USA - Watertown farmer loses crops worth thousands due to flooding

20.08.2024 443 views

Some Connecticut farmers are dealing with the effects of Sunday’s storm.

“A lot of us go hit,” said Joann DeSantis, who runs DeSantis Farm in Watertown alongside her husband. “We’ve never had rain down here like this. We’ve never had this much rain.”

DeSantis said her 40-acre farm lost thousands of dollars’ worth of crops weeks before harvest.

“Usually, we start harvesting at the beginning of September and now we lost it,” she said. “My prize-winning pumpkins were literally floating away.”

Their pumpkin and squash harvests were ruined in knee-high floodwaters. The moisture also impacted the farm’s tomatoes and peppers.

“We’re trying to pick as much as we can, but they are already cracking because of the rain,” DeSantis said. “Within a day or two, they are going to start to yellow, because they are literally drowning.”

While much of the water receded by Monday, the fields remained muddy with crops soaking in the water.

“They are soaked,” she said. “They are drowning, they are going to drown.”

She said the upcoming days will tell the extent of the damage as plants begin to die. The farm plans to take things day by day.

“We just keep trying to pick what we can,” DeSantis said. “In a few days will really be the telltale sign of how bad it is.”

Source - https://www.nbcconnecticut.com

27.08.2026

Crop Insurance Add-Ons Surge as U.S. Farmers Expand Subsidized Coverage Nationwide

U.S. farmers sharply expanded area add-on crop insurance in 2026 after federal subsidies rose to 80%, reshaping coverage and federal costs.

27.08.2026

China grain imports in focus as crop damage hits key producing regions

Extreme heat, heavy rain and flooding across key Chinese farming regions are putting global grain and cotton exporters on alert, as markets assess whether crop damage could increase China’s import needs.

27.08.2026

Philippines - Benguet crop loss worst in Cordillera

The strong monsoon rains that have been pouring in the Cordillera region for nearly three weeks now have cost vegetable-producing Benguet province up to P446.55 million in farm losses, according to data consolidated by the Regional Development Council on Wednesday.

27.08.2026

USA - Bear damage costs Benzie County farmer at least $40,000 across 1,100 acres of corn

Corn growers around northern Michigan are getting a really good look at how this year's crop is shaping up before harvest, but one of them in Benzie County is getting to see a lot more than that.

27.08.2026

India - Shivraj Singh Chouhan reviews summer moong procurement and crop insurance in Madhya Pradesh

Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday conducted a virtual review meeting with the Agriculture and Horticulture Ministers of Madhya Pradesh at Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi.

27.08.2026

India - Demand to withdraw farmer ID mandate for crop procurement

The Andhra Pradesh Koulu Rythu Sangham (AP Tenant Farmers’ Association) has demanded that the State government immediately withdraw its decision to make Farmer ID (Unique Farmer Number) mandatory for selling crops at government procurement centres, stating that the move would severely affect tenant farmers. 

26.08.2026

Lithuania declares nationwide emergency after storm causes heavy damage

Lithuania’s government declared a nationwide “extreme situation” Wednesday following a severe weekend storm that caused extensive damage to crops, livestock and agricultural infrastructure.

26.08.2026

Cameroon Sets 2026 Planting Windows to Help Southern Farmers Reduce Crop Losses

Planting too early or too late can cost farmers part of their harvest. Cameroon’s National Observatory on Climate Change, or ONACC, has now set rainfall and planting windows for the second 2026 farming season across the country’s southern regions, giving producers a tool to reduce weather-related crop losses.