The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is delaying the Puerto Rico Census of Agriculture until December 2018 due to conditions caused by Hurricane Maria. NASS had planned to collect data in Puerto Rico along with the rest of the United States beginning in December 2017. A delay of the Puerto Rico Census of Agriculture is …
Hurricanes Devastate Puerto Rico Agriculture
Hurricanes Irma and Maria combined destroyed about 80 percent of crops in Puerto Rico. The damage is so heavy that one farmer told the Seattle Times there is “no more agriculture” on the island. Across the island, Maria’s took out entire plantations and destroyed dairy barns and industrial chicken coops. Plantain, banana, and coffee crops were the hardest hit. The …