Preliminary findings by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences could mean the agricultural damages from Debby were close to losses from Hurricane Idalia, a Category 3 storm that roared across the same rural region nearly a year earlier.

The agricultural production losses Florida experienced due to Hurricane Debby have an estimated value between $93.7 million and $263.2 million, according to a preliminary UF/IFAS Economic Impact Analysis Program (EIAP) report based on producer surveys.

The preliminary UF/IFAS Economic Impact Analysis Program (EIAP) released was based on producer surveys. Hurricane Debby, a Category 1 storm that made landfall on Aug. 5 near Steinhatchee, affected over 2.2 million acres of agricultural land with 68% used for grazing.