Hurricane Milton Caused $1.5 Billion to $2.5 Billion in Damages to Florida’s Agriculture Sector

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Florida’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS) announced last week that Hurricane Milton caused an estimated $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion in damages to the state’s crops and agricultural infrastructure, Reuters reports. Milton made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 hurricane on October 9, storming through 51 counties, 34 of which were declared disaster areas, wreaking devastation through fierce winds and flooding.

According to the DACS preliminary report published on October 17, storm damage severely affected the majority of Florida’s citrus-growing counties and the dairy cattle cotton, peanuts, rice, blueberry, strawberry, and tropical fruits sectors.

“Most of these losses are due to fruit drop, damage to branches, and impacts from heavy precipitation and flooding. Growers are also reporting heavy infrastructure damage, and there are major concerns of flood-caused tree mortality in the near-future,” DACS said.

“Minor to catastrophic damages” were expected in cotton, peanut, and rice areas, DACS said. Dairy and cattle operations were also severely hit with “significant infrastructure damages,” DACS said, adding that storm power outages had disrupted cow milking and production.

DACS said further reports with more complete assessments of the damage caused and the costs incurred would be forthcoming as the information comes in, Reuters reports.

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