Congress’ acknowledgement of how difficult extreme weather has been for agricultural producers can provide some assistance in the recovery.
Hurricanes hammered the nation’s Southeast. Hurricane Milton was the most ferocious of the three hurricanes that hit Florida in 2024. University of Florida researchers estimated that Milton caused more than $190 million in losses to the state’s agricultural systems.
But researchers caution that the estimate is preliminary. Total damage may reach $642 million once researchers can analyze the full data. That staggering figure follows estimated farm-related damages in the state of $170 million from Hurricane Debby in August and $162 million from Hurricane Helene in September.
Those three storms could have resulted in nearly $1 billion in destruction for Florida’s agricultural production.
RELATED: The Associated Press follows the aftermath of the three hurricanes that hit Florida in the second half of 2024, which also underscored why producers needed financial help from Congress in their recovery. See that story here.
The ferocious wind and rain caused chaos in that region. But it was the absence of needed precipitation that hurt others.
WBOY-TV in Clarksburg, West Virginia, produced a series of stories that followed the struggles of farmers due to the drought.
A dairy farmer explained why three to five inches of rain wasn’t enough in early October to make up for previous precipitation shortfall, and he had to rely on hay to keep his operations going. Watch that here.
Pine Grove, a community of less than 400 in the northern part of the state, was among those that struggled through a lack of rain. State aid helped producers as they tried to make it through the drought. See that report here.
About 30 miles southwest of Pine Grove, the 350-person community of Lost Creek lost the running water in its creek and the grass for its goats as a result of the once-in-a-generation (they hope) drought that included a veterinarian’s farm.
Extreme weather has pushed farmers’ creativity and survival skills. Sometimes, farmers pivot for other reasons. That is the case for the Hotto family in Sodus, New York, a community of about 8,400 people between Rochester and Syracuse.
That pivot is why you can find the Hotto name in the New York State Christmas Tree Growers Association even though cattle, corn, and hay had been the staples of this farm for years.
The family told Lancaster Farming that the tree farm idea sprouted after an accountant said that it could make a good tax write-off due to its heavy investment. The Hottos pursued it. The rest is history.
Read the transformation of this farm to an expanding Christmas tree forest in this article from Lancaster Farming.
