Dive Brief:
- Farmers in Georgia and Florida's Gulf Coast are bracing for the impact of Hurricane Helene as the life-threatening storm has the potential to decimate crops.
- Florida's Big Bend region is preparing for heavy rain, high winds, and a dangerous storm surge beginning Thursday evening that could threaten citrus and avocado crops as they reach peak maturity.
- As the fast-moving storm moves inland over the weekend, it could also plow through cotton and peanut fields in Georgia, meteorologist Brad Rippey told the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s radio service.
Dive Insight:
While hurricanes and other natural disasters are nothing new for farmers in the Southeast, a punishing string of intense storms over the past few years has devastated fields and made it more difficult for farmers to rebuild production.
Helene has the potential to intensify into a Category 4 hurricane once it makes landfall, making it a similar strength as last year's Hurricane Idalia, which led to an estimated $78.8 million to $370.9 million in agricultural production losses for Florida alone.
Depending on the path of the storm, Georgia producers could be especially vulnerable to the effects of Helene's wrath. Georgia is the second-largest cotton producer in the United States, and Helene is ripping through just as harvest gets underway.
Strong winds and rain can soak cotton, rip stems and destroy bolls. Approximately 68% of Georgia's cotton bolls have opened, according to USDA data, with less than 1% of the crop harvested.
The storm could also disrupt a slow-going start to the peanut harvest that has been challenged by drought conditions. While rain could provide a boost, it could also flood fields, saturate crops and promote the spread of plant disease.
Helene poses a danger to more than just crops. Fast winds and deadly storm surges could destroy agricultural equipment and property, forcing farmers to spend potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars to rebuild.
Following last year's Hurricane Idalia, farmers in Florida reported widespread property damage with some family farms questioning whether to rebuild at all.
“A lot of people do not want to rebuild," Jeffery Hamrick, a beef cattle and hay producer who saw equipment shelters, feed crops and fencing wrecked by Idalia, told the Florida Farm Bureau. "They are tired of fighting the struggle day in and day out in agriculture. They are going to sell out and retire.”
