Editor’s note: Ryan McGeeney with the UA System Division of Agriculture is the author of this article.

The heavy winter storm that brought snow, sleet, ice and sub-freezing temperatures to Arkansas and surrounding states resulted in tens of millions of dollars in losses to farmers across the state, according to a new report from the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

The Jan. 23-27 storm brought “extreme cold, ice, and snowfall that disrupted livestock operations, crop production, and agricultural infrastructure across the state,” according to the report. As much as 12 inches of snow and 2 inches of sleet fell on much of Arkansas, collapsing structures — especially poultry houses — throughout the region.

In the wake of the storm, Cooperative Extension Agents surveyed their constituents about damage and losses to their operations.

The data gleaned from the responses indicate that Arkansas cattle producers suffered $24.8 million in cow and calf mortality alone, based on an average calf mortality rate of 2.74% and a cow mortality rate of 1.65%.

Producers also spent an additional $7.52 million on supplemental hay and feed above what they typically spend in January.

James Mitchell, extension economist for the Division of Agriculture and one of the report’s authors, said the current state of beef markets affected the underlying formulation for projecting economic losses.

“Cattle prices are historically high, so losses reflect higher values,” said Mitchell, noting that these numbers do not reflect “unusually large numbers of cow and calf mortalities.”

“Producers are encouraged to contact their Farm Service Agency office about the Livestock Indemnity Program,” he said.

Poultry

Although estimated poultry losses are not yet available, the industry “experienced the greatest losses in Arkansas among all livestock and crop sectors,” the report stated, citing both structural damage and flock mortality.

“A key challenge in quantifying these losses is the high degree of variability across operations, including differences in poultry house age, whether a house contained a flock at the time of the storm or had been repurposed, lost value of production and grower income, whether damaged houses can be repaired or must be fully replaced, and disruptions to the delivery of birds, feed, and propane,” reads the report.

Specialty crops, aquaculture

The report calculated losses for five major Arkansas specialty crops: Blueberries, blackberries, peaches, strawberries and grapes, including muscadines. Producers for each of the five crops estimated yield losses between 4% and 8%. This data was combined with baseline values for each respective crop in order to estimate a loss of $1,169,540 across all five crops.

The report estimates that the Arkansas catfish industry suffered a 1.17% loss of inventory, which is estimated to result in approximately $270,300 in sales.

The Arkansas baitfish industry was estimated to have suffered less than 1% of inventory loss, resulting in an estimated economic loss of approximately $219,000.

Mitchell said that other losses include farm equipment and vehicles, farm buildings, greenhouses, timber stands and forages.

“The cost of these damages is farm-specific, so dollar estimates were not offered in the report,” Mitchell said.

The winter storm damage report was produced by the department of agricultural economics and agribusiness and the Fryar Price Risk Management Center of Excellence. A separate forthcoming report will examine the losses to the Arkansas poultry industry in detail.