Hurricane Milton caused an estimated $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion in damages to Florida's crops and agricultural infrastructure, according to a preliminary assessment released by the state's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services on Thursday, Oct 17.

According to the damage assessment, the Category 3 hurricane that made landfall on Oct. 9 damaged commodities including animal products, citrus and non-citrus fruit farming, field crops, greenhouses, and vegetable farming.

Additionally, a majority of the citrus acreage in Florida was situated in counties hit by Milton, which means "significant production losses" from farmers are expected.

"Most of these losses are due to fruit drop, damage to branches, and impacts from heavy precipitation and flooding. Growers are also reporting heavy infrastructure damage, and there are major concerns of flood-caused tree mortality in the near future," it said in the preliminary report based on initial reporting and communication with farmers," the assessment states.

Florida's commissioner of agriculture, Wilton Simpson, urged the US Department of Agriculture to issue a disaster declaration for counties affected by Milton.

Simpson sent a letter to USDA Secretary, Tom Vilsack stating, "We are a major agricultural producer and exporter, with $8.88 billion in agricultural products sold annually as of the latest USDA agricultural census."

"If immediate action is not taken, we are at risk of losing significant agriculture, aquaculture, and silviculture operations in this region due to circumstances beyond our farmers' control," Simpson added.