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NC Agricultural Losses From Florence Top $1.1 Billion, More Than Double Matthew's Total

Total agriculture losses from Florence were over $1.1 billion, more than double the damage brought on by Hurricane Matthew in 2016.

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) - On Wednesday, North Carolina Agriculture leaders released an early estimate on just how much Florence impacted one of the top industries in the state.

They estimate total agricultural losses at more than $1.1 billion, more than double the damage left behind from Hurricane Matthew just two years ago, which was $400 million.

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Here are the following estimates by crops:

  • Row crop losses are estimated at $986.6 million
  • Forestry losses are estimated at $69.6 million
  • Green industry losses are estimated at $30 million
  • Vegetable and horticulture crop losses are estimated at $26.8 million
  • Livestock, poultry and aquaculture losses are estimated at $23.1 million
  • Livestock losses are 4.1 million poultry and an estimate of 5,500 hogs.

Farmers said Florence left damage to a lot of crops, and now lots of farms around the state are trying to rebound after the storm.

Bud Benson comes often to the State Farmers Market.

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He also lives on a 22-acre working farm in Zebulon, filled with soybean and tobacco crops.

He said farmers have seen the effects of Florence on his property.

"It is just wilting and dried up," Benson said. "He [the farmer] has even sustained some minor damages in comparison to other areas that just got wiped out."

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While Benson said he didn't suffer sizable damage, he and others have seen and heard about it.

"It may devastate them into next season," he said. "This is going to be a long process I think."

Tammy Woodall sells produce at the market, working for Tart Farms out of Johnston County. She said it's been a slow comeback with flooding taking out greens on their land and other crops around the state.

"A lot of the farmers had really just started planting a lot of the fall crops in August," Woodall said. "They were just starting to come up and just starting to grow. It wasn't really time to start harvesting a lot of them, but they're going to have to re-plant a lot of them."

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She said this issue hits personally with her family.

"I have some family down in Sampson County, and I know those farms are like completely underwater," Woodall said. "There's probably no recovering from that. They've lost their entire crops."

With the storm past, both said they believe brighter days are ahead.

"They'll recover," Woodall said. "It'll be a process. They'll get through it. They'll replant next year and start over."

State agriculture leaders set up a hotline to help with the response and give details on assistance programs. The number is 1-866-645-9403.

Woodall said they should have more greens in the next few weeks, just in time for Thanksgiving.

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