Remember Tropical Storm Eta? Federal Aid on the Way To Florida Growers
February 26, 2021 The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season was a whirlwind – literally. The record-breaking campaign spun up so many storms the Greek alphabet was employed to accommodate naming purposes. Just recently, USDA granted a Secretarial disaster declaration for several key counties in Florida impacted by one of those storms — Tropical Storm Eta.
Eta first made headlines as a major Category 4 hurricane that made landfall in Central America. After causing catastrophic damage mostly in Honduras, the system regained form back over waters of the western Caribbean and took a zig-zag route to the northeast, eventually blowing through the Sunshine State as a tropical storm.
Rain, flooding, and wind impacts in Florida stretched out over a three-day period in early November. The storm was projected to cause at least $85 million in crop losses, especially seasonal produce crops.
The disaster declaration lists Collier, Hendry, Lee, and Miami-Dade counties as primary disaster areas, as well as Broward, Charlotte, Glades, Martin, Monroe, Okeechobee, and Palm Beach as contiguous counties. The formal statement from USDA opens access to Farm Service Agency (FSA) disaster loans for agriculture producers in all 11 of the listed primary and contiguous counties.
The Secretarial disaster declaration came as much welcome news to State Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried. “This storm came at a critical time for our seasonal produce growers already dealing with COVID-19 losses and heavy rainfall in parts of the state ahead of the storm,” she says. “I thank USDA Acting Secretary Kevin Shea and the Farm Service Agency for recognizing our agriculture producers’ need for assistance.”
Farmers in eligible counties will have eight months from the Feb. 12, 2021 date of the Secretarial disaster declaration to apply for emergency loans. FSA considers each emergency loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of production losses on the farm and the security and repayment ability of the operator.
Agriculture producers are encouraged to contact their local FSA office for additional details.