Category Five Hurricane Milton, which is set to make landfall in Florida late Wednesday or early Thursday, could be the “worst storm to hit Florida in over a century,” according to President Joe Biden. It comes at a difficult time for residents of the southeastern U.S., who are still grappling with the major agriculture and infrastructure damages caused by Hurricane Helene.
Biden called Hurricane Milton a “matter of life and death” in a press conference Tuesday, urging residents in the storm’s path to evacuate.
Milton is traveling on a path through the Gulf of Mexico toward landfall in the Tampa and St. Petersburg area, pummeling counties that grow berries, vegetables, citrus, hay, tomatoes and peanuts. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 51 of the state's 67 counties.
Hurricane Milton will be the fourth hurricane to strike the Florida farming community in 14 months.
“Fruit and vegetable growers across the state have been preparing their operations for potential impacts, and most importantly, ensuring the needs of their workforce and families are met,” the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association said in a statement to Agri-Pulse.
Milton grew as it got closer to the Sunshine state, with tropical storm winds exceeding 100 miles from its center, and it will continue to expand as it approaches Florida. The National Hurricane Center Tuesday said the storm surge could be as high as 10 to 15 feet above ground level.
“Farmers and ranchers are already challenged with maintaining profitability to stay in production,” the Florida Farm Bureau said in a statement to Agri-Pulse. “Another hurricane will further compound the stressors our Florida farms face to produce the food and fiber that the nation depends on.”
The FFB encouraged farmers and ranchers to complete the Hurricane Milton disaster assessment survey led by the University of Florida Extension after the storm. The confidential survey will help estimate production losses so state and federal agencies can make informed decisions related to disaster response and relief.
“Florida Farm Bureau has been working with its grassroots members, agency partners and elected officials to assess agricultural damages from Hurricane Helene to be a voice to expedite funding relief for farmers and ranchers statewide,” the group said in a statement. “We will continue the momentum for Hurricane Milton.”
National attention is shifting to Hurricane Milton while hundreds of billions of dollars in damages are still being assessed from Hurricane Helene’s path across the Eastern U.S., which took at least 230 lives and left agriculture operations and infrastructure in shambles.
Road damage caused by Hurricane Helene. (Photo: North Carolina Farm Bureau)Poultry, cattle, fruit, cotton, tree nuts and vegetables, among many other agricultural products, bore the brunt of the damage. Timber — which can take decades to reach maturity — was also greatly affected.
Nearly 100,000 farms were in Helene’s direct path, according to 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture data analyzed by the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Damages to poultry operations, including eggs, totaled over $6.3 billion, according to a Market Intel report released by AFBF Tuesday. Over 80% of U.S. poultry production value is concentrated in the Florida, the Carolinas and Georgia counties most severely affected by Hurricane Helene.
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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said at least 107 poultry facilities were damaged or destroyed by the storm in his state alone.
USDA Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation Robert Bonnie said on Agri-Pulse Newsmakers last week that up to $7 billion of crop liability was in the area of the storm.
On a webinar for producers Monday, Bonnie said more than 200 USDA staff were working to help respond to the disaster. While some of the USDA offices in the impact zone were closed, he said the agency was “working hard to get them up and running” and planned to send additional staff to help out once they were.
“We know when all the offices are up and running that there’s going to be significant demand for our resources,” Bonnie said. “Therefore, we’re going to do everything we can to surge staff into those offices to make sure that we can keep up with that demand."
A corn field flattened by Hurricane Helene. (Photo: North Carolina Farm Bureau)In Virginia, early assessments of Helene’s damage total $125 million to livestock, crops, farm buildings, equipment, feed and hay, water cisterns and other agricultural assets, according to the state’s cooperative extension service. Forty-six percent of this estimated damage occurred in Grayson County on the North Carolina border, which saw an estimated $58 million in losses.
Grayson County Extension agent Kevin Spurlin described the damage as “catastrophic,” saying, “I’m 47 years old, and it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The flooding was unprecedented and caused so much loss.”
Some roads in flooded areas of North Carolina remain impassable. Mules and drones have been used to deliver supplies to stranded residents.
North Carolina grows 20% of the Christmas trees produced in the United States, according to the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association. Jennifer Greene, executive director of the organization, told Agri-Pulse the storm’s damages remain “impossible to estimate” at this time.
The Agriculture Department estimates 38,000 crop insurance policies were in place on 4.8 million acres of land impacted by Helene. Risk Management Agency Administrator Marcia Bunger said on the webinar that teams of loss adjusters would be brought in from other states to help with the damage assessment process.
The agency also extended signups for the Emergency Conservation Program and Emergency Forest Restoration Program and urged local Farm Service Agency offices to “exercise maximum flexibility” in analyzing loss documentation through the Livestock Indemnity Program, which compensates producers for disaster-related livestock deaths.
Assistance is also available through the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program and the Tree Assistance Program. Producers with Marketing Assistance Loans through the agency will receive additional time to deliver commodities to buyers.
Farmers are encouraged to document all losses before, during and after cleanup to assist in the process of issuing insurance and aid payments. Farm records, herd inventory, receipts and pictures of damages or losses are all helpful to process a suite of aid programs, according to USDA.
The Tennessee Farm Bureau says relief sites have been set up for ag supplies. The Farm and Forest Families of Tennessee Disaster Relief Fund was established to support Eastern Tennessee farmers impacted; all donations go directly to family farmers and food-related initiatives.
The Florida Farm Bureau set up a Hurricane Relief Fund for Agriculture to assist farmers and ranchers who have been impacted by the 2024 hurricanes. Anyone can make a tax-deductible contribution to this fund to support Florida’s farmers and ranchers.
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