LIVE OAK, Fla. – It’s been more than a month since Hurricane Idalia tore through Florida’s Big Bend making landfall near Horseshoe Beach as a powerful Category 3 storm. Residents and farmers say they’re still struggling.
Damage cleanup continues as some people are still without power and utilities. While residents continued to recover, Florida’s farming industry took a significant blow.
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The state’s emergency management director says dairy, chicken, and timber farms were decimated.
Idalia tore through a major dairy-producing region of 22 farms in Jefferson, Gilchrist, Lafayette, Madison and Suwannee counties. There is an estimated $7.2 million total, according to United Dairy Farmers of Florida Executive Director Ray Hodge.
“The lasting impact is milk production, the stress of these events, any human or any animal can have an impact on their body,” he told News4JAX. “And that’s no different for dairy cows. So, they get stressed, they don’t eat as much, or they’re in a you know, not ideal situation exposed to the elements, whether it be heat, and the storm event. And they lose production, so they don’t produce as much milk.”
Hodge said this is difficult for these family-run businesses and they’re not alone.
The hurricane also devastated chicken farms, the timber industry, and local fisheries. Aerial footage from the University of Florida shows extensive damage.
“You’re gonna see potentially some impacts into your grocery stores, on getting those, that chicken where you would normally have tons of it sitting there in the freezer case, you may not have quite as much there until that industry recovers,” said Kevin Guthrie, the executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. “So I think people will notice that first of the grocery store, the next area is probably in timber on the timber side of the house.”
Guthrie, the leader of Florida’s disaster preparedness and response efforts, said state officials are working with the farmers and other hurricane victims to help as much as possible. He’s calling on the federal government, like the USDA, to expedite help.
Tuesday afternoon, residents and farmers met in Live Oak, to discuss the ongoing challenges, telling leaders they had hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage that isn’t covered by their insurance policies.
“For farmers, that’s a big hit,” said Wesley Wainright of Wainright Farms.
“We’re moving into recovery,” Guthrie added. “We’re trying to help the farmer we’re trying to help the agricultural industry get back on their feet, but it’s going to take some time to get that done.”
State officials said they’re still working to get people help, but they need to fill out disaster forms on the state and federal levels.
Click here to visit the FEMA website | Click here to visit the Florida disaster website
Despite the damage, north Florida’s farmers said they’ll keep producing as best as they can with as little impact on consumers as possible.
“We’re going to survive, we’re beat up, but we were resilient,” Hodge said. “And we, you know, like a lot of folks might need some help to fill some of the gaps that aren’t covered by insurance, or federal disaster programs.”