FLORIDA CROPS RAVAGED
Some farmers face 80-90 percent losses after Irma, Putnam says
Florida farmers suffered 80 to 90 percent losses in parts of the state after Hurricane Irma flattened greenhouses, toppled trees and flooded pastures as it tore through the state, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said Monday.
Putnam warned the damage means Florida vegetables wouldn’t be feasted on during Thanksgiving meals this year, as farmers are scrambling to get crops replanted in hopes for a December harvest.
“The path of Irma could not have been more [better] chosen to more effectively destroy our agricultural crops,” Putnam said at an Orlando news conference. “… If that [December crop] window closes, it may be filled by foreign competition — Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras — and they’ll be out of luck for the whole year.”
Putnam, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and U.S. Rep. Thomas Rooney viewed the damage aboard a pair of Florida Forest Service Huey helicopters Monday. They hovered over the devastation in Highlands
County, Labelle and Immokalee before they landed in Clewiston to meet with farmers and ranchers, Putnam said, and then flew back to Orlando to speak with reporters.
No dollar figures were given. The helicopter tour was meant to give Perdue a scope of the hit to the state’s second largest industry after tourism, which state officials say generated $4 billion in 2015.
Putnam said citrus, vegetables, nurseries and sugarcane took the brunt of Hurricane Irma.
“You can see it on television, you can read about it, but there’s nothing like being on the ground to see the devastation these growers endured,” Perdue said. “This is not just about the growers; this is the whole supply chain.”
He added, “My commitment to them is we’re going to do everything we can.”
Rubio said those affected include everyone from growers to shoppers trying to purchase crops, such as avocados, tomatoes, sweet corn and bell peppers. Consumers may see prices spike or shortages in products, he said.
“Irma was an agriculture catastrophe,” Rubio said. “The vast majority of the folks that have been hurt by this storm in this industry are not wealthy, big corporations. A lot of them are generational growers, some of whom may never recover from this without significant assistance.”
At Wild Hare Kitchen & Garden Emporium in Longwood, Cheryl Bryant has begun to see the effects. Many of growers in Lake and Volusia counties that keep her shelves stocked with plants, produce, butter and milk took major losses.
“They’ve lost everything,” said Bryant, who runs a small organic market. “Now what we have is we’re between six and eight weeks behind for the fall crops.’’
From above, Putnam said they observed acres of vegetables destroyed, flooded citrus groves and herds of cattle gathered together on high ground in pastures because surrounding lands were under water.
He said 80 to 90 percent of crops in the Labelle and Immokalee areas were destroyed, while interior counties fared a bit better with only 30 to 40 percent of the crop lost.
South Florida’s sugarcane crop was damaged, but Putnam said it can still be harvested, though at a higher cost to farmers.
“You still have hundreds if not thousands of acres of [citrus] grove still under water, so you’re going to look not only at losing this year’s crop but losing those trees,” Putnam said, noting it could be years before those dead trees are replaced.
The storm also put a damper on commercial fishing, lobsterers and crabbers in the Keys, where the storm made landfall. Due to damage to their boats, businesses and homes, they’ll be kept ashore for the foreseeable future, Putnam said.
In Central and South Florida, the storm hammered landscape and nursery businesses as well as avocado, sugar and winter vegetable growers. Putnam said even the Panhandle’s cotton crop was downed by the blustering winds.
Many rural communities are still reeling without power or water and also dealing with heavy losses to their key moneymaker, he said.
“While all the conversation has been about how coastal Florida may have dodged a bullet, interior Florida from the Keys to the Panhandle really took it on the chin,” Putnam said. “One of the untold stories of this is how the heartland of the state is still feeling the pain from Hurricane Irma.”