TODAY ON AGDAY
OCTOBER 31, 2012
NASS REPORTS:
Good morning I’m Clinton Griffiths. As the east coast continues to recover from Superstorm Sandy, financial markets and the federal government took another un-planned day off.
CROP WATCH:
To give you a sense of just how big and far-reaching Sandy is, we want to take you to southwest Michigan along the shores of Lake Michigan. It's about 750 miles from New York City to the city of St. Joseph, Michigan. Take a look at this footage provided by our affiliate in South Bend, Indiana. This is a lighthouse along the Lake Michigan shoreline in St. Joe. As you can see, it was getting pounded yesterday. Winds were coming out of the north, gusting to about 40 miles an hour, creating 18 foot waves. The outer light stands 35 feet tall. The inner is 57 feet tall. It's not un-heard of to get waves that high on Lake Michigan, but the fact they are the result of a tropical system - that's what makes it so extraordinary. Meteorologist Mike Hoffman has been on-top of this storm since the beginning. He joins us from the AgDay weather-center with this morning's cropwatch.
JAMAICA DAMAGE:
Meanwhile storm damage to Jamaican agriculture could hit a billion dollars. The country's Minister of AG says banana farms were especially hard hit by Hurricane Sandy last weekend. An estimated 15-hundred hectares - about 37-hundred acres - were destroyed by the storm. According to a Jamaica newspaper those damage estimates do not include losses of livestock, which are said to be extensive.
ARIZONA LAND QUESTION:
In the southwest, Arizona voters have a big decision on the ballot. On Tuesday they'll vote on whether federal lands including the Grand Canyon belong to all Americans or just to residents of the state.
ADM PROFITS FALL:
In agribusiness, while equipment sales remain strong despite the drought of 2012, it's having the opposite impact on certain agribusiness companies.
BELLWITCH:
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