for Hurricane Ian

USDA said earlier this month their estimates of U.S. citrus production were completed before Hurricane Ian arrived and the Florida citrus production figures released Oct. 12 did not reflect potential damage from the storm and that the next update on citrus production will come Dec. 9.

They also noted that the “full impact of the storm may not be reflected until future reports.”

More on Hurricane Ian:

Mosaic Shares Recovery Details After Hurricane Ian
Florida Producers Scramble to Reach Cattle After Hurricane Ian

Grocery, mass retailers mobilize to send relief to Hurricane Ian-ravaged Florida

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 07:25:49 GMT

As Floridians across the peninsula grapple with their losses and look toward meeting their immediate necessities, supermarket companies nationwide are starting to send relief in the form of volunteers, food, equipment and other supplies.

West Des Moines-based Hy-Vee deployed its Disaster Relief Fleet to locations in Florida impacted by Hurricane Ian, according to a media advisory.

The first caravan of Hy-Vee employees were expected to depart Sept. 30, from the Hy-Vee Fresh Commissary in Ankeny, Ohio, in several of the company’s response vehicles. The first group will take Hy-Vee’s mobile command center, Hy-Vee’s mobile water system (which includes a tank and pump trailer), and Hy-Vee’s rapid response pickup truck.

The second group will leave Oct. 1, from Hy-Vee’s Chariton Distribution Center with nine semi-trucks filled with water, ice, snacks, cleaning supplies and protein donated by Hormel Foods.

Hy-Vee’s disaster relief team is working with local emergency operations centers and nonprofit groups to initially assist with recovery efforts in Port Charlotte and Bradenton, Fla. More than 20 Hy-Vee employees have volunteered to take part in the effort.

Other grocery retailers are helping in these ways, according to News4Jax , a Jacksonville, Fla., TV news station:

Publix has delivered more than 700 truckloads of water equal to almost a million cases, delivered more than 3 million pounds of ice, and is storing double inventory volumes. Before the impacted stores closed for the storm, Publix donated perishable products to local police, firefighters and emergency response teams, and also ensured that associates who work nearby and prepare these stores for the storm received donated product for themselves and their families.
Walmart activated Disaster Displacement Assistance for impacted associates to help them evacuate. The company positioned 400 drivers in Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia to support recovery efforts. Walmart and Sam’s Club have pushed more than $23 million in additional water and disaster related merchandise ahead of the storm, including more than 660 truckloads of additional water and disaster-related merchandise ahead of the storm. A public-facing map showing store and club closures that updates in real-time has been published at Hurricane Ian Facility Status (walmart.com) .
Target also worked to ensure its team members were safe and mobilized its supply chain to fast-track critical supplies to Target stores.

Hurricane Irma's Damage to Florida Citrus May Take Years to Overcome

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 06:04:54 GMT

Hurricane Irma roared across the gulf coast of Florida as citrus trees sat with full, nearly ripe fruit.

Millions of pounds blew to the ground and groves saw trees snapped and broken from the wind.

Growers say they felt as if they were just on the verge of overcoming citrus greening when the storm hit.

Watch the story above to find out why it will take years for them to recover but they remain thankful to be part of the industry. To watch the entire Harvest of Thanks show, click here .

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's Orange Crop at 76-Year Low Crushed by Hurricane Irma

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 06:04:46 GMT

(Bloomberg) -- The lowest since 1942.

At 31 million boxes, that’s the level for Florida’s orange crop following damage from Hurricane Irma, a state citrus group said Tuesday.

Irma ripped through in September, causing an estimated $2.5 billion in damage to the state’s agriculture, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said on Oct. 4. Preliminary estimates showed $760.8 million in damage to the citrus industry.

In the season that ended Sept. 30, orange output was 68.7 million boxes, the lowest since 1964, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. The record low was 4 million boxes in 1918. The data goes back to 1913.

Orange juice for November delivery rose 1.6 percent to $1.60 a pound at 10:53 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. The price has climbed 20 percent since the end of August. A box weighs 90 pounds, or 41 kilograms.

©2017 Bloomberg L.P.

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.

Hurricane Dorian: Florida Tomato Council reschedules conference

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 18:33:34 GMT

An abridged version of Florida’s 44th Tomato Conference, canceled due to Hurricane Dorian’s approach in the Atlantic, has been rescheduled for Oct. 2-3 in a new location.

