A Potential $1.6B Loss for Florida Vegetable Producers
Two weeks after Hurricane Helene battered the Southeast, Hurricane Milton made landfall, further devastating the state of Florida’s agricultural sector. Farm Bureau economist Danny Munch says a combination of data allows us to assess potential damage based on production value in the region…“What we found was that vegetable production is the largest agricultural sector in those counties impacted by Hurricane Milton, with a total value exceeding $1.6 billion produced in those counties. FDA requires and restricts any sales of edible portions of crops that have been exposed to flooding, so any vegetables that were flooded have been lost. The fruit and tree nuts sector, where the next largest sector, $1.3 billion in ag sales in those affected counties are produced, such as the state’s citrus industry.”
Again American Farm Bureau economist Danny Munch.
The estimated losses don’t stop there. Strawberries. Dairies. Aquaculture. We’ll talk more about it in tomorrow’s Southeast Regional Ag News and touch back to some of the assistance opportunities that’ve been made available.