Agricultural losses from Helene could total more than $125 million, according to the Virginia Cooperative Extension.
Extension agents in 16 counties have been surveying the damage to farms and agricultural operations. Assessments of timber losses are underway as well in partnership with the Virginia Department of Forestry.
Losses in Grayson County alone are estimated at $58 million, representing 46 percent of the region’s total.
Helene brought the double threat of flooding and high winds, according to Extension Agent Kevin Spurlin. He said it was the worst damage in Grayson County he’d ever seen.
“The wind damage was worse with Hugo, but we didn’t have the catastrophic flooding like what we had with Helene," Spurlin told 10 News.
For Sarah Torres, who co-owns a small dairy farm in Grayson County, Helene made a bad situation worse.
“It was a terrible, terrible time because the drought was major and our crop was nowhere near sufficient to feed our animals, so we were already dealing with that,” she said.
Torres said along with losing part of the corn crop to flooding, the farm also suffered a power outage that meant they lost milk, even with a generator.
“We able to get the cows milked, so that saved the cows but we were not able to get it properly cooled so we had to dump a load,” she said. “A farm our size, you really feel every pound that you lose.”
Wythe, Carroll, Smyth, and Washington counties rounded out the top five localities in terms of highest current estimates, according to Extension.
“The economic and human toll of this storm is immense,” said Mike Gutter, director of Virginia Cooperative Extension in a news release. “We are working in our communities and with our agricultural producers — who constitute the state’s most valuable private industry — to support their recovery in every way possible.”
Losses include livestock, crops, farm buildings, equipment, feed and hay, and fences.
Vaughn-Bassett Furniture Company offered an old warehouse in Galax for the Extension to organize and distribute supplies such as feed, hay and fencing that have been donated to help agriculture producers in the region.
“Extension, the Virginia Cattlemen’s Association, Virginia Farm Bureau, Virginia Agribusiness Council, and Farm Credit of the Virginias are partnering on an Agricultural Relief Program to connect farmers in need with donations of hay, feed, fencing, water, volunteer assistance, and other necessities,” the agency said in a news release.
Sprulin said the focus is starting to turn to long-term needs.
“Frankly, it’s money and funds to rebuild the infrastructure that has a 20-year lifespan: some of the fences, some of the barns," he told 10 News. ”And we need contractors that can rebuild that infrastructure. We don’t have enough fence-builders, enough contractors to replace everything that was lost."
The extension has this form for agricultural producers who have a need for supplies and volunteers after Helene.
Those interested in donating supplies or volunteering, you can fill out this form.