Florida Farmers Say Irma’s Damage Is The Worst They’ve Ever Seen

 

Almost half of Florida’s citrus crops were destroyed during the hurricane and when Florida farmers survey the damage caused by Hurricane Irma, and most are saying it’s the worst destruction to their farms that they’ve ever seen.

When the worst of Irma’s fury had passed, Gene McAvoy hit the road to inspect the citrus groves and vegetable fields in Florida. McAvoy is a specialist on vegetable farming at the University of Florida’s extension office in the town of LaBelle. LaBelle is located in the middle of one of the country’s biggest concentrations of vegetable and citrus farms.

According to NPR, the storm made a direct hit to those fields. “The eyewall came right over our main production area,” McAvoy says. Irma had destroyed almost half of the citrus crops in the central Florida area, meaning prices are likely going to go up sharply.

Many of the destroyed groves of oranges and grapefruit were actually approaching harvest too.  But after Irma blew through, it left “50 or 60 percent of the fruit lying in water [or] on the ground,” says McAvoy. Many trees were standing in water, a mortal danger if their roots stay submerged for longer than three or four days. About a quarter of the country’s sugar production comes from fields of sugar cane near Lake Okeechobee, just east of LaBelle. Harvest season for the sugar cane crop is only a few weeks away, but Irma knocked much of the cane down, making it more difficult to harvest. “We won’t know the exact extent of the loss until it’s harvested,” McAvoy says.

Fortunately for the vegetable farms, most had yet to be planted, so the destruction was minimal.  But that won’t help the destroyed citrus produce. For example, the strawberry crops had not been planted when Irma struck. Some of the plastic laid in anticipation for planting was ruined, however,  growers can repair the damage that was done and plant the strawberries on schedule.

“It’s probably the worst hurricane that we’ve ever seen,” McAvoy says, although he says Wilma, in 2005, was nearly as damaging. “It’s just not a good day in Florida today,” says Lourdes Villanueva, who works with the Redlands Christian Migrant Association, which provides services for farm workers in the state. Villanueva says the storm destroyed many trailers and other houses where workers live. “The ones where the roof didn’t go, trees fell on them,” she says.

Farmers also worry that migrant workers won’t want to come to the farms if there is no housing, and many are just rubble now after the encounter with Irma. The crop damage will affect a large part of the United States and the price paid for citrus fruits at the grocery store is likely to go up.

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Author: Mac Slavo
Views: Read by 412 people
Date: September 13th, 2017
Website: www.SHTFplan.com

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“Most Transparent Admin Ever”: Team Obama Busy Destroying Public Records Before Leaving Office

History is routinely made in the White House – and just as routinely destroyed as well.

And though it is criminal and indicates the larger crimes of the deep state, it comes as no surprise.

If these reports are any indications, the shredders in President Obama’s White House are busier now than they were even during the height of the Enron scandal – where reporters found evidence of document destruction by the truckload.

Given that the previous Bush and Clinton Administrations also engaged in a purge of damning information, there is every reason to suspect that the Obama Administration – which the president absurdly touted would be the “most transparent administration in history”

Instead of being transparent, Obama’s two terms have often been accused of being the most secretive, particularly in terms of treatment of whistle blowers and leaks. Additionally, there is a great deal of speculation about what President Obama and his people knew about the questionable and illegal activities surrounding Hillary’s email scandal.

Though Obama himself has maintained that he learned about it in the news, the use of aliases and private email accounts to circumvent public accountability measures on official accounts raises a great deal of doubt about the truth of this claim.

So there is an additional incentive to cover-up, and minimize what the public is able to discover after his time in office is over.

via The American Mirror:

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says the Obama administration is destroying public records in the final days in office.

[…]

“Past administrations of both Republican and Democratic players have engaged in mass destruction of records as they left office… We are told that destruction of records is occurring now in different parts of the Obama administration in different departments or agencies.”

“That’s what happens when an administration leaves office,” Assange said.

 […]

“Our philosophy is that such information is a part of history… To destroy them is absolutely and egregious act… it is done to “eliminate small political risks by destroying major elements of history.”

Julian Assange, who has recently reemerged to deny the link between hacking and the Russian government, made the case for more whistle blowers coming forward.

After eight years of an outright assault on those who’ve attempted to expose the misdeeds of past administrations and various agencies that are rarely held accountable, Assange is encouraging officials to take copies of documents that might otherwise be destroyed during the cleaning-up and white washing of the administration’s mess.

Instead, they should tuck them away so that they can be disseminated to the people at a better or more relevant time.

Assange said, “Our request to system administrators in the Obama administration goes for other administrations around the world as well, is take the data now.

“Just take it now. Keep it under your bed, or with your mother and then you can give that to Wikileaks or other journalists at your leisure,” [Assange] said. “Get hold of that history and protect it, because that is something that belongs to humanity and does not belong to a political party.”

He offered a $30,000 reward to officials who might come forward with revealing documents and information.

Of course, the price for public truth typically can’t compete with the deeply embedded interests of the military industrial complex and the revolving door between government and crony corporations.

However, it may still incentivize some of our “public servants” who are otherwise disturbed by the criminality of the executive branch, and Washington’s continued descent into the destruction of the country.

President Trump, or any president, even with the best intentions, could never single-handedly drain the swamp in Washington. If it is possible at all, it will only be with the help of perhaps thousands of patriotic whistleblowers, former officials and dedicated citizens working to expose the deep-seated corruption and let it vanish like evil spirits in the light of day.

WORD: 5 More Big Fat Lies Obama Is Leaving Us With

Read more:

BREAKING: Julian Assange Suggests MURDERED DNC STAFFER Seth Rich Was Wikileaks Source: “We Have To Understand How High The Stakes Are In the United States”

A Purge Of Journalists Has Begun To Destroy the Free Press: “War on Whistleblowers”

Obama Harassing His Media ‘Enemies’? “Whoever is doing this has extremely advanced technical capabilities”

New Study Confirms: “The United States Is No Democracy… But Actually An Oligarchy” Dominated By The Economic Elite

National Guard Whistleblower: “Doomsday Preppers Will Be Treated As Terrorists”