The majority of Florida’s citrus producing counties were hit with high winds and flooding, along with areas that raise dairy cattle and produce products like cotton, peanuts, rice, blueberries, strawberries and other tropical fruits, the agency said.

Milton came ashore as a Category 3 hurricane on Oct. 9 and carved a swathe of destruction across 51 counties, 34 of which were declared disaster areas, with widespread flooding and wind damage.

Florida’s citrus sector sustained “significant production losses” and likely long-term impacts, the agency said.

“Most of these losses are due to fruit drop, damage to branches, and impacts from heavy precipitation and flooding. Growers are also reporting heavy infrastructure damage, and there are major concerns of flood-caused tree mortality in the near-future,” it said in the preliminary report based on initial reporting and communication with farmers.

“Minor to catastrophic damages” were expected in cotton, peanut and rice areas.

The state’s dairy and cattle operations were also severely hit with “significant infrastructure damages” while power outages in the storm’s wake disrupted cow milking and production.

More complete damage assessments will be released at more information is gathered, the agency said.

—Reporting for Reuters by Karl Plume and P.J. Huffstutter in Chicago

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Contracts for frozen concentrated orange juice (FCOJ) at ICE hit a high of $3.292/lb. during the session, the second highest price ever, just shy of the record of $3.3175/lb. seen on Aug. 17 (all figures US$).

Florida’s orange crop this year was already on the way to being small, only around half the size it produced just two years ago, due to diseases and erratic weather. The hurricane will exacerbate the situation.

“There is little hope for a bigger crop next year,” said commodities analyst Judith Ganes.

Fields in Florida were still recovering from the impact of hurricane Ian in 2019, while also suffering from a bacterial disease known as greening.

Authorities in Florida have yet to evaluate damage to infrastructure and agricultural production as the storm moved over to Georgia.

Also on Wednesday, Brazilian industry group CitrusBR said in a statement that stocks of orange juice at the end of the 2022-23 season (July-June) fell 40 per cent to 84,745 metric tonnes, the lowest level since the group started to collect the data 12 years ago.

CitrusBR said the fall is a result of a smaller-than-expected crop in the world’s largest orange juice producer and exporter, as well as falling juice yields from the fruits.

— Reporting for Reuters by Marcelo Teixeira.

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One of the mightiest storms to hit the U.S. mainland in recent years, Ian flooded communities on the Gulf Coast before plowing across the peninsula to the Atlantic seaboard.

The hurricane washed out roads, hampering farmers’ attempts to corral cattle before they escape fenced areas in a potential threat to public safety.

“We’ve got trees all over the fence lines right now,” said Brian Shoop, who raises cattle in Hillsborough County, where Tampa is located. “The biggest concern is cattle getting out of the pastures and on the roadways.”

Cattle first arrived in the United States in Florida in 1521 on an expedition led by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce De Leon, according to the state and the Florida Beef Council. The state now has more than 1.6 million cattle, about two per cent of the U.S. herd, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.

Nationally, cattle supplies this summer fell to the lowest level in about seven years as producers in the western U.S. increased slaughter due to intense drought.

Shoop, who owns about 750 mother cows, said he restricted cattle at one location to roughly 40 acres from 300 acres while he repairs fences.

“It’s only a temporary Band-Aid,” he said. “You shut ’em down to a small area and you’ve got to worry about whether you have enough feed and water.”

Flooding is preventing some cattle from eating or resting, as fields were already wet from rains before the hurricane, said JB Wynn, a producer in Lake Wales.

“They don’t have any grass to graze on or anywhere they can lay down,” Wynn said.

Some help is coming from out of state. Stephen Broadwell, owner of livestock services company Ranch Solutions in Erwin, N.C., said he is co-ordinating volunteers to travel to Florida to repair fences or supply feed.

“Everybody is just scrambling,” Broadwell said.

— Tom Polansek reports on agriculture and ag commodities for Reuters from Chicago.

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Precise information on losses for citrus producers in top grower Florida will take days to be released, analysts said, as people in the area deal with power outages and flooding makes it difficult to check on farms. Orange juice futures jumped in the last three sessions.

Florida orange production was already expected to be poor, as planted areas have been falling yearly due to real estate expansion and the spread of the greening fungus disease.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), U.S. orange production was estimated to fall 13 per cent to the lowest in over 55 years at 3.5 million tons before the storm.

“Some of the growers that are still investing in citrus production in Florida, battling the disease with new varieties, will be hard hit by this storm,” said soft commodities analyst Judy Ganes.

She said that the strong winds have likely “transported” the greening fungus from abandoned orange farms to renovated ones, wasting the work and investment.

Ian’s aftermath would be bad for the juice industry.

Although imports from Brazil and Mexico currently make up for most of the orange juice consumed in the U.S., Florida’s production was important to the industry since it is mostly the not from concentrate (NFC) variety, which has gained popularity among consumers compared to the older style, frozen concentrated orange juice (FCOJ).

