Hurricane Idalia made landfall about 24 hours ago as a powerful Category Three storm and quickly made its way up the East Coast.
It is now moving out to sea after slamming Florida’s Big Bend region. Brad Rippey says that the area is not heavily concentrated for ag, but the tropical storm did hit the Carolina’s where corn harvest is underway. In low country, they would have loved to get it all out of the ground before the storm hit but there was no way to expedite that.
The Agency does have some risk management options for producers who were impacted by the storm, though. Producers with crop insurance need to make claims for losses within 72 hours. For livestock producers, the Livestock Indemnity Program was just updated to include new rates. The Tree Assistance Program will help rehabilitate or replant any orchards that may have been damaged, and the Emergency Conservation Program can help producers restore farmland or forests.
