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$15 Billion agricultural hit from Hurricane Helene

Oct 09, 2024
By Farms.com

Hurricane Helene devastates Southeast's farm sector

The aftermath of Hurricane Helene is a grim picture for the Southeast's agriculture, with total damages nearing $15 billion. This storm, the most lethal since 2017, significantly affected the region's farm communities, especially in Georgia and Florida.

Detailed analysis reveals that poultry suffered the most, followed by the cattle and dairy sectors, which faced infrastructure damages and power losses leading to operational disruptions.

The loss of pasture fencing and the displacement of cattle pose additional recovery challenges, with many farms forced to dump milk due to the lack of refrigeration facilities.

In response to the widespread destruction, various federal disaster assistance programs have been activated to support the affected agricultural sectors. These include programs aimed at helping pecan and apple farmers with orchard recovery, as well as initiatives to compensate for the loss of livestock and assist with emergency feed for surviving animals.

This federal support is intended to mitigate the financial blow to farmers and ensure the continuity of the agricultural supply chain in the affected areas, facilitating a smoother recovery process for a region crucial to America's food production.


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The 12-day war between Iran-Israel came to an end sending crude oil futures plunging as the big fund speculators removed the war risk premium.

The weather risk premium in the Ag complex is sending corn, wheat and soybean futures lower on month-end selling ahead of the market moving USDA quarterly grain stocks and acreage reports on June 30th.

Instead, funds were chasing and sending tech stocks higher with the S&P 500/NASDAQ indexes setting new all-time record highs!

June 1 USDA Hogs and pigs report was slightly bearish while the U.S. $ Index traded to new contract lows as the de-dollarization that began in 2014 continues.

Feed in the form of soybean meal futures for livestock producers got cheaper, trading to new contract lows.

The Stats Canada seeded acreage update was bullish canola and wheat.