Foreign suppliers prefer to export FCOJ since it takes less space in vessels and is easier to handle.

Ganes said that if there is a shortage of NFC juice in the market, or if prices for that skyrocket, the industry could further lose share for other beverages.

— Reporting for Reuters by Marcelo Teixeira.

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Agricultural companies’ profits have been hammered this year due to an unusually cold and wet weather that has delayed planting season in North America, and lower demand fueled by trade war-related uncertainty.

“A third consecutive disappointing application season in North America has led to continuing high inventories and price weakness,” Mosaic CEO Joc O’Rourke said.

The company plans to cut phosphate production at its central Florida facilities by 150,000 tonnes per month, and has already reduced it by 500,000 tonnes in the first half of the year.

“Mosaic will not produce at high rates when we are unable to realize reasonable prices,” O’Rourke said.

The company will also keep operating at lower production rates at its Canadian potash business and said it expects potash and phosphates shipment volumes for the fourth quarter to be modestly below its forecast.

Tampa-based Mosaic’s Canadian potash business includes facilities at Esterhazy, Colonsay and Belle Plaine, Sask.

Production in phosphates and potash “will return to full rates when required to meet customer needs,” the company said in a release.

The next year could also be tough for the fertilizer maker, mainly due to lower price expectations for phosphate, JPMorgan analysts said in a recent note.

Australia’s QBE Insurance Ltd. had earlier flagged harsh weather conditions as it issued a profit warning for its North American crop insurance business.

— Reporting for Reuters by Saumya Sibi Joseph and Shariq Khan in Bangalore.

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The animal tested positive for atypical H-type BSE on Aug. 26 at the Colorado State University’s veterinary diagnostic laboratory, as part of routine surveillance of cattle that are found to be unfit for slaughter, the agency said.

The cow was destroyed, and “never entered slaughter channels and at no time presented a risk to the food supply, or to human health in the United States,” the agency said in a statement.

USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and Florida veterinary officials are continuing to look into the case. Officials with Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services could not be immediately reached for comment.

Atypical BSE occurs rarely and spontaneously in cattle, so there is no association with contaminated feed or ingestion of infected materials, said APHIS spokeswoman Lyndsay Cole.

“As part of the investigation, however, we will look at offspring of the affected animal, as well as animals that were born in the same location at the same time as the affected animals,” Cole said in an e-mail to Reuters.

There are two forms of BSE: atypical and classic.

First detected in Britain in the 1980s, classic BSE ravaged herds in parts of Europe until the early 2000s and was linked to the brain-wasting Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. In 1997, a ban was instituted on the use of cattle feed containing brain or spinal tissue, which can result in transmission of the disease.

This is the U.S.’s sixth detection of BSE. Of the five previous U.S. cases, the first — in Washington state in 2003 — was a case of classical BSE from a cow imported from Canada. The rest have been atypical (H- or L-type) BSE: Texas in 2005, Alabama in 2006, California in 2012, and Alabama in 2017.

— P.J. Huffstutter reports on agriculture and agribusiness for Reuters from Chicago; additional reporting by Michael Hirtzer.

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Tyson, the biggest U.S. meat company, hopes to resume normal operations soon at chicken plants it shuttered in Cumming, Dawson and Vienna, Ga., and at a beef facility in Jacksonville, Fla., spokesman Derek Burleson said.

Irma, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded, hit a wide swath of Florida on Sunday and Monday before moving inland into neighbouring states.

In Georgia, the Port of Savannah, which exports almost a third of all U.S. poultry, will remain closed through Tuesday, the Georgia Ports Authority said.

Among the areas hit in Florida was the state’s prime citrus-producing region, said Lisa Lochridge, spokeswoman for the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association.

Florida is ranked first among U.S. states in production value for oranges and in 2015 produced US$1.17 billion of the fruit, accounting for 60 per cent of the value of total U.S. orange production, according to Florida’s agriculture department. The state is also a major producer of tomatoes and sugarcane.

“The fruit was just stripped from the trees by the wind,” Lochridge said, citing early reports from orange growers. Oranges knocked to the ground cannot be consumed, she said.

In southern Florida, heavy rain also flooded orange groves, forcing growers to pump out standing water to reduce the risk of disease hurting trees, she said.

Shelley Rossetter, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Citrus, said “everyone is busy assessing their properties.”

Fertilizer maker Mosaic Co. said Irma damaged facilities, including a fertilizer warehouse at Bartow, Florida, and caused disruptions in the supply chain that are expected to impact third-quarter phosphates production volumes.

Mosaic has also stopped making phosphate price offers to domestic and international customers due to uncertainty about product availability and its ability to ship product after the storm, according to a company statement.

