Hurricane Helene Causes Billions in Ag Damage

Bloomberg reported that “Hurricane Helene has halted chicken processing plants and caused severe damage to some flocks, while also downing pecan trees and flattening cotton crops, as floodwaters swamped the southern U.S.”

“Every commodity was impacted, with cotton, pecans, poultry, and timber the hardest hit,” according to Matthew Agvest, communications director for the Georgia Department of Agriculture. “While it’s still early in the assessment stage, the state expects Helene to be more costly than Hurricane Michael in 2018, which caused $2.5 billion in agricultural damage.”

Across the southern U.S., “the crop losses alone could trigger $7 billion in insurance payouts,” a U.S. Department of Agriculture official estimated.

Moody’s Analytics said it expects $15 billion to $26 billion in property damage. AccuWeather’s preliminary estimate of the total damage and economic loss from Helene in the U.S. is between $95 billion and $110 billion.”

Poultry hit especially hard in Georgia

Damage caused by the powerful storm has the potential to further constrain poultry production growth in the U.S. at a time when demand is surging. Georgia and North Carolina are among the largest U.S. chicken producing states.

Last week, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said in a press conference, “that 107 poultry facilities had been damaged or totally destroyed by the storm.” Nikki Richardson, a spokeswoman for JBS, said the company was still examining the impact to growers. ‘We know many birds have been lost in some areas and the damage to some farms has been severe,” she said.

The Georgia Farm Bureau’s Jennifer Whittaker reported that “numerous reports of flattened or damaged chicken houses came in from Appling, Atkinson, Bulloch, Coffee, and Jeff Davis counties. Reports like this are expected from more counties in Southeast Georgia.”

The Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) reports that 100 poultry farms in Coffee County were affected by the storm. A table egg producer in Pierce County has 17 houses down, according to the GDA. In Evans County five breeder houses are down and 12 pullet houses lost their roofs.”

Lawmakers call for ag aid

“Hurricane Helene struck the U.S. Southeast as crops were maturing for harvest and growers will need emergency assistance,” said Senate Agriculture chairwoman Debbie Stabenow.

“This was a horrible blow to farmers, ranchers, and rural communities across the Southeast,” said Stabenow. “I’m focused on ensuring that these farmers and ranchers get the emergency assistance they need to get back on their feet as soon as possible.”

In addition, AJC News’ Greg Bluestein reported that Democratic U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff and Republican U.S. Representative Austin Scott launched a bipartisan effort recently urging congressional leaders to swiftly approve disaster relief aid for an agriculture industry facing ‘catastrophic losses’ from Hurricane Helene.

They organized a letter signed by Georgia’s congressional delegation and more than a dozen other legislators that presses House and Senate leaders to urgently help farmers who have already faced multiple growing seasons without sufficient federal support, Bluestein reported.

Progressive Farmer’s Chris Clayton reported that “the widespread agricultural destruction left in the wake of Hurricane Helene across the Southeast U.S. will likely spark Congress to eventually approve an aid package for 2024 natural disasters with early estimated damage reports at more than $15 billion across the region.”

EDITOR’S TAKE:

Helene, a powerful storm that left death, destruction and devastation in its wake, will long be remembered. It did not take a more traditional coastal path, but one that people had little time to prepare and escape before it unleashed its fury. I know I speak for all of us on the CAG team by wishing comfort to those who lost loved ones and our wish is for a complete recovery. The human loss is horrific. Agriculture also suffered a tremendous setback as a result of Helene. Crops and animals were lost. Buildings destroyed. Equipment rendered useless. Clean up will be arduous and complicated, but let’s hope it can be completed as rapidly as possible!