State ag agency seeks information from flood-affected farms

The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets has launched a 2024 Flood Loss and Damage Survey and is urging farmers to fill out the online form by August 31.

The purpose of the survey is to gather data “as thoroughly as possible” regarding the type, scale, and location of flood-related damage that agricultural producers throughout the state suffered beginning on July 10, according to the form.

“Many of these Vermonters, still not fully recovered from last year’s crisis, are once again facing uncertainty and trauma,” the agency said in a statement announcing the survey on Saturday. The results will help the agency “build a connection with these farmers” and point them in the right direction for resources, according to Trevor Audet, a spokesperson for the agency.

A similar survey following severe weather events in 2023 was “crucial” to providing support resources for Vermont farms, and the data contributed to a 2023 Extreme Weather Impact & Recovery Report , according to the agency. Responses from 264 farms and businesses helped the agency conclude in that report that Vermont farms suffered more than $16 million in losses across more than 27,000 acres.

“It’s a little more streamlined this year,” said Audet in an interview Monday. “There’s just one link to the survey that takes about 10 to 15 minutes for farmers or food businesses to complete.”

Even if farmers have already reported damages to Vermont 211, they should fill out the new survey, Audet said, since the agency does not currently have access to the details in 211 damage reporting.

This year, the agency, in coordination with the Vermont Agricultural Recovery Task Force , is requesting that “any agricultural business, organization, or individual that raises animals, meat, or poultry and/or grows feed or crops for anyone beyond your immediate family” complete the survey.

The survey excludes forestry and cannabis production, and food organizations that do not participate in production activities, such as slaughter facilities, gleaning organizations, and aggregation and distribution facilities, according to the statement.

The agency has gone out on visits to survey damage on farms that have reached out to staff, but this survey is to help get a “better scope” of the impact around the state, and act as a “collected data source that we can use for reporting purposes,” Audet said.

Within the next few days, a dashboard of the agriculture survey results will be available to the public, and it will be updated daily, according to Audet.

“Then we can get a sense of what the needs are and find different funding sources and relief programs that will help, that can help farmers specifically with the assistance that they need,” he said.

Audet said since the survey launched on Saturday, they have had 19 respondents as of Monday afternoon. He said he anticipates they will receive many more in the coming weeks.

If farmers suffer additional losses, they are welcome to submit multiple reports as long as they are only reporting new impacts, the statement said.

Sensitive to the multitude of entities asking farmers for damage information following last year’s floods, the Vermont Agricultural Recovery Task Force has worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide one link in an effort to streamline the process.

Read the story on VTDigger here: State ag agency seeks information from flood-affected farms .