Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which ravaged Florida’s orange crop, “seem to have had little effect on vegetable prices,” says USDA’s Vegetable and Pulses Outlook. The storms arrived early in the planting season for so-called winter vegetables, “primarily causing a delay in plantings,” according to USDA economists.
Florida is the third-largest vegetable-producing state, behind California and Arizona, with a crop valued at $1.2 billion last year. Texas was ninth at $233 million. “Both states provide fresh produce during the winter months when cultivation is limited in more northern climates,” said the USDA report. Domestic vegetable production totaled around $11 billion nationwide for 2016.
The state Agriculture Department tentatively estimated $2.6 billion in losses from Hurricane Irma, with citrus growers hurt the worst — a $761-million hit — with the produce sector suffering $180 million in losses. “Fortunately, the planting season for most of these crops was just getting started and most crop losses will happen due to shortened production season, market distortions and reduced yields resulting from higher pest pressure due to dilution of pesticides,” says the preliminary report. Besides crop losses, the report listed salt water damage to fields, losses of irrigation equipment and plastic sheeting and cleanup costs.
In Texas, the Rio Grande Valley, along the border with Mexico, are the primary regions for fruit and vegetable farming. Hurricane Harvey’s damage was mostly on the eastern Gulf Coast of Texas and southern Louisiana. “The impact of the storm on regional vegetable production is ultimately expected to be minimal,” said USDA.
In the weeks after the hurricane, data from USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service “indicate that vegetable shipments within the continental United States remained stable,” said the Vegetable and Pulses Outlook. Forthcoming data from the Census Bureau will show any effect on U.S. exports and any larger-than-usual inflow of fresh produce from Mexico and other trade partners.
“In the short term, these weather events appear to have had little effect on vegetable prices. The longer-term storm impacts remain to be seen, especially for citrus and nursery crops,” said the Outlook. “Based on preliminary data, both hurricanes appear to have occurred early enough in the winter vegetable growing season that only minor disruptions to the supply of vegetables to marker and slight delays to cultivation were experienced.”
The United States is likely to import more oranges than it grows this year, reported public broadcaster WJCT-FM. As part of setting its budget, the Florida Citrus Commission estimated imports of 64 million boxes of oranges and state production of 54 million boxes. The commission raises revenue through a “box tax” on oranges, grapefruit and specialty fruit. The USDA says high winds from Irma blew oranges from trees just as the crop was ready for harvest, reducing it by roughly 30 percent.
A disaster relief bill passed by Congress last week did not include funds for Florida agriculture. Lawmakers said they will try again for $3 billion in assistance in an aid bill expected to be considered in November.