As many of you know, Hurricane Irene had a massive destructive impact on our state as well as many states all along the Eastern United States coast. But what you may not realize, is the effect it had on our agriculture communities. In North Carolina alone, it has been estimated already that millions of dollars worth of farmland and agricultural commodity businesses have been lost in this storm. Everyone from the tobacco, corn, and cotton farmers, to the poultry and swine producers down east are feeling the pinch of this disaster. It has been reported that soybean crops have fared the best. Legislative officials as well as the Governor, and Agricultural Commisioner all toured North Carolina the day after Irene hit and said it's not looking good in the coming months for agriculture in North Carolina's eastern counties. However, some farmers in the Eastern part of the state took warning of Irene's arrival and went ahead and harvested early. Which ultimately saved money. The tobacco producers that did harvest early still might not of been out of the clear. If their curing barns lost power, and therefore heat, they may still be behind for months on their finished products.
Now, for its pertainment to you and I. With the destruction of so many crops and livestock, obviously you can imagine this isn't good for our state's economy. With this, our food prices here in North Carolina could potencially see increases in the near future. As our state is not the largest corn producer in America, we still manufacture many by-products of corn that is distributed right here. With the loss of so much corn, we will ultimately have to pay more at grocery stores, feed mills for our pets and livestock, as well as some at the pump. I just wanted to warn, or inform you, that when you see a higher grocery bill, know where it is coming from. This is just a little insight for what your pocketbook may feel in the coming months.
Please respond!
Sincerely,
T. E. Jones
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