Hurricane Matthew took almost 900 lives and left tens of thousands homeless in Haiti before it skirted Florida's Atlantic coast on Friday 7 Oct., and headed northward over waters just off Georgia. The hurricane devastated thousands of acres of agricultural land and killed mature fruit trees, meaning it effects will be felt for years to come.
Haitian and international agricultural officials say it could be a decade or more before the southwestern peninsula recovers economically from Hurricane Matthew, which struck hard at the rugged region of more than 1 million people, who are almost completely dependent on farming and fishing.
In the Grand-Anse region, nearly 100 percent of crops and 50 percent of livestock were destroyed, according to the World Food Program.
Re-planting vegetable crops can be done relatively quickly and rice fields begin to recover as floodwaters recede, but the loss of mature fruit trees that families nurtured for a generation is a staggering blow. "It will take at least 10 years for nature to do what it needs to do to grow the trees back," said Elancie Moise, an agronomist and senior agriculture ministry official in the south.
Grapefruit, fig and avocado trees were wiped out along with important root crops such as yams, which were inundated with water or damaged by the whipping wind, Moise said.
There are widespread reports of rising prices in the outdoor markets that line the region's rural roads and of people struggling to find food. "Already there are some people, if you ask them what they ate for dinner last night, they won't be able to answer you," Moise said.
This is a region that only recently began recovering from a drought that had decreased crop production by half. Trees such as bread fruit and coconut palms can't even be sold for charcoal because the wood isn't suitable. People are also trying to save what fruit they can, but most wasn't yet ripe.
International aid groups say the widespread crop damage will require an influx of seed packs for replanting once the immediate needs of emergency water, food and medicine are met.
Meanwhile, Georgia’s top agriculture official says Hurricane Matthew hit the state’s pecan and cotton farmers hard.
Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture, Gary Black, says he toured farms in three counties this week following the storm that raked Georgia’s coast last weekend. Black says many pecan farmers lost up to one-third of their trees, including trees older than 100 years. Black says it takes at least seven years for a new tree to start producing pecans.
Officials say the hurricane also damaged some seed beds for Vidalia onions. Black says the damage is difficult to quantify.
As for Florida, St. Johns County farmers are facing some hard decisions about what to do next.
Impacts on crops were especially felt in Hastings, an agricultural community in the southwest area of the county. According to the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, about 1,100 acres of crops were affected by the damaging winds and inundating rainfall.
County Commission Chair Jeb Smith, a Hastings farmer, told The Record on Friday 14 Oct., there was no doubt the storm took its toll on county crops.
“We were wet on top of wet,” he said, referring to the days of rain prior to the Category 3 storm’s arrival. “That exacerbated the problem.”
Smith said some cool, dry days immediately following the storm provided some consolation, however.
Bonnie Wells, doctor of plant medicine and commercial agriculture agent for UF/IFAS, said in a written release on Tuesday, that Asian vegetables and snap beans were the most severely affected. Other damaged crops included cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, squash, mustard greens, sweet corn and sweet potatoes.
Smith said many of the affected crops were young.
UF/IFAS is estimating losses of at least $1.6 million for Asian vegetables and snap beans alone. County farmers have reported losses of 30 to 60 percent of their planted acreage, while several have experienced a total loss of crops in the ground, the release said. Smith said he believed the figures provided by UF/IFAS created an accurate depiction of the devastation.
In addition to crop losses, producers are also facing costs, including labor, to clean up and replant damaged acres.
There was structural and water damage to greenhouses and other farm structures. Soggy grounds have delayed planting for much of the area’s fall crops.
The full impact of the storm is yet to be determined. According to UF/IFAS, agriculture in St. Johns County has an annual economic impact of more than $180 million.
Smith said it was mostly the excessive amount of rainfall that pushed many crops over the edge.
Smith said he anticipates there will be not as much product available for a certain market window down the road.
He was also concerned farmers will overcompensate for their losses later by being too eager to plant too much after tending to their damaged fields.
“Farming’s a risky business and this is one of those risks you take,” he said. “It’s a difficult situation you have to make the best of, whether you continue to throw money at this crop or just go ahead and take the loss.”
Sources: foxnews.com, washingtontimes.com, staugustine.com
