Kentucky tornadoes: Could shoppers feel the impact on prices at the grocery store?
The tornadoes that raked across Western Kentucky will hit the state’s farm economy hard and could impact food prices too, said Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles.
“We were already seeing, before the tornado, rising costs of food at the grocery store, and we simply do not know yet how it will effect cost at this point,” he said. “But Kentucky is one of the leading poultry states ... and even a slight delay will have an impact.”
The true economic impact is still unknown. “Bottom line is the damage to Kentucky agriculture is simply unfathomable at this point, we’re still trying to turn chaos into order,” he said.
Even before dawn on Dec. 11, Quarles said, many farmers were out in their communities using tractors to help clear roads.
“A lot of farmers are out there fixing their operations right now, on their own without any help. But others are going to need it,” he said.
The Kentucky Department of Agriculture, University of Kentucky agriculture extension agents and Kentucky Farm Bureau are working together to raise money, catalog needs on the county level and steer help to where it is needed. Donations can be made at gofund.me/kyagrelieffund.
Although the communities directly in the path of tornadoes have been the focus of rescue and recovery efforts in the immediate aftermath, Quarles said the impact on Kentucky farms is much broader, stretching from the Mississippi River to just south of Louisville.
“The tornadoes cut a path through some of the best farmland Kentucky has,” Quarles said.
What Kentucky agriculture has been impacted by tornadoes
▪ Poultry, which is Kentucky’s top agricultural commodity. Quarles said that two hatcheries in Graves County that supply almost 200 producers in Western Kentucky were destroyed. About 30 chicken houses are gone or damaged beyond repair, he said.
▪ Grain, another top crop. The state had bumper crops of corn, soybeans and wheat this year. Now a lot corn that had just been harvested is in jeopardy. “Mayfield Grain had over 5 million bushels of grain in storage and almost ever single bin, the top is either missing or there’s leakage,” Quarles said. In many places, farmers are racing to move grain from damaged bins in advance of the storms forecast for this weekend. “Whenever there’s rain on dry grain, there will be spoilage,” Quarles said.
▪ Cattle, also a major Kentucky commodity. “We simply do not know how many head of cattle are dead or missing,” he said. Miles and miles of fences are gone all across the western half of the state. “Repairing fences are a top priority, so can start sorting cattle and get the losses counted.”
▪ The Princeton ag station. “The most symbolic loss was the complete loss of Princeton research farm in Caldwell County that UK administers. ... It completely took out the showcase research facility UK has,” he said. “Even for the farmers who didn’t have any damage, all the farmers go to that research center at least once a year.”
But Quarles also said he sees inspiration in the destruction: Although the 2019 building at the agriculture station “was shredded like confetti, the antique tractor in the lobby survived. It has a few dents but it can be restored. And Kentucky agriculture can too.”
Tornado damage widespread to Kentucky farms
Farm from the epicenter of media attention, Chase Harrod in Spencer County has been taking days off from his office job to help pull his family’s farm back together.
The farm where his grandparents milked cows for 44 years was littered with the wreckage of buildings and grain silos after a tornado hit Friday night.
“We lost five buildings, two silos and seven head of cattle out of 65,” Harrod said.
“When the silos fell, the cattle were gathered around the bunkers there where we feed them. And that’s where we lost the seven. It was heartbreaking that night.”
Despite losing hay barns and equipment, he said they feel like “it could have been a whole lot worse. Nobody was killed and our personal homes where we live were spared.”
The farmhouse where his grandmother Inis Jones lived until she died Nov. 10 was damaged though.
“It’s hard to see what they worked their whole life for destroyed,” he said.
But since the storms, he said dozens of people have helped them dig out equipment and pick up the cattle field. Rebuilding fences comes next.
“We’re going to press on, rebuild what we can,” Harrod said. “And produce the food for the nation as we always do.”
This story was originally published December 16, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Kentucky tornadoes: Could shoppers feel the impact on prices at the grocery store?."