Mosaic has a storage and shipping facility at the Port of Tampa Bay and is the biggest tenant by volume. Crews from Mosaic and the port will return there to check for damage to storage tanks as soon as winds diminish below tropical storm force status, said Paul Anderson, the port’s president.

Power outages

High winds snapped power lines and left about 7.3 million homes and businesses without power in Florida and elsewhere in the U.S. Southeast, state officials and utilities said. They said it could take weeks to complete repairs.

Warehouses certified by the Intercontinental Exchange to store coffee remained closed on Monday, and at least one of them was without power.

Cal-Maine Foods, the biggest U.S. egg producer, said some egg farms and production facilities in Florida and Georgia suffered flooding and minor damage from the storm and were operating on back-up power generators. The company does not expect any material loss in egg production, though.

“At this time, it is too soon to tell just how much Hurricane Irma has devastated the agriculture industry,” said Adam Putnam, Florida’s agriculture commissioner.

Grain handler Archer Daniels Midland said it was closing facilities as needed because of Irma. The company’s oilseed processing facilities at Valdosta and Dawson, Ga. are within the path of the storm.

In South Carolina, the Port of Charleston halted shipping operations from 2 p.m. ET due to the storm, the South Carolina Ports Authority said in a client advisory. It expects normal operations to resume on Tuesday.

The port handles exports of poultry, grapefruits and lemons, among other goods.

— Tom Polansek reports on agriculture and agribusiness for Reuters from Chicago. Additional reporting for Reuters by Theopolis Waters, Karl Plume and Michael Hirtzer in Chicago and Renita Young in New York.

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Florida sugar and citrus processors rushed to secure rail cars and equipment that could be crushed, blocked or turned into flying projectiles. Cattlemen opened up their fences and moved animals to higher ground and wooded areas, which can offer some relief from high winds.

To the north, cotton farmers in North and South Carolina fretted their fields might be facing a fate similar to their Texas counterparts. Late last month, Hurricane Harvey, which became a tropical storm after making landfall in Texas, destroyed an estimated $150 million worth of cotton, ripping the bolls off plants and leaving white fiber strewn across fields (all figures US$).

At U.S. Sugar, a Clewiston, Florida-based sugar producer that farms, mills and refines sugar, staff are drawing down water levels in farm canals, securing processing facilities and making plans for post-storm cleanup, company spokeswoman Judy Sanchez said.

“There’s not a thing we can do about the cane fields and orange groves, but pray,” said Adam H. Putnam, commissioner of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

One particularly keen concern for the sugar industry: How badly can the hurricane damage the sugar cane fields, as harvest is set to begin on Oct. 1?

Worries about Hurricane Irma hitting growing regions in the Caribbean and Florida helped boost raw sugar futures on the Intercontinental Exchange on Wednesday. Orange concentrate futures for November delivery also jumped Wednesday to $1.499 per pound, the highest since early May.

Florida sugar cane accounts for nearly a quarter of sugar produced in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The hurricane also could potentially impact sugar prices through oil and ethanol prices, said James Liddiard, analyst at Agrilion Commodity Advisors in New York. Sugar prices often track energy prices as petroleum is a key input cost and millers can divert cane to sugar or ethanol.

State officials in Florida called for evacuations ahead of the storm’s expected landfall there this weekend, as the potentially catastrophic hurricane slammed through Caribbean islands with pounding winds, rain and surging surf.

Hurricane Irma is expected to impact the U.S. along the eastern coast of Florida, according to the National Weather Service, before moving on to Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina — states known for cotton, grain and livestock production.

The biggest risk the North Carolina cotton crops faces is wind, which would blow cotton plants over, said Guy Collins, a cotton extension associate professor and specialist at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Heavy rain too could push the cotton bolls to the wet ground and cause rot.

North and South Carolina represent about five per cent of cotton acres planted this year, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.

Storm prep led livestock operators in North Carolina, the country’s second-largest producer of hogs and turkeys, to stock their grain bins with extra feed, in case the roads washed out.

Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest hog producer and processor owned by Hong Kong-based WH Group, was closely monitoring pits holding liquid hog waste, said company spokeswoman Kathleen Kirkham.

At Prestage Farms, staff are testing backup generators and making sure there is ample fuel to keep them running. They are also preparing to shutter the company’s turkey processing plant in St. Paul, N.C. if the storm turns dangerous to that area.

“Planning can go a long way,” said Ron Prestage of the Clinton, N.C.-based hog and turkey producer. “We plan for the worst and hope for the best.”

— Reporting for Reuters by P.J. Huffstutter in Chicago and Renita D. Young in New York; additional reporting by Theopolis Waters in Chicago.

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Southeastern companies were closing down operations ahead of a storm that could threaten some two million tonnes of sugar and trees representing over 90 million boxes of citrus fruits in Florida. About half a million acres of cotton were at risk from torrential rain in North and South Carolina, where farmers have already been struggling during a rainy harvest.

