Drought and Deluge, Hail and Heavy Rain Destroy Crops in U.S.

UPDATED

Multiple Crop Disasters Declared in 8 US States, Puerto Rico

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated a total of 107 counties across 8 states—Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, Oregon and Washington—and 36 municipalities in Puerto Rico as crop disaster areas due to drought and other extreme weather events.

Crop Disaster Designations #1

USDA has designated The following 6 counties in Florida as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by a recent drought.

• Florida: Broward, Collier, Hendry, Lee, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.

Crop Disaster Designations #2

USDA has designated the following 10 counties in Idaho as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by a recent drought.

• Idaho: Ada, Adams, Boise, Canyon, Custer, Elmore, Gem, Payette, Valley and Washington counties

Crop Disaster Designations #3

USDA has designated 40 counties in Indiana and 3 counties in Kentucky as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by excessive rain and flooding that occurred during the period of May 1, 2015, and continues. Those counties are:

• Indiana: Whitley, White, Washington, Wabash, Tippecanoe, Starke, Shelby, Scott, Rush, Putnam, Pulaski, Owen, Noble, Morgan, Monroe, Miami, Marshall, Marion, Kosciusko, Johnson, Jefferson, Jasper, Huntington, Henry, Hendricks, Hancock, Greene, Fulton, Franklin, Floyd, Fayette, Decatur, Clay, Clark, Cass, Carroll, Brown, Benton, Bartholomew and Allen counties.
• Kentucky: Trimble, Oldham and Jefferson counties.

Crop Disaster Designations #4

USDA has designated 7 counties in Maine as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the combined effects of a microburst, heavy rain, and hail that occurred from July 28, 2015, through Aug. 5, 2015.  Those counties are:

• Maine: Androscoggin, Franklin, Kennebec, Lincoln, Sagadahoc, Somerset and wxwxwx counties.

Crop Disaster Designations #5

USDA has designated a total of 18 counties in Montana and Idaho as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by a recent drought. Those counties are:

• Montana: Beaverhead, Broadwater, Cascade, Chouteau, Deer Lodge, Flathead, Gallatin, Glacier, Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, Liberty, Madison, Pondera, Powell, Silver Bow, Teton and Toole counties.
• Idaho: Fremont County.

Crop Disaster Designations #6

USDA has designated a total of 6 counties in Oregon and Washington as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by a recent drought. Those counties are:

• Oregon: Clatsop, Columbia, Tillamook and Washington counties.
• Washington: Pacific and Wahkiakum counties.

Crop Disaster Designations #7

USDA has designated a total of 36 municipalities in Puerto Rico as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by a recent drought. Those municipalities are:

• Puerto Rico: Aguas Buenas, Aibonito, Barranquitas, Bayamon, Caguas, Canovanas, Carolina, Catano, Cayey, Ceiba, Cidra, Coamo, Comerio, Corozal, Dorado, Fajardo, Guaynabo, Humacao, Juana Diaz, Las Piedras, Loiza, Luquillo, Morovis, Naguabo, Naranjito, Orocovis, Rio Grande, Salinas, San Juan, Santa Isabel, Toa Alta, Toa Baja, Trujillo Alto, Vega Alta, Vega Baja and  Villalba municipalities.

Crop Disaster Designations #8

USDA has designated a total of 17 counties in Washington and Oregon as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by a recent drought. Those counties are:

• Washington: Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Island, Jefferson, Kitsap, Lewis, Pacific, San Juan, Skamania, Skagit, Snohomish, Wahkiakum and Whatcom counties.
• Oregon: Clatsop, Columbia and Multnomah counties.

All of the counties listed above were designated crop disaster areas by USDA on September 2, 2015.

U.S. Drought Monitor – Weekly Comparison: CONUS

Week	None	D0-D4	D1-D4	D2-D4	D3-D4	D4
2015-09-01	54.21	45.79	30.43	18.72	10.71	3.00
2015-08-25	55.04	44.96	29.48	18.07	10.96	3.00

 

Total U.S.

Week	None	D0-D4	D1-D4	D2-D4	D3-D4	D4
2015-09-01	50.12	49.88	28.40	15.69	8.97	2.51
2015-08-25	50.78	49.22	27.98	15.14	9.18	2.51

Source: http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

Crop Disasters 2015

Beginning January 7, 2015 USDA has declared crop disasters in at least 2,383 counties, county equivalents and municipalities, across 35 States [as well as Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands]: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, Wyoming.

About 99 percent of the 2015 crop disaster designations are due to drought so far this year.

Crop Disasters 2014

In 2014, USDA declared crop disasters in at least 2,904 counties across 44 states. Most of the designations were due to drought.

Those states were:

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan. Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. [FIRE-EARTH has documented all of the above listings. See blog content.]

Notes:
i. USDA trigger point for a countywide disaster declaration is 30 percent crop loss on at least one crop.

ii. The counties designated as agricultural disaster areas, as listed above, include both primary and contiguous disaster areas.

iii. Some counties may have been designated as crop disaster areas more than once due to multiple disasters.

iv. The U.S. has a total of 3,143 counties and county-equivalents.

Related Links

• Multiple Crop Disasters Declared in 9 States, USVI August 27, 2015
• Drought Destroys More Crops in Florida, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Puerto Rico August 20, Drought
• Agricultural Disasters Index