A new report from the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets says Vermont farmers suffered more than $5 million in damage from the two major flooding events in July.
A special state program is intended to help fund farmers' recovery.
The survey shows that the vast majority of flood damage took place in three counties: Chittenden, Caledonia and Orange.
Roughly 41% of the 93 farmers who responded said they expect to have feed shortage issues this fall, and two-thirds do not have crop insurance.
Secretary of Agriculture Anson Tebbetts says a new roughly $3 million state fund will help farmers with some of their recovery needs.
"So we're in a good position to try to make some amends and make some payments to our farm community because of their losses — it's important that it will not make people whole. It's only a percentage of their losses because some of the damages are going to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars."
Tebbets says the survey also shows that the July floods damaged roughly 3,500 acres of farmland.
The weather over the next four to six weeks could play a critical role in helping salvage crops that were severely damaged by flooding.
For example, if the state doesn't have an early hard frost, farmers are less likely to face issues like feed shortages.
"There are some crops that can be salvaged," Tebbets said. "We still have the potential to have a decent September. Once that hard frost comes a lot of things begin to shut down."
Tebbetts says he's encouraged to hear that many apple growers expect to have an excellent season this year, after last year's devastating season due to a late frost in May 2023.
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