The Connecticut agricultural industry is expected to lose $11.6 million by the end of year because of natural disasters, according to an analysis by Trace One.
Trace One is a company that sells product lifecycle management software for the food and beverage industry. On Oct. 14, they published a study estimating agricultural losses across the country in 2025 caused by natural disasters, and the impact that these losses will have on food prices.
“High grocery prices have been a defining economic story in recent years, driven by a combination of factors including pandemic-related supply chain breakdowns and labor shortages. However, an increasingly critical driver of food price inflation has been the impact of natural disasters—such as droughts, floods, and hurricanes—on the nation’s agricultural output,” a blog post about the study states.
There are around 5,000 farms in Connecticut, half of which are greenhouses and plant nurseries. Annually, these farms produce $700 million worth of agricultural products a year, although that it not just in food products.
Based on data from the Department of Agriculture and Trace One, that translates to a loss of about 1.5% of the industry’s yearly economic output.
Trace One estimates that each one of those farms will lose an average of $2,366 by the end of the year, due to natural disasters. This is higher than the national average, which is expected to be around $1,800 lost per farm. However, some counties in Connecticut will be hit harder than others, according to data shared with Inside Investigator.
Litchfield County, which has the highest number of farms out of any county in the state, is projected to lose around 1.6% of its yearly output largely because of droughts by the end of the year, but that breaks down to less $842 per farm. Each farm in Windham County is also expected to lose less than $850 by the end of the year, mostly due to hurricane damage, but that accounts for less than 1% of that county’s agricultural output.
Meanwhile, the 739 farms in Hartford County are expected to lose the most money, overall and on a per-farm basis, by the end of the year. Each farm is expected to lose an average of $5,051—worth around $3.7 million in total and 3% of the county’s agricultural output. These losses are expected to be mostly caused by droughts.
The most productive area in the state by the value is New London County. The agricultural industry there is worth around $175.9 million a year. Each farm in the county expected to lose an average of $2,399, while the overall county is expected to lose $1.9 million in agricultural products.
In Connecticut, like the rest of the country, droughts are the leading cause of agricultural losses in 2025.
“According to estimates from FEMA, natural hazards cause an average of $3.5 billion (nationally) in agricultural losses annually, with drought being the single largest contributor,” the blog post states. “Drought alone accounts for more than half of these losses, averaging $1.9 billion per year.”
Despite these expected losses, Connecticut is still faring better than many other states. Some counties in California are expected to lose upwards of $100 million because of droughts and other natural disasters.
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