Officials issued a state of emergency for parts of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas for the Category 4 hurricane that by Thursday afternoon had already taken the lives of 140 people, mostly in Haiti. Port operations along the coast were slowing or shut.

For commodities markets including U.S. sugar, orange juice and cotton, the storm prompted a volatile week of trade. Though forecasters like senior meteorologist Drew Lerner of World Weather Inc. said damage to Florida’s sugar and citrus crops would likely be limited, producers were readying for the worst.

The storm has forced a shutdown of sugar operations just days into the harvest, said Ryan Weston, executive vice-president of the Sugar Cane League, which represents growers in Florida, Texas and Hawaii.

“Depending on the intensity and path of the winds, hurricanes will knock the cane down to the ground, slowing harvest way down. It hurts this harvest and the next,” Weston said.

The storm was expected to hit Florida or brush along the state’s east coast through Friday night, then work its way up the Atlantic coast.

As of 5 p.m. Thursday, Matthew contained sustained winds of 225 km/h and gusts up to 265 km/h, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. It was about 60 km east-southeast of West Palm Beach, Florida, and was moving to the north-northwest at 22 km/h.

Florida’s east coast, predominantly grapefruit country, was expected to bear the brunt of the storm. There, trees have already been weakened from disease, said Lerner.

“Our growers are already facing challenges,” said Nikki Hayde, senior marketing manager for Florida’s Natural Growers, a co-operative of about 1,000 citrus farmers throughout the state.

“We are trying to get out orders that were scheduled for Thursday and Friday on the road as quickly as possible,” she said.

‘Harvesting as fast as we can’

The U.S. livestock industry was also closely tracking the storm’s path, likely to brush the hog-rich Carolinas.

Smithfield Foods, a subsidiary of WH Group and the world’s largest hog producer and pork processor, moved to protect people, animals and buildings from the impending storm, said company spokeswoman Keira Lombardo in an e-mail.

Crews at the port of Wilmington, N.C. prepared for Matthew’s winds by lowering container stacks and tying down equipment.

In North and South Carolina’s cotton-growing regions, farmers raced to bring in fibre from fields where rains have delayed harvesting and the plants were at one of their most vulnerable stages, most susceptible to the two to 15 inches of rain expected.

“It’s tricky,” said Michael Quinn, president and chief executive of Carolinas Cotton Growers Cooperative. “The growers are harvesting as fast as they can.”

“We are closely monitoring conditions ahead of the storm and working proactively with farmers to help them prepare for a significant rainfall event. Governor McCrory has declared a state of emergency for all 100 counties in central and eastern North Carolina as we brace for as much as 10 to 12 inches of rain in our coastal areas,” said North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality spokeswoman Stephanie Hawco.

— Reporting for Reuters by Chris Prentice in New York and Theopolis Waters and Karl Plume in Chicago.

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Mosaic said the monitoring system at its New Wales facility at Mulberry, Florida, showed a decline in water levels on Aug. 27 from the retention pond of a phosphogypsum stack, a hill of hazardous waste. Phosphogypsum is a radioactive byproduct resulting from the production of phosphate.

The Minnesota-based company immediately reported the incident to state and federal environmental authorities, Mosaic spokesman Ben Pratt said on Friday. But it did not otherwise report it publicly until posting information on its website on Thursday, he said.

The leaked water is enough to fill more than 300 Olympic swimming pools.

The nearly three-week gap between detecting the sinkhole and reporting it to the public is alarming, said Jacki Lopez, Florida director of the Center for Biological Diversity.

“It’s hard to trust them when they say ‘Don’t worry,’ when they’ve been keeping it secret for three weeks,” she said.

The sinkhole, located about 50 km from Tampa, damaged the liner system at the base of the stack, causing the pond on top to drain. Seepage continued and the sinkhole reached Florida’s aquifer, Mosaic said on its website.

Specific environmental and health concerns are the release of uranium, radium and radon gas, Lopez said. Once contaminants reach the aquifer, which extends from central Florida to Georgia, they can potentially travel hundreds of miles, she said.

“We don’t know what the long-term effects will be,” said Lopez. “If I were living in this area, and I had well water, I would be worried about my health.”

Mosaic said it had increased monitoring and sampling of groundwater and found no offsite impact. It also said it pumped water out of the affected pond to reduce the volume of leakage.

The company said it is attempting to recover the water through production wells on site.

The incident has not interrupted operations at the facility.

Mosaic shares fell 1.7 per cent, declining with other major fertilizer producers.

In 2015, Mosaic reached an US$800 million settlement with U.S. regulators over its waste management practices at plants in Florida and Louisiana.

— Rod Nickel is a Reuters correspondent covering the agriculture and mining sectors from Winnipeg.

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