By Clint Thompson
Hurricanes delivered devastating impact on fruits and vegetables this year in the Southeast. Whether it was Debby, Helene or Milton, each storm wreaked havoc on the region’s specialty crop production.
But how long it takes to recover differs from storm to storm and on the commodities that were impacted, says Christa Court, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Economic Impact Analysis Program (EIAP) director.
“It depends on the commodity that’s being grown. If it’s something that you’re able to grow multiple times per year and there wasn’t significant damage to the infrastructure, then you’re able to get back up ahead of the next growing cycle that particular year,” Court said after the initial assessment of Helene’s impact in North Florida. “If it’s something more like a pecan grove where the pecan trees have been damaged or destroyed and they need to be replanted, then that’s a much longer recovery period to get those back to production.
“It really depends on the level of infrastructure damage as well as the particular commodity that’s being grown and what that life cycle for it looks like to know how long recovery will take.”
The UF/IFAS EIAP estimates agricultural production losses between $40.3 million and $162.2 million for Florida due to Hurricane Helene.
Production losses estimated for vegetables, melons and potatoes in the affected area range from $10.5 million to $38.2 million. Production losses estimated for greenhouse/nursery operations in the affected area range from $2.2 million to $15.0 million. Estimated production losses for fruit and tree nuts in the affected area range from $3.2 million and $12.1 million.