MONTPELIER, Vermont: Vermont state and federal officials have asked farmers to document and report damage caused by heavy flooding that hit the state two weeks ago.

According to an earlier 2021 state government report on Vermont agriculture, maple trees, apple orchards, farms, and cheese and ice cream manufacturers have "long defined the Vermont experience," and agriculture is a "key engine of the state's economy."

"Small towns cannot thrive without economic opportunity or without the innovation that agricultural and food businesses bring to our rural landscapes. And, unless Vermont farm families can earn a sustainable living from their open productive agricultural land, it becomes a target for development, is chiseled off and sold, or becomes overgrown and under-utilized," the report stated.

The latest storms in the state flooded a couple hundred acres of corn and a couple hundred acres of hay at Dave Conant's dairy farm in Richmond.

"The velocity of water that came through was tremendous," Conant said, adding that his fields are so ladened with silt that he does not want to drive his equipment through them.

"The beauty of Vermont has taken a hit," Conant said, according to the Associated Press.

Vermont is the top dairy producing state in New England and has a strong local food movement.

The US Department of Agriculture was asked by the state's Republican Governor Phil Scott for a federal disaster designation, which would enable farms to apply for financial assistance, including low-interest emergency loans.

The state will likely receive more federal assistance, but this will probably not be enough, Scott said.

"We are going to have to dig deep. We are going to have to be creative and reach into every pot in order to get through this," he stated, as reported by the Associated Press.