Hurricane Irma traveled straight through Florida and Georgia cattle country. An assessment of damaged areas is still being tallied. Florida dairies are running on generators, still struggling to keep cows milked and forced to dump tons of milk for various reasons.

Less impacted appears to be the beef cattle industry, as most fences remained intact and kept cattle from getting out into roads. Southeast AgNet spoke with Jim Handley, Florida Cattlemen’s Association, who said, “Everybody is tough, resilient and just waiting for water to recede. Ag people are pretty darn tough and are dealing with it. However, we do need some dry weather.” He said he knows family farms are suffering, but has heard of no widespread loss of cattle.

Listen to sound bites provided by our friends at Southeast AgNet:
Jim Handley, Florida Cattlemen’s Association
Will Bentley, GA Cattlemen’s Association

Butler Oaks Farm located in Lorida, Florida shot this great drone video of damage on their farm. We continue to send our thoughts and prayers to those impacted by hurricanes, flood waters, and fire.