The information provided in this three-part series will be published in the future as an EDIS publication. Co-authors are: Yvette Goodiel, Paul Fisher, Robert C. Hochmuth, Ying Zhang, and Christa D. Court.

Severe weather (e.g., severe storms, tornadoes, and tropical cyclones) in Florida can damage greenhouse structures and the foods and ornamental plants being grown within them. Producers must balance the costs of structural and system upgrades against the costs of storm-related damages. Many of the considerations faced by greenhouse growers apply to other types of protected agriculture production. In this three-part series, we provide guidance to help growers plan for future storms, so they can navigate risks, mitigate impacts, recover more quickly, and build operational resiliency. Here in Part 1, we discuss some of the reasons growers may choose to produce within protective structures, trends in the acreage of protected agriculture, economic contributions, and storm-related losses. Part 2 describes the specific impacts that protected agriculture producers face from severe weather events in Florida. Finally, Part 3 provides guidance for growers to manage risk, mitigate impacts, and build resiliency against severe storms.

Protected Agriculture Trends and Storm-Related Losses

Florida has an expanding acreage of protected structures for agriculture (ag) crops across a wide range of commodities. Protected ag structures in Florida include a wide range of greenhouses, high tunnels, and shade or screen structures. Seedlings, rooted cuttings, and tissue culture plants are started in transplant greenhouses to provide essential starting material for container, field and orchard producers. Surveys conducted by UF/IFAS of commercial production of vegetables and herbs in protected structures found an expansion from 66 acres in 1991 to 386 acres in 2013, with an estimated 500 acres in 2025. This same trend of increasing acreage in Florida is also found globally. Between the late 1980s and 2010, a literature review by Takeshima and Joshi (2019) found that greenhouse production increased from less than 200,000 ha to almost 2M ha globally.

Economic and Production Benefits of Protected Agriculture

Florida ranks first or second in a number of greenhouse and nursery ornamental plant categories (Khachatryan et al. 2022), with $1,886 M in direct output (e.g., sales revenues) in 2018 supporting $3,978 M in total output contributions, $2,211 M in value added (i.e., gross state product) contributions, and 21,509 jobs, including multiplier effects. Ornamental plant production supports a green industry including landscaping, which directly contributes an estimated $29,888 M in output and 121,725 jobs to Florida’s economy (Khachatryan et al. 2022). Horticulture producers use protected structures for market-driven and production benefits. Consumers today expect high quality plant products year-round in the marketplace, and protected ag allows growers to offer these products for an extended season, if not year-round. Being a consistent supplier over a long period is important as a marketing strategy for crops such as tropical houseplants and vegetables. Many small farmers operate successful businesses that are selling locally grown flowers, plants, and vegetables directly to consumers. This strategy can help communities become less food insecure. Florida includes some of the largest wholesale ornamental plant producers, shipping throughout the US and Canada. Temperate winter conditions allow Florida growers to produce plants earlier in the season and at lower cost than northern locations. Growers using protected ag can exclude insect pests, lower disease incidence, reduce pesticide use, better manage environment (temperatures and humidity), manage sunlight or artificial light, reduce water and fertilizer use, produce high yields on a smaller area than in the field, and maintain a consistent level of production over a long season (Rigby 2019, Jovicich et al. 2018, Sanders 2006). Producers might also turn to protected ag as a strategy to reduce field production risks due to extreme weather. Generally, protected cultivation is seen as a way to achieve better quality products with lower inputs of fertilizer, water, etc. (Rigby 2019, Ruijs and Benninga 2020).

Storm-Related Risks and Losses

Though the benefits of protected ag are many, these systems also come with risks and extra costs, including the risk of structural damage and the cost of repairs and insurance (Rigby 2019). Mitchell and Cantliffe (2005) estimated damages to Florida’s greenhouse vegetable producers from the 2004 hurricane season at over $4M. The 2004 season included four hurricanes that made landfall in Florida, affecting much of the state. More recently, three hurricanes made landfall during the 2024 season, again affecting much of the state. Court, Qiao, Koeneke, and McDaid (2024a, 2024b, and 2024c) estimated the potential range of production losses for greenhouse and nursery operations from Hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton at $14.991 million – $53.556 million, $2.158 million – $15.035 million, and $66.923 million – $177.300 million, respectively.

These previous studies report that damages and losses incurred by greenhouse and nursery operations due to severe weather events include crop damage and destruction, physical damage to growing structures and equipment, increased incidence of diseases/pests, delayed planting dates, power loss, down time due to replanting, and market downtime. In the aftermath of such events, protected ag operators can also be hampered in their recovery efforts by difficulties accessing disaster assistance and a lack of or difficulty procuring back-up power sources, labor and supplies for repairs, and crop/structure/equipment insurance.

The information provided in this series is intended to help greenhouse growers build resiliency in their operations to lessen the impacts and hasten recovery from future storm events.