North Carolina's sweet potato crop 25% down

On October 8th, Hurricane Matthew arrived in North Carolina, delivering large amounts of rain and strong winds. Record flooding submerged much of the region. Some areas received approximately 10-16” of rain (or approximately 20-40 cm). River basins are now flooding as creeks and smaller rivers try to divert the above-normal water levels.

Low lying areas were particularly susceptible to roads and bridges being submerged or washed away. Roadways that weren’t submerged might have had trees or electrical cords obstructing the path. Currently, much of the area is without power. "As you would expect, this has greatly affected North Carolina’s sweet potato crop harvest, and the original estimates of annual crop projection," said Steven Ceccarelli from Farm Fresh Produce. When the storm arrived, 60% of the crop was still waiting to be harvested. "Where we had once expected record yields, we should now estimate a decrease of approximately 25%."

Farm Fresh Produce, Inc.’s new warehouse location has found temporary power with a generator. "This will allow us to continue curing the crop we were able to harvest prior to the storm. It will be a few days before we are able to put machinery and crews in our fields to see what will be left of our crops. Low areas or bottoms of the fields are sure to be a loss. The total extent of the damage is yet to be seen. Arranging logistics for the harvested sweet potatoes will be difficult until the roadways improve."

Another pressing concern is our limited time frame to harvest the remaining crop. "With only two weeks left of October, we expect a frost soon. Once we have a frost, the sweet potatoes left in the ground must remain there as they will not keep in storage. Despite all of this, we plan on providing our customers with the exceptional quality and service they have come to expect. We will update you again once the harvest is complete. We plan on resuming harvest next week."

For more information:
Steven A. Ceccarelli
Farm Fresh Produce
Tel: +1 910 920 9871
steven@farm-fresh-produce.com
www.farm-fresh-produce.com