Originally scheduled for Sept. 3-5 in Naples, the conference was canceled the afternoon of August 30, around the time the hurricane reached category 5 status — the most dangerous and severe category, with winds 157 miles per hour or higher. Dorian was charging toward the Bahamas, and the Miami-based National Hurricane Center’s “cone of uncertainty” encompassed most of the Florida peninsula at the time.

The hurricane, since reduced to category 3, has barely skimmed the East Coast of Florida as it heads north and threatens the coastal Carolinas.

The abridged conference will be at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Gulf Coast Research & Education Center, Wimauma, according to an e-mail to registrants from conference organizer Diana Hester of the Florida Tomato Council.

“There will be no receptions, only educational sessions,” Hester said in the e-mail. “You’re welcome to attend at no cost.”

The revised conference schedule is:

Oct. 2

12:30-1 p.m.: Registration for food safety workshop/Tomato Good Agricultural Practices (T-GAP)

1-1:30 p.m.: Pre-test for food safety workshop/T-GAP

1:30-5 p.m.: Food safety workshop/T-GAP

Oct. 3

8:30-9 a.m.: Registration for Tomato Institute

9-11:30 a.m.: Tomato Institute, morning session

11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.: Researcher award luncheon

1-4 p.m.: Tomato Institute, afternoon session

Registrants will receive more details about registration and hotels. The original hotel, the Ritz-Carlton Beach Resort in Naples, offered free cancelations to conference registrants.

Related news:

Hurricane Dorian cancels Florida Tomato Conference

Struggling Florida Citrus Growers Face Tough Decisions

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 06:04:33 GMT

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (AP) — Although the 2017-18 citrus harvest has barely begun, growers are already planning for the 2018-19 season, and they have critical decisions to make in the coming months that will affect next season’s crop and perhaps others in years to come.

Growers say all but the luckiest among them will profit in 2017-18. Because hurricane-force winds hit the state’s entire citrus-producing area south of Interstate 4, there aren’t many growers who escaped major damage.

Irma destroyed more than 50 percent of this season’s oranges, grapefruit, tangerines and tangelos. Before Irma, Florida’s citrus industry battled greening, a devastating disease.

The latest official U.S. Department of Agriculture survey released Nov. 9 shows 50 million boxes of oranges, a 27 percent drop from the 2016-17 season, and 4.65 million boxes of grapefruit, a 40 percent decline from last season. Growers expect those numbers to decrease through the end of the harvest in May as storm-damaged trees drop fruit before harvest.

“If I had to take a guess, I would say we’ll end this season with 40 million boxes of oranges,” said Allen Morris, an agriculture economist and consultant with decades of experience in Florida citrus.

That would mean a drop in U.S. supply of orange juice, most of which in past seasons has come from Florida oranges, Morris said. Each year, about 95 percent of the state’s orange crop goes to juice.

“We will survive, but imports will play a critical role in our survival,” he said.

The Ledger reports that when Florida will recover as the major supplier of orange juice to the U.S. market depends on when the state’s citrus trees will return to pre-Irma production.

There’s little question that damage caused by Irma to most of Florida’s 62 million citrus trees will affect future crop production at least through the 2018-19 season. That was growers’ experience following the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes.

But more than a decade ago, operating a grove was a much cheaper proposition than it is now because growers didn’t have to deal with the fatal bacterial disease citrus greening. Since its arrival in 2005, greening has reduced the state’s annual citrus harvest by more than 70 percent while more than doubling grove-caretaking costs.

Costs have risen because of the additional fertilizer and pesticide applications growers must make to fight greening, said Ariel Singerman, assistant professor of agricultural economics at the University of Florida’s Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred.

That means it costs a lot more to wait for trees to recover from hurricane damage.

In the 2016-17 season, the average Florida grower spent about $1,800 per grove acre, including fertilizers, pesticides, labor and other inputs, That’s based on an annual statewide survey he conducts every summer after the conclusion of the harvest.

That figure does not include other fixed costs, such as capital expenses; land costs, such as a mortgage; and other management inputs.

Maintaining an adequate level of grove caretaking will be a key challenge for growers this year, Singerman said.

“That is exactly why the Florida citrus industry is shrinking - they (growers) cannot afford the cost of staying in business,” he said. “If a grower has lost 50 percent of his fruit, it’s unlikely he will make a profit.”

The Associated Press, 2017

Information from: The Ledger (Lakeland, Fla.), http://www.theledger.com

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.

