State officials are continuing to learn more about the impact to Vermont's farms following last month's historic floods.

Two weeks ago, Vermont Secretary of Agriculture Anson Tebbetts was hopeful that much of this summer's corn crop could be salvaged. But he told reporters Tuesday afternoon that the damage is far worse than expected.

"I think our hope was that a lot of it could be saved that was under water and maybe it would come back. I think it's gone the other way, I think there's a lot of corn for livestock feed (that) is not doing as well as we hoped it would, so I think a lot of that is damaged," Tebbetts said.

A recent state survey shows that more than 17,000 acres of farmland were affected. Tebbetts said he's hopeful that many vegetable growers who were affected by the flood will be able to have a second harvest in the fall.

Source - https://www.vermontpublic.org