Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson said Thursday that the financial damage to the state’s agriculture industry from Hurricane Milton will likely exceed $2 billion.
Speaking alongside Florida U.S. Sen. Rick Scott outside of the Florida Strawberry Growers Association building in eastern Hillsborough County, Simpson said that Milton, which made landfall in Siesta Key in Sarasota County eight days earlier as a Category 3 hurricane, was yet another blow to the industry, which ranks just below tourism as the top driver of the state’s economy.
“These are obviously preliminary numbers, but we believe in dollar terms it’s probably between $2 to $2.5 billion in damage,” he said. “When you look at the strawberry industry right here where we are today and you’ve seen the flooding and the destruction of the property here that they’re hoping to recover, that’s another $30 to $50 million of issues.”
Simpson said those figures add to the more than $1.5 billion in damage already suffered from Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Debby, and Hurricane Idalia that hit the Big Bend area of North Florida over the past 13 months.
Sen. Scott, who continues to barnstorm the state as if he were still governor, had one message that he has previously made to the federal government: He wants the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide financial aid to Florida’s in the form of block grants to expedite the recovery process.
“For whatever reason, it’s been very difficult for our federal Department of Agriculture to get the money out,” he said. “It’s just been a disaster. Ian’s been a disaster for our state. You talk to so many people – money hasn’t gotten out.”
Scott began pushing for the USDA to issue a disaster declaration ever since Hurricane Helene hit late last month. He wrote a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack requesting immediate assistance, joined by fellow Florida GOP U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and a bipartisan group of 13 members of the state’ s congressional delegation.
“We did a block grant under [former President Donald] Trump,” Scott said Thursday.
“But Vilsack says, ‘Oh, no. You can’t do that unless you have a change in the law.’ So I had a bill and, of course, [Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer blocked it and it didn’t pass. But I’ve been with [President] Biden twice and talked to him on the phone, and the number one thing I’ve talked to him about is, we’ve got to do block grants. You can say all you want that you want to help people, but if you want to help our farming industry, our ag industry, you’ve got to get the money out faster.”
State loans
The USDA under former President Trump did make available $800 million in block grants to agriculture producers in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia who were affected by hurricanes Michael and Florence in 2018.
The Florida Department of Agriculture announced earlier this week that Florida farmers, ranchers, and growers hurt by Hurricane Milton could begin applying for interest-free loans that would cover restoring, repairing, or replacing essential property such as fences, equipment, greenhouses, and other buildings, and to remove vegetative debris and cover the cost of labor.
After Hurricane Idalia hit Florida in August 2023, the Florida Legislature unanimously approved a law that provided grants and tax breaks to North Florida businesses affected by that storm in a special legislative session last November.
While there has not been much discussion about holding a special session in regard to Helene and Milton, Gov. Ron DeSantis did say last month that he wants the Legislature to meet before the end of the year to help condominium owners facing a deadline that could result in them having to pay extraordinarily expensive fees that many cannot afford.
Shortly after this story was published, the USDA reached out to respond to specifically to the letter that Commissioner Simpson wrote to the USDA on Thursday, where he asked the agency to issue a Disaster Declaration for counties impacted by Hurricane Milton, and added later that “[w]e are still waiting on declarations from the past three storms.”
That letter prompted the USDA to respond to the Phoenix with this statement.
“USDA has been in regular communication with farmers, as well as local and state leaders in the impacted states,” said a USDA spokesperson. “This letter unfortunately distracts from the accelerated assistance, expanded flexibilities, and resources that USDA is making available. USDA programs do not require a disaster designation or are covered under a Presidential declaration, and as such, the assistance the Commissioner requests under USDA authority is already available.
“In close coordination with FEMA and other federal agencies, USDA has been a partner in the intensive, whole-of-government response underway after Hurricanes Milton and Helene. This week we announced initial indemnity payments to producers under hurricane and tropical storm crop insurance policies, including those in Florida, to help their operations and communities recover. Through their local USDA office or online, farmers can also choose from a multitude of disaster programs designed for loss of crops and livestock or damaged farmland—they can choose which program is right for them. As farmers submit more claims, the amount of assistance provided will continue to increase. USDA staff live and work in virtually every county, and those staff have been working to provide farmers with every possible assistance. These efforts are only one component of USDA’s wide-ranging response, which includes also helping rural communities restore critical infrastructure like water and power, alleviating grocery expenses through expanded use of SNAP while people get back on their feet, and more.”