Florida farmers brace for worst as Hurricane Ian strengthens

Wed, 28 Sep 2022 13:42:23 GMT

Florida farmers, who have dealt with more than their fair of hurricanes since 2000, are actively monitoring the developing Hurricane Ian situation, according to the Florida Department of Citrus.

The National and Central Pacific Hurricane Center reports that Hurricane Ian is growing stronger in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico. On Sept. 27, the center issued a hurricane watch for the West Coast of Florida from South of Bonita Beach to Chokoloskee.

Read related: Challenges breed toughness for Florida citrus leaders

Total crop loss from hurricanes Irma and Michael in in 2017 and 2018, respectively, was estimated at about $1.5 billion, according to the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension.

“In 2017, Hurricane Irma hit the Florida peninsula with winds up to 112 mph and accumulated rainfall of up to 14 inches. Both Irma and Michael caused significant property damage across the state, including damage to agricultural crops,” according to UF/IFAS Extension. “For Irma alone, over 5.0 million acres of cropland were affected, including 3.4 million under hurricane-force winds.”

Alan Hodges, director of the University of Florida’s Economic Impact Assessment Program, said in a news release that about 1 million acres of field crops and 3.6 million acres of upland forest in Florida were potentially affected by Hurricane Michael.

Read related: Florida citrus growers battle through challenges

“Florida Citrus growers are committed to providing high-quality, great-tasting Florida citrus and Florida orange juice to consumers.,” said Shannon Shepp, executive director of the Florida Department of Citrus. “Centuries of history keep hurricanes front and center in the mind of any Florida citrus grower. We are closely monitoring developments related to Hurricane Ian and engaged with state and federal officials.

“Flooding, fruit loss due to wind and even uprooted trees are a very real concern for growers during hurricane season,” continued Shepp. “The key point is that Florida citrus growers are resilient in the face of extreme weather, greening and high-input costs. The commitment to deliver remains strong.”

Read related: Florida citrus acreage contracts by 8% in 2022

Hurricane Ian preliminary ag damage assessment between $1.2B-$1.9B

Mon, 24 Oct 2022 20:52:51 GMT

Building on the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences assessment released last week, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried have released the department’s preliminary damage assessment for agriculture following Hurricane Ian. The assessment, which considered losses to agriculture production and infrastructure, are estimated between $1,180,714,303 and $1,888,305,886.

“While today’s assessment is a preliminary snapshot of the losses to Florida agriculture, it is a critical first step in the process of securing federal disaster aid for our hard-working producers,” Fried said in a statement. “We will continue our close collaboration on the ground with industry partners to gain further insight into the depth and breadth of Ian’s damage. As we move ahead on the road to recovery, I look forward to working with Florida’s congressional delegation and our U.S. senators on a relief package to help restore Florida’s second largest industry.”

For a complete copy of the FDACS damage assessment, click here .

UPDATED: Category 4 Hurricane Michael headed for Florida Panhandle

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 05:37:57 GMT

(UPDATED, Oct. 10) A life-threatening category 4 hurricane the morning of Oct. 10, the eye of Michael is expected to make landfall over the Florida Panhandle later in the day.

The storm, moving northerly at 13 miles per hour and located at about 140 miles south-southwest of Panama City Florida at 4 a.m. central on Oct. 10, is forecast to move northeast across the southeastern U.S. on Oct. 10 and Oct. 11, and then move off the Mid-Atlantic coast away from the U.S. by Oct. 12.

A hurricane warning is in effect from the Alabama/Florida border to Suwannee River, Fla,, while a tropical storm warning is in effect for Alabama/Florida border to the Mississippi/Alabama border and into North Carolina.

The National Hurricane Center reported Oct. 10 reported maximum sustained winds have increased to near 140 miles per hour, with higher gusts.

The National Hurricane Center said a life-threatening storm surge is anticipated, with hurricane force winds and heavy rainfall along the northeastern Gulf Coast.

The National Hurricane Center said Michael will then move northeastward across the southeastern U.S. the night of Oct. 10 and Oct. 11.

Through Oct. 12, Michael is expected to produce the following rainfall amounts:

Florida Panhandle and Big Bend, southeast Alabama, and portions of southwest and central Georgia: 4 to 8 inches, with isolated maximum amounts of 12 inches;
The remainder of Georgia, the Carolinas, and southern Virginia: 3 to 6 inches, with isolated maximum amounts of 8 inches; and
Florida Peninsula, eastern Mid Atlantic, southern New England coast: 1 to 3 inches.

