Slow Turtle Dairy Farm normally makes about 150 pounds of cheese a week, which ends up on the menus of restaurants like Mount Dora’s 1921 and at farmers markets around Orlando.
Hurricane Ian impacted nearly 5-million acres of farm and grazing land, with about 700-thousand acres receiving Category 4 force winds. According to the University of Florida’s Institute of Food & Agricultural Sciences, or IFAS, early estimates put the economic impact just to agriculture in Florida at somewhere between 786 million and 1.56 billion dollars with citrus and vegetables most affected.
The Department of Agriculture estimates Hurricane Ian left behind $1.8 billion in damages to Florida's agriculture industry, mainly to crops and infrastructure.
Hurricane Ian damage to Florida crops estimated as much as $1.56 billion dollars, and Bayer set to challenge a $275 million decision for exposure to PCBs.