State officials talk about flooding impacts on farming, food supply chain

A farm is a business that involves the cultivation of crops and/or livestock. It’s a business that requires a lot of overhead: land, equipment, insurance and licensing.

Would-be farmers often have overly romanticized notions of what life on a farm is like. It is a hard and labor-intensive endeavor that can be financially rewarding if you do it well.

SOUTH GLASTONBURY, CT (WFSB) – Flooding has impacted the state’s farms and the food supply chain.

Gov. Ned Lamont and a number of other state officials held a news conference at 10 a.m. Monday in South Glastonbury to discuss it.

State officials discuss how recent flooding has impact Connecticut farms and the food supply chain during a news conference on July 17.

Lamont was at Killam and Bassette Farmstead in South Glastonbury to view flood damage the farm recently experienced.

He and others spoke about the impact that flooding has had on farms across Connecticut.

They said farmers haven’t been able to catch a break.

Months ago, there was a drought. Then there were freezing springtime temperatures. Recently, their crops were washed away between the storms last week and over the weekend.

Farmers said crops impacted by the weekend rain were contaminated and could not be sold. They called it a devastating loss that will impacted prices.

The Killam and Bassette Farmstead was partially underwater.

The United States Department of Agriculture is taking action. It asked farmers to report their losses. Information on how to do that can be found here.

Climate Smart and Farmland Restoration bonding will also be available.

The USDA said it created a marketplace to give farmers the tools to navigate their flooding situations.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Rep. John Larson, agriculture commissioner Bryan Hurlburt, energy and environmental protection commissioner Katie Dykes, and several local farmers, including Chris Bassette, owner of Killam and Bassette Farmstead, were also on hand.

Local farmers like Bassette said the best thing people can do to help them is to shop locally.

“I’d like to stress to our customers and to other farmers’ customers to be sympathetic when you go into those farm stands and farmers markets,” Bassette said. “We are doing the best we can to provide the freshest product for you and this is what we’re dealing with.”

Detrimental flooding also stretched across town roads in East Haven, Bristol and Waterbury,

The cleanup continued on Monday.

Source: wfsb.com