Produce impact

U.S. Department of Agriculture shipment figures from 2017 show Georgia produce shipments in October included beans, broccoli, sweet corn, eggplant, cucumbers, greens, and bell peppers.

South Carolina produce shipments in October included greens and green onions. North Carolina produce shipments in October are dominated by sweet potatoes but also include broccoli, cabbage, and greens.

North Carolina growers speed harvest in advance of Florence

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 18:57:28 GMT

North Carolina sweet potato growers are scrambling to harvest as much of their crop as possible before Hurricane Florence makes landfall.

The National Weather Service reported Sept. 12 that there is a high to moderate risk of flash flooding from Hurricane Florence across eastern North Carolina and extreme eastern South Carolina on Friday, Sept. 14. The National Weather Service is forecasting more than 20 inches of rain in some areas over the next week.

The North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission issued a statement the afternoon of Sept. 12 that said:

“North Carolina Sweet Potato farmers across the state are continuing to work tirelessly to harvest their crops before Hurricane Florence makes her projected landfall along the North Carolina coast later this week. Farmers have been working day and night to harvest as much of their crops as they can, along with preparing their facilities and personal property in the potential path of the storm. It is important to get as many potatoes out of the ground as possible as warm air and soil temperatures can speed up rot.”

“Covington, one of the most popular varieties of North Carolina sweet potatoes, have proven to be fairly weather tolerant. We are also optimistic that the cooler weather forecasted for next week will help keep storage facilities as cool as possible, which would help with storage in the case of post-storm power outages.”

“Following the storm, the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission will work closely with all of our farmers to assess damages.”

USDA offers help

The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a news release Sept. 12 that said the agency was ready to lend assistance when needed.

“USDA staff in the regional, state and county offices stand ready and eager to help,” the agency said.

The release said USDA recently launched a disaster assistance discovery tool through its new website Farmers.gov that walks producers through five questions to help them determine which USDA disaster assistance programs may help them recover after the expected storm.

The Disaster Resource Center website, located at www.usda.gov/topics/disaster , provides a searchable database of disaster-related resources, according to the release.

Georgia vegetables suffer near $300 million loss from Michael

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 05:38:29 GMT

Preliminary losses to Georgia’s fall vegetable crops from Hurricane Michael have been estimated at $230 to $300 million by agricultural specialists at the University of Georgia.

In a vegetable report authored by Tim Coolong, Andre Da Silva, Bhabesh Dutta, and Greg Fonsah and posted Oct. 12, agricultural officials said that damage to the fall vegetable industry caused by Hurricane Michael was significant for growers in southwest Georgia.

“It must be stressed that we are still evaluating fields and some of these numbers may change as we gather more information,” the report said. “Due to the widespread nature of the power outages growers may not have functioning coolers or irrigation pumps, which means that secondary losses due to inability to cool and pack harvested product or to irrigate crops in the fields may climb.”

In addition, the report said disease pressure will increase on crops due to the rain and damage that plants may have received from the Oct. 10-11 storm.

Very few vegetable crops in the direct path of the storm will be able to be salvaged, said Charles Hall, executive director of the Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association. Hall said the association is working to determine what type of disaster relief aid may be available for growers.

Crop insurance for specialty crops is virtually non-existent, he said.

Loss estimates range from 30% to 60% of fall vegetable crops on farms in the regions, with some growers experiencing 100% losses of certain crops, according to the University of Georgia report.

Damage closely followed the path of the storm, with a line stretching from Seminole and Decatur counties up through Mitchell and Grady, Colquitt, Tift and even reaching fields in the Crisp county region.

Vegetable production regions near Lowndes and Echols Counties may have some loss but are expected to have escaped the worst of the damage.

Some specific crop observations in the University of Georgia report were:

Fruiting vegetables such as bell peppers, at or very close to harvest, have suffered enough damage to foliage that sunburn will quickly damage the crop;
Tomatoes, trellised cucumbers, and eggplants were all also severely damaged;
Squash and zucchini crops saw near complete destruction in some areas while others seemed to fare better; and
Fall sweet corn, which is planted heavily in the most affected regions of southwest Georgia may be a complete loss in some counties.

Losses Reported to North Carolina's Sweet Potato Crop

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 00:12:08 GMT

60% of U.S. sweet potatoes are grown in Eastern North Carolina, but farmers there have seen yields decimated now by two hurricanes. Heavy rains saturated fields just ahead of harvest. Hines Family Farms near Selma says early estimates put losses around 15%. Farmers say they won’t know for sure how much damage is in the field until the potatoes are harvested and packed. The biggest issue may show up later in the form of a shorter storage life. Our thanks to North Carolina Farm Bureau for helping with this report.

As Farmers and Ranchers Measure Impact from Hurricane Ida, Here's How You Can Help

Fri, 03 Sep 2021 20:51:27 GMT

Less than a week after Louisiana was ravaged by Hurricane Ida , farmers and ranchers are assessing the damage with recovery gets underway. And now a disaster relief fund is aimed to provide financial help.

The Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation is engaging the Louisiana Farm Bureau Foundation Disaster Relief Fund for the second time in as many years in response to damage caused by Hurricane Ida. Ida tied as the strongest storm to ever make landfall in Louisiana.

Hurricane Ida’s 150 mph winds destroyed the homes of farmers and ranchers along its path with some farmers reporting they remained in the eye wall of the storm for six hours. Thousands of head of cattle have been displaced because of damaged fences and flooding, The wind toppled pine trees and hardwood ready for harvest and blew sugarcane flat, affecting about 25% of the crop.

“Our farmers and ranchers really didn’t need another natural disaster” said Louisiana Farm Bureau President Jim Harper. “Last year they had to endure five tropical systems making landfall in Louisiana, including hurricanes Laura and Delta.”

The Louisiana Farm Bureau Foundation Disaster Relief Fund is the conduit established by the state’s largest general farm organization following hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 to get funds into the hands of those involved in agriculture for rebuilding and recovery.

“We’re already seeing farmers helping farmers here at home, but those out of state are looking for ways they can help,” Harper said. “The Disaster Relief Fund gives them a way to help folks here recover, without having to travel.”

“We’re going to make sure every dollar donated gets into the hands of a farmer or rancher who needs it,” said Harper.

During the Farm Journal Farm Country Update this week, Vilsack gave an update on where USDA stands with assessing the damage, as well as possible next steps in gettin producers help.

Overall, damage from Hurricane Ida is estimated to cost $18 billion. That estimate includes more than just the losses to agriculture.

To donate, make checks payable to Louisiana Farm Bureau Foundation Disaster Relief Fund and mail them to:

Louisiana Farm Bureau Foundation

Disaster Relief Fund

P.O. Box 95004

Baton Rouge, LA 70895-9004

Hurricane Ida Shutters Ag Exports with No Clear Timeline on How Long Shipping Delays Could Last

Mon, 30 Aug 2021 22:05:38 GMT

Hurricane Ida packed a punch of 150 mph winds this weekend, leaving more than 1 million people in New Orleans without power. In the process, the monster storm crippled some grain shipping facilities in a key export area along the lower Mississippi River, creating concerns over how long export activity could be shuttered.

The shipping issues caused by Hurricane Ida could have a major impact on the overall export picture. The Port of South Louisiana is a major shipping hub, as it’s the largest grain port in the United States. Grain elevators within the Port handle more than 50% of all U.S. grain exports annually.

“You have a system that’s overall under stress and then you insert a weather event like this, and it kind of just adds insult to injury,” says Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soybean Transportation Coalition (STC) .

Markets Tumble Over Export Uncertainty

The initial reaction was part of the spark that sent commodity prices tumbling Sunday night into Monday. ProFarmer’s Brian Grete says while technical selling spurred a sell-off, the fundamental concerns over Hurricane Ida and the impact on a key shipping area also fueled the price pressure.

“In the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Ida really did have an impact there,” says Grete. “But it’s going to take some time, and markets don’t like uncertainty. We know that at a minimum (the) export situation will be slowed for a little bit. It could be slowed significantly, depending on what kind of damage there is to those loading rigs and those types of things. So, it’s kind of a wait and see.”

Corn, Soybean Shipments at Risk

Fears surfaced in the markets Monday as questions started to circulate over just how long the supply chains and river facilities will be disrupted in the lower Mississippi River area.

As of Saturday night, the U.S. Coast Guard ordered no vessel movement on the lower Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico to river mile 303. To put that into perspective, Steenhoek says Baton Rouge is at river mile 232 and New Orleans is at river mile 100.

According to STC, the lower Mississippi River is by far the largest export region for soybeans (61%) and corn (58%). Therefore, he says any lengthy disruption to export activity in this key region warrants industry attention and concern.

