While we are watching Eta move towards Central America, our farmers in parts of the Southeast are beginning the process of recovering from Hurricane Zeta, which moved through here just a few days ago. I know people in NE Georgia who were without power for 5 days after Zeta moved through (I was only out for 7 hours), and there are many others who are still without power from the storm. With Zeta, the biggest problem was the wind and not the rain, since the storm was moving so fast that it could not drop much rain at any one location before it moved on. Here are two stories about the agricultural impacts of Zeta that we know so far. Losses include complete losses of cotton in some places, damage to soybeans, power outages affecting dairies and water pumps for livestock, damage to fruit trees and pecans, destruction of farm buildings like barns, greenhouses, grain bins, and poultry houses, and loss of irrigation equipment as well as loss of stored hay.
Alfa Farmers: Alabama Farmers Picking Up The Pieces After Tropical Storm Zeta
USDA Broadcast: What were Hurricane Zeta’s agricultural impacts? (1 minute audio)
