Hurricane Irene has lasting impact on agriculture and our economy

by Courtney Leeper, posted Sept. 15, 2011

In the days leading up to the arrival of Hurricane Irene, communities throughout the East Coast prepared for stormy weather. The storm is over, but its effects, especially in the agricultural community, remain.

Hurricanes aren’t exactly unfamiliar occurrences to people living on the coast, however, this storm was on the unusual side. The storm was rated a Category 1 by the time it made landfall, but affected many eastern states, including Vermont, an inland state with little hurricane experience.

Besides the obvious damaging winds from the storm, another widespread issue that must be dealt with is flooding. The damage will not only hurt agriculture in the area, but will also affect the economies of other parts of the United States.

Hurricane Irene first made landfall off the coast of Jacksonville, N.C., on the morning of Saturday, Aug. 27. Much of the crops were a complete loss because of wind damage in areas directly hit by the hurricane.

“If you were going to say the heart of North Carolina as far as agriculture is concerned, this is it and this is where the major impact occurred,” said Steve Troxler, North Carolina’s agriculture commissioner.

He explained that about 76 percent of the corn, 73 percent of tobacco, and 75 percent of the soybeans raised in the state come from affected areas. Tobacco farmers were hit the hardest, according to Troxler.

Chip Simmons’s family owns a farm on the North Carolina coast that was affected by the storm. Simmons explained that the hurricane was not the first hit to agriculture in the area. Similar to many parts of Missouri, North Carolina’s corn production was hindered due to drought this year. Simmons explained that the poor conditions caused corn harvest to be pushed back.

The family was able to harvest some corn, though they got only 30 bushels to the acre. The rest of the 160-acre farm was a complete loss.

The Simmons family is just one of many families directly hit by the storm. The indirect results of the hurricane, especially through flooding, may prove to be even more lasting to agricultural families.

Mark Rice, an extension professional at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, works with swine and poultry producers to manage animal waste products. He explained some of the difficulties his sector of agriculture is facing due to wind damage and flooding.

“Another impact for swine farmers with lagoons is the large volume of ‘extra water’ from the storm that ends up in the lagoon and then must be managed as ‘wastewater.’ This leads to additional cost for labor and fuel to irrigate the lagoon liquid onto crop ground at agronomic rates,” Rice said.

Besides the direct loss of the crop, Jan Dauve, professor of agricultural economics at the University of Missouri, explained other challenges that might extend from floods.

“Fields that got flooded, that forage, that hay, even that corn, very likely will pick up things out of the flood water. Even if they can get the flood water out, and the hay is still standing, it will probably be useless because you probably can no longer feed it safely to the livestock,” Dauve said.

With fields flooded and less corn produced, livestock producers will be looking for new feed sources, according to Dauve. He explained that extra transportation and buying from a lower supply of grain will be expensive. This adds to the declining economy of areas affected by the hurricane.

However, he explained that the economies of other areas including northern Missouri and Iowa may actually benefit.

“The fact that other areas aren’t producing as much makes their crops more valuable so they will actually get higher prices,” Dauve said. “We may actually see income to agriculture go up as a whole.”

Though weak in strength, Hurricane Irene will affect Americans throughout the country. For some, the effects are devastating, but for others their businesses may actually receive a boost. Whatever the case, Irene is sure to have a lasting impact on our economy.

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