“They know that hurricanes are a frequent, unwanted guest in the area, so they build those facilities with resilience in mind to be able to absorb a punch, but 150 mile an hour sustained wind is quite a punch,” he says. “And you can’t really experience that kind of sustained wind, that severity of it, without having some degree of damage. And so that’s something that we’re going to certainly be monitoring, because that can be more long-lasting and have a real detrimental impact on our export program moving forward, particularly as the fall season starts to arrive.”

STC notes that while August isn’t a key time for soybean exports, there’s still a healthy amount of corn typically loaded onto barges this time of year. During the week ending August 19, STC notes 464,138 metric tons (18.3 million bushels) of corn, 141,859 metric tons (5.2 million bushels) of soybeans, and 71,696 metric tons (2.6 million bushels) of wheat were exported from the terminals along the lower Mississippi River. In total, 487 barges of grain were unloaded in the area that week alone.

Shipping Delays Add “Insult to Injury”

As shippers enter September, the concern for soybeans is over further delays, as any backup could impact soybean exports that start to pick up in September and typically run strong through February.

“The good news is we’ve got what looks to be a pretty healthy supply that can accommodate that demand. But as we all know, if you can’t connect supply with demand the transaction never occurs, and farmers will never be profitable. And so that’s something that is a real concern for us moving forward,” says Steenhoek. “When you put it within the broader context of an overly subscribed supply chain that is under stress, not only for like containerized shipping, but for bulk vessels as well, then all of a sudden, you insert a significant weather event like Hurricane Ida, and it can essentially add insult to injury.”

Reuters reported Monday that Hurricane Ida damaged a Louisiana grain export elevator owned by Cargill Inc., with reports the elevator “sustained significant damage.”

Flashbacks to Hurricane Katrina

From power outages to barges and ships placed on the sidelines while the area tries to recover, Steenhoek says the longer the system is disrupted, the more impact it could have on U.S. farmers.

“This is something that if the repercussions of this become more long-lasting, you’ll see farmer profitability suffer,” says Steenhoek. “We saw this with Hurricane Katrina 16 years ago, where farmers all of a sudden saw the price that they were offered 900 miles from the affected area in New Orleans, their price declined not because the demand fundamental had changed, not because the quality of the crop was compromised, but just simply because the supply chain wasn’t operating. And certainly, we don’t want to see something like that repeat itself,” he says.

Runaway Barges

As individuals in the impacted areas assess the total damage from Hurricane Ida, Steenhoek says the course of this week will provide clarity on the extent of shipping issues. But he says it’s more than just power outages that could influence the recovery timeline.

“When you think about these facilities, you know, you have the storage facilities, you have the loading apparatus that connects the storage to the actual vessels. We’ve heard reports of barges and other maritime vessels becoming unmoored and getting pushed along the river. And that’s never a welcomed development. And if it runs into a bridge, that could have an impact on that,” he says.

On Monday, that fear became a reality as officials reported 22 barges on the loose with one hitting a bridge in Laffite, La. Leaders believe the bridge is now structurally unsound, but no word on how that could impact barge traffic moving forward.

Remnants of Hurricane Ida Expected to Bring Several Inches of Rain Inland, Potential for More Flooding

Tue, 31 Aug 2021 15:58:17 GMT

Hurricane Ida hammered southeast Louisiana, as the Category 4 storm came with 150 mph winds. And as the system moves across the U.S., meteorologist Mike Hoffman says some areas could experience significant rainfall.

“We always have to be concerned beyond what happens off the coast with a hurricane like Ida, and it’s the rainfall that ends up being a huge problem as we look inland a lot farther from the coast,” says Hoffman.

Downgraded to a tropical depression Monday evening, Hoffman says some areas still saw six to 10 inches of rainfall over the past 24 hours, causing flooding concerns. And as Hoffman tracks the remnants making their way into the Midwest and Northeast, more rainfall is expected to hit portions of the U.S.

“You can see how it takes it right across the Tennessee Valley, parts of the Ohio Valley, especially the eastern sections. And then you get into eastern Ohio, northern West Virginia and Pennsylvania and on into southern New England. Some of those amounts could be huge amounts, mainly because of the mountainous regions in those parts of the country.”

We’ll continue to bring you the latest on the impact of Hurricane Ida, including impact to shipping and input production:

Hurricane Ida Shutters Exports with No Clear Timeline on How Long Shipping Delays Could Last

Hurricane Ida Idles Largest Glyphosate Production Plant in the U.S.