By Clint Thompson
A preliminary report by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Economic Impact Analysis Program shows wide-ranging impact on vegetable crops from Hurricane Milton.
Production losses estimated for vegetables, melons and potatoes suffered an economic impact of $52.5 million to $233.2 million in the affected area. Approximately 71.1% of vegetable, melon and potato crops experienced low hurricane conditions, while 28.8% experienced moderate hurricane conditions.
The crops were reported to have suffered various losses due to the heavy winds and flooding from the Category 5 storm. Certain crops experienced substantial losses, including beans and potatoes from flooding; toppled cabbage and cauliflower, damaged peppers, wind-stunted tomatoes and torn leafy greens. Quality and yield were compromised.
Some producers had delayed winter crop planting as a result of Hurricane Helene and Milton altering the production schedule and affecting the value of future harvests.
Christa Court, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Economic Impact Analysis Program (EIAP) director, talked about the findings during a press briefing on Friday. The estimated vegetable/potato/melon acreage impacted totaled 201,444.
“A lot of those (vegetables) are in that southwest corridor where Milton came through as opposed to some of the storms earlier in the season, being sort of north-central and Panhandle associated,” Court said. “(The impact is) both when it came through for their particular season of growth and which areas were impacted by those higher intensity storm conditions from Milton.”