GAINESVILLE, FL (352today.com) – An early economic study from the University of Florida (UF) estimates storm damage from Hurricane Idalia may have cost Florida’s agriculture industry anywhere from $78.8 million to a monumental $370.9 million. That doesn’t even include structural damage, which reportedly accounted for much of the impact on the approximately three million acres of agricultural lands in the Big Bend region.
The UF/IFAS Economic Impact Analysis Program (EIAP) assesses the effects of severe weather on agriculture across the state. The research group recently issued its preliminary report on Idalia, which gives a broad overview of the state’s agricultural conditions using accounts from survey takers.
It also broadly estimates losses in certain categories: Farmers of animals and animal products suffered the most, with an estimated $30.1 million to $123.4 million lost. Field and row crops, as well as greenhouse and nursery products, also saw losses up to $93.6 million and $68.8 million respectively.
These estimates are calculated using data about the storm’s path, windspeeds, rainfall and flooding, along with information about the farms’ acreages and the value of the products. Baseline data, or similar data from previous storms, is beneficial in calculating more accurate estimates. However, according to EIAP director Christa Court, there wasn’t enough data about structural damage to make an estimate on its financial impact.
“Although infrastructure damage certainly affects farmers’ bottom lines and occasionally production more directly – as is the case with livestock contained in fencing or buildings, or equipment that irrigates a crop,” Court said, “we are not currently able to adequately quantify these infrastructure damages due to a lack of baseline data. However, we do believe that Idalia will help us gather critical information to build this baseline data for future assessments.”
Damages to fences, buildings and irrigation systems are common, according to survey results taken from agricultural producers across the state. Many also provided photos of the damage.
“Each storm brings different windspeeds and rainfall, and even though our methods allow us to estimate a credible range of losses given certain characteristics of a storm, we still rely on first-hand reports to fully understand the losses and damages caused by a particular storm,” said EIAP data analyst Xiaohui Qiao.
EIAP plans to release a final report later this season, including county-level economic data and more survey results.
The impact survey is still open to agricultural producers across the state. If your agricultural lands suffered damage from Idalia, you can take